16-in-16 2025: Arkansas Razorbacks
A revolving door for the roster has made it difficult to build a foundation. Can Pittman take this rag-tag group back to the upper half of the SEC?
By: Bossman
For a refresher on our ratings system, check out our 16-in-16 ratings guide here.
Sam Pittman enters year five at Arkansas, and after a 9-4 season in his first season, it’s been a heaping helping of mediocrity in Fayetteville. That has the fanbase uneasy, and many have already jumped ship and are ready to move on from the Pittman era.
Hammer’s subheader on the Arkansas 16-in-16 from 2024 read: “Arkansas is coming off a down year that put Sam Pittman on the brink of the unemployment line. Can he resurrect the Hogs and put them back on an upward trajectory?”
I’m not sure Pittman put the team back on an “upward trajectory,” but the team improved by two wins in the regular season and got back to competing nearly every week, and also managed to punch above their weight by taking out #7 Tennessee at home. Ol’ Col’ Beer did just enough to keep his job, but it was two steps forward and one step back. Seven total wins last year and an improved offense under Bobby Motorbike gave fans some hope, but another year of mass departures in the portal threw cold water on higher expectations heading into 2025.
Can Pittman get this group of new faces to bond and surprise this season, putting the Hogs back on a path to being in the top half of the conference? Seems like a tall order, but all hope is not lost.
State of the Program: 5/12 biscuits: Pretty dang burnt, but you can cut off the top and eat it like a silver lining. There’s a little hope.
Last year, Hammer wrote: “I’m willing to give the Razorbacks some extra biscuits if they just remain competitive all year…so to earn some extra biscuits, let’s just start with the simple task of playing competent, smart, sound football and competing week in and week out.”
They were able to do that most weeks, aside from two, which we’ll get into later. But overall, this team was competitive, and with a few balls bouncing their way, could have pushed for 7-8 regular-season wins. Instead, they settled on a 6-6 regular season, and rumors about a Pittman retirement or firing continued to swirl.
The Razrobacks were 4-8 in 2023, so despite the mediocre 2024 record, 7-6 with a bowl win gets them an extra biscuit this year. Most years, a jump like that might earn you two biscuits, but with the massive exodus in the transfer portal (Arkansas lost 36 scholarship players to the portal) and the loss of a few key players to the NFL, it’s hard to give Arkansas any more biscuits.
Over the course of his tenure at Arkansas, Sam Pittman has put together some solid coaching staffs, with a few blunders (Dan Enos) along the way. This season’s staff has one thing that jumps out to me: continuity. Most coaches are entering their second year or more on staff. It is always helpful to have a staff that understands the culture of the program and can reinforce that across position groups. This year’s Arkansas staff has that, and they have solid names at the top of the chain.
When it comes to NIL, Arkansas was eight in the conference in 2023-2024, raising over $11 million for their collective. That’s solid, but it’s still far behind the heavyweights of the conference who are out raising them by $5-8 million. It’s smack dab in the middle of the SEC, which is about where the Hogs landed in the standings (11th). Arkansas wants to be a team that competes in the upper half of the conference year-in and year-out – to do that, they’re going to need to increase NIL dollars, especially to retain talent, something that has been a glaring problem over the last few offseasons.
In terms of facilities, Arkansas is keeping up with the Joneses – which makes sense, considering Jerry Jones is an alumnus who likes to give back to his school. The locker room at Donald W. Reynolds is beautiful and is modeled after the Dallas Cowboys locker room at AT&T Stadium. The Fred W. Smith Center is a massive and modern 80,000 square foot performance center that has everything a student athlete could need, though it may need some updates here soon, as it was originally opened in 2014. As for DWR at Frank Broyles Field, it’s a great gameday stadium, seating 76,000, which had a recent $160 million facelift in 2018 that added 38 new suites. Their facilities may not be the best in the SEC, but they certainly rank in the top half of the conference.
While NIL and facilities are great, the health of a program is really determined by recruiting and who is on the roster – and over the last few years, it’s been difficult to keep track of who is still in Fayetteville. Recruiting for Pittman’s staff has been middling, falling to an average of 13th in the SEC over the last three years, and the portal exodus in the last two years has been staggering. The Hogs lost 63 scholarship players to the portal the last two seasons, and had to backfill heavily, bringing in 54 players from the portal. With those heavy incoming numbers, you would expect the Razorbacks to have some of the top portal classes in the SEC, but they come in at 12th and ninth over the last two offseasons, respectively, which means they are bringing in talent that is…meh.
This tells me that while people love Sam Pittman as a person, players are not as bought into the culture, or this is just the era of college football where players jump ship at any hint of turmoil. I tend to believe it’s the latter here, but we are now seeing a worrisome trend over the last two portal cycles. If Arkansas wants to build a program foundation meant to last, they have to stop the bleeding when it comes to the portal. They’ve averaged over 40 new players on the roster each season for the last three years!
What went right in 2024?
Arkansas fans were excited to have Bobby Motorbike (throwing out a test balloon here) back in Fayetteville, and they were right to be pumped. In Petrino’s lone year at Texas A&M (2023), he took that offense from 93rd in total offense to 50th, and from 101st in scoring offense to 25th. Arkansas jumped nearly 100 spots in one year under Petrino, from 107th in 2023 to 10th in total offense in 2024. And that was with a whole host of new characters on the Arkansas roster. The guy can flat-out coach offense, and he showed it once again last season.
Much of that success can be attributed to Boise State transfer Taylen Green, who came into his own as the year progressed. The rangy signal caller finished the season with 3,154 yards, 15 TDs/9 INTs, and a 138.2 QBR while completing 60% of his passes. He also added 602 yards on the ground and eight TDs, good for their second-leading rusher.
Green’s top pass catcher was Andrew Armstrong, who went over 1,000 yards on the season and was an All-SEC selection. Ja’Quinden Jackson was a dawg, or a HAWG, if you will, rushing 149 times for 790 yards and 15 TDs, averaging 5.3 YPC.
That’s what a Petrino offense will give you, baby. Pittman let Bobby P. cook, and sauté he did. The defense was also solid most of the season, sans for two games (Ole Miss and LSU). They were especially solid in the run game, giving up just 129 yards per game on the ground, good for 34th in the country.
The strong combo of Petrino’s offense plus a decent defense kept Arkansas in most games last season, and it allowed them to jump up and drown the Vols in Fayetteville for a massive top 10 win.
What went wrong in 2024?
Did we mention Arkansas kept it close? Close is only good enough in horseshoes and hand grenades. The Hogs had golden chances to put a spike in Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, and Missouri, but in each of those games, they weren’t able to finish the job. Arkansas was either tied or held the lead in each of those contests in the fourth quarter, but were unable to get over the hump. Against Texas, the Razorbacks were within three points early in the fourth quarter.
To take it even further, in those four Arkansas losses, they lost by an average of 7.25 points. In each of those games, they lost the turnover battle – badly. In total, in those four games, the turnover ratio was 10:1. Those are some BURNT biscuits, bruh. On the season, Arkansas was -8 in turnover margin, which was next to worst in the SEC. It’s hard to win games when you are constantly giving gifts to the other team.
While the Hogs kept it close in those contests, they were blown out in two other SEC games, against Ole Miss and LSU. Those games, Arkansas lost by an average of 28 ppg, which is unacceptable for a team with aspirations for the top half of the conference.
Two other key stats really cost the Hogs in 2024: their inability to convert negative plays and their backend that leaked like a faulty gutter in a monsoon, giving up 247 YPG (111th). Arkansas was 11th in the SEC in sacks with just two per game, and they were 15th in tackles for loss, which fed the problems in the secondary.
What the Razorbacks needs in 2025
Priority numero uno: the roster needs to come together, quickly. With over 50 new faces suiting up for Arkansas this season, it is paramount that the roster comes together and gets in as many reps as possible. Having two warmup games to start the season (but don’t totally overlook Arkansas State) should help. I like defensive coordinator Travis Williams, but he has a tall task ahead to break in this revamped defense. With Petrino, even with all of the new faces, you have to think the offense will still operate at a high level.
Having an experienced QB in his second year in Petrino’s system in Taylen Green should also help. Green needs to take another stride forward this season and foster instant connections with new wideouts like O’Mega Blake, and Kam Shanks.
If the Hogs want to take a leap and inject some life into the program and the fanbase, they must protect the ball. 15th in turnover margin again in 2025, and Sam Pittman will likely be shown the door. 14 of those turnovers were fumbles, so ball security with the RB room and on special teams must be a focal point for this team.
Another area of emphasis has to be offensive line play. For Arkansas to get back to winning ways, they have to elevate their play. You have to be skeptical that it will be much improved with two transfers expected to start and a negative trend with Pittman’s recent offensive lines. We harp on it here all the time…veteran lines who have played together over multiple seasons are usually the most efficient. This unit has talent and size and three returning big boys, but they also added five transfers that could see time. Time will tell, but after giving up 32 sacks in 13 games last season, they have to be better.
On defense, questions abound. They lost seven starters, and the defensive line is depleted, losing five of their top six – and this from a middling defense. We mentioned that the secondary struggled last season, and they lost six of their top seven defensive backs. They added talent in the portal, but again…they need reps. Will they regress? Arkansas can’t afford regression on defense if they want to break through the ceiling and return to winning football.
Finally, we’ve harped on the roster turnover. With that, the Hogs need these kids to BUY IN. It’s felt like a few seasons since the full team was bought in to TURNIN’ THAT DAMN JUKEBOX ON. They need collective effort and full buy-in from everyone if Arkansas has a chance to compete at a high level this season.
How they can earn some extra biscuits
The Hogs clipped Tennessee last season and threatened a few teams last season. This year, it’s time to turn those threats into wins. If Arkansas can get to eight wins, surprise some people, and knock off a few teams they aren’t expected to, they’ll earn some extra biscuits. If they stand pat or lose any more biscuits, they’ll likely be looking for a new head coach.
Next Up:
Texas A&M Aggies
Previous:
South Carolina Gamecocks, Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs
