How will Hogs do in 2023?

Scott Loftis

The dog days of August are upon us, and that means football season can’t be too far away. That, in turn, means it’s time for me to take a crack at predicting the Arkansas Razorbacks’ gridiron fortunes this fall.

The Razorbacks are coming off a 7-6 season in which they were victims of their own mistakes as well as a bit of bad luck. Four of their six losses were by a combined total of nine points.

Arkansas does have a pair of offensive stars returning in fifthyear senior quarterback K.J. Jefferson and junior running back Raheim Sanders. That’s the good news offensively. The bad news is that the Hogs have only two returning starters on the offensive line. They’ll need that unit to gel quickly if they’re going to be successful.

Defensively, the Razorbacks will have to replace standout linebackers Bumper Pool and Drew Sanders from a unit that allowed more than 30 points per game last season.

Arkansas’ non-conference schedule isn’t daunting: West Carolina, Kent State and BYU. In a perfect scenario, the Hogs’ offensive line and defense will begin to develop some cohesion over that three-game stretch to open the season. That would go a long way toward getting this team ready for SEC play.

But the Hogs go to LSU on Sept. 23, and that could be their first loss of the season. A week later it’s Texas A&M at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, where Arkansas has been repeatedly snakebit against the Aggies. Last year’s comefrom- ahead loss to A&M set the tone for a season full of almosts.

I’ll take the Hogs to finish the regular season 7-5, with conference wins over Mississippi State, Auburn and Missouri. Throw in a late-season non-conference victory over Florida International. Win all those and find a way to get past Texas A&M — finally — and it’s 8-4. That would be a successful season for the Hogs.

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Scott Loftis is editor and publisher of the Carroll County News. His email address is SLoftis@CarrollCoNews.com.