I’m late. Sorry about that, you guys.

I’ll blame the majority of this on being busy/forgetful and a little on technical difficulties in the wake of Hurricane Helene. I hope everyone’s safe out there.

Welcome back to another Deep Dive with your boy.

It’s Saturday. Damn near… time to play the game.

After some time off, it’s game week again and I don’t know about y’all, but damn I’m feeling refreshed.

Let’s talk about one of the bigger stories from last week for a second.

That Ole Miss loss was pathetic. Lane Kiffin should be embarrassed.

Good on Lane Kiffin for going from drinking, driving, and crashing Lexus sedans with sorority girls in Knoxville to doing Tik Tok makeup tutorials with sorority girls (namely his daughter) in Oxford. This is progress as a man and he should receive praise.

Personal growth is nice and all (he does yoga now and stopped drinking) until you go and do something dumb, like lose to Mark Stoops.

It was shameful, really. Ole Miss wound up putting their hopes and dreams on the shoulders of their kicker, a dangerous game to play.

The wind must’ve picked up because the kicker skank-hooked the game-tying field goal attempt 30 yards wide left of the target.

Naturally, Kiffin is on the receiving end of some harmless ribbing online for being a dork on Tik Tok and concurrently losing to Kentucky, which makes me smile.

Whatever the case, any playoff aspirations Ole Miss had prior to this game took a catastrophic blow and their room for error is nonexistent with tough conference matchups incoming.

Anyways, it’s time for the Hogs.

It’s Arkansas week.

Background Information & History:

Arkansas football first fielded a team in 1894 and was coached by a Latin professor at the university.

2023 Record: 4-8. Oof. 1-7 in SEC play.

Head Coach: Sam Pittman (2020-Present)

In his career at Arkansas he is 26-27 with a 12-24 conference record.
A perfect coach for Arkansas, the physical embodiment of the state, not dissimilar to Bebop from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Notable Alumni:

Bill Clinton - N/A

42nd President of the United States of America
Did hand stuff in the Oval Office (allegedly)
Didn’t actually go to Arkansas but is from there

Jerry Jones - 1960’s

Won a natty at Arkansas in 1964
Owner of the Cowboys
Super old, very rich, potentially a pervert?

Peyton Hillis - 2004-2007

Among the greatest college fullbacks of all time
Madden 2012 cover athlete
1,754 all-purpose yards, 13 total TDs in 2010 for the Browns
Almost died rescuing his kid from rip current in January 2023

All-Time Record vs. Tennessee: 6-13, but they’ve won the last 3 going back to 2011.

The last meeting was in 2020 when Sam Pittman and the Hogs beat Cornbread Shrek (Jeremy Pruitt) 24-13 in Fayetteville in 2020. Fun times.

LOGO:

(As always, all logo pictures are courtesy of our good friends over at SportsLogoHistory.com)

There have been some hilarious iterations of the “Razorback”, plain and simple. Let’s start at the beginning and view the evolution through the years.

Which brings us to the current primary Hog.

There are several alternates worth noting.

Sweater Hog leaning against the A. Love this one.

Very angry Hog staring into your mind’s eye

My personal favorite. There is simply no way this is real.

As for the uniforms, they’ve stayed relatively uniform (nice), with a few minor tweaks here and there. Not much deviation from the norm.

Here are the current kits. Solid visual, red and white colorway, ho hum. Not as good as Oklahoma or Alabama or even Nebraska.

FINAL GRADE: 6.1/10

Whatever. Every time they try to stray from baseline it’s a flop, but the base design itself is fine.

At this point in the season, it’s pointless to include transfers and returning starters. It’s probably more prudent to just highlight the gamebreakers and how we can most effectively neutralize them.

OFFENSE:

Impact Players: QB Taylen Green, WR Andrew Armstrong, RB Ja’Quinden Jackson, OT Fernando Carmona

Taylen Green, the Boise St. transfer, is a dual-threat quarterback in the truest sense. He’s gotten off to a strong start with the help of left tackle Fernando Carmona, a transfer from (believe it or not) San Jose State. Carmona may or may not have James Pearce dry-humping him in pursuit of Green, so we’ll see how the Mountain West product holds up.

Here’s the kicker: Taylen Green isn’t a “throw-first quarterback”, completing 54.3% of his passes so far (88-for-162) for 1,236 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 5 INTs. The passing game isn’t great, but it’s secondary as the real weapon is his run game. He’s second only to Ja’Quinden Jackson in rush attempts with 72 carries for 331 yards and 4 TDs.

Andrew Armstrong has dominated whatever target share there’s been with a team-best 29 catches for 420 yards.

If Taylen Green is Batman in their offense, then Ja’Quinden Jackson is their Robin. As the primary running back, he’s carried 79 times for 509 yards (6.4 ypc) and 9 TDs. 13 of the 18 rushing touchdowns for Arkansas this season have come from Jackson and Green.

Let’s put it plainly: This offense is wholly reliant on Taylen Green and he’s the obvious offensive X-factor. He has the ability to keep defenses off balance and while I don’t expect much in the way of an air attack, he poses a real threat as a runner alongside Jackson.

(Photo: ESPN)

DEFENSE:

Impact Players: DL Landon Jackson, LB Xavian Sorey, DB Doneiko Slaughter, DBs Jaheim Singletary and TJ Metcalf

Up to this point, the Arkansas defense has been very average. They’re ranked 47th in the nation having allowed almost 319 yards per game and 5.19 yards per play.

Standouts thus far have been former 5-star Xavian Sorey (a Georgia transfer), totaling 32 tackles and a sack, and Landon Jackson, the team leader in sacks (2). The defensive front that’s given up 93 rushing yards per game will need to be intentional and sound to stifle the Vols running game and keep Dylan Sampson/Desean Bishop under wraps.

In the secondary, Jaheim Singletary and TJ Metcalf will be responsible for locking down the perimeter. TJ Metcalf is the defensive X-factor and has gotten off to a hot start, second on the team in tackles with 28. He also added 3 interceptions and a forced fumble - which all came against Auburn.

(Photo: 247Sports)

A name you might recognize is that of the former Vol, Doneiko Slaughter. He’s had a nice season, totaling 25 tackles, a sack and an interception, but this is sure to be an extra emotional game for him and we should assume that he’ll have a little extra skeet stored away for this one.

[The goal is to make him regret his decision.]

SUMMARY:

It’s more of the same, as far as I’m concerned. We travel to Fayetteville for ANOTHER night game, and take care of business. If our defense is really real, and I mean REALLY real, then we spy Green, let the defensive front take care of their assignments, and shut the offense down altogether.

Offensively, trust the flow of the game and do what’s necessary. Let’s have some fun, get nasty with it.

After all, it’s nice knowing that Josh Heupel is captain of the ship. If the waters get choppy, he has the tools and know-how to keep things steady.

While I hope the Vols force Sam Pittman into an early retirement tomorrow, I’ll allow that I have a healthy respect for Arkansas fans thanks to this guy:

We were talking about Arkansas fans sticking their dick in mashed potatoes on today’s episode.

It is in reference to this: https://t.co/qMcLKBCA56
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) March 24, 2021

I’d love to do a Busch Light or four with that king.

With that said, I’d like it if we went to THEIR house and placed OUR privates in their mashed potatoes, theoretically, of course.

A Week 6 Deep Dive: Arkansas

Week 6 SEC Letter Grades: Alabama through Florida

Tennessee Releases Helmet Sticker for Helene Victims