Al Walcott acknowledges frustration at Arkansas, current mindset

The 2023 season has not gone the way that Al Walcott or anyone in the Arkansas football program hoped that it would.

The Razorbacks have dropped six straight games after a 2-0 start and are currently 2-6 (0-5) with four regular season games remaining.

In order to reach a bowl, Arkansas needs to win out. Walcott recently spoke about what it has been like going through this season.

“We’re frustrated. It’s visible. You can see it,” Al Walcott said. “But the thing I love about this team, we’re not going to bend. We’re still together, we’re going to hold together.”

Walcott transferred in from Baylor this offseason, with the goal of helping the Razorbacks shore up their pass defense and have a special season.

While the pass defense is much-improved from last year when the Razorbacks finished dead last in the country, the wins haven’t been there thus far.

Walcott has no problem admitting that this season has been tough, but he’s still hoping the Razorbacks can turn things around.

He’s done his part thus far, recording 37 tackles, two pass breakups and an interception.

“It’s frustrating and it hurts. Nobody likes to lose. But this team is so close-knit that we’ve gotta move on to the next game,” Walcott said. “We have a bye week, so that gives us a chance to rethink and think of the things that we need to fix. But we’ve still got four more games to play, so we’ve got to just finish. … We know we’ve got to finish the rest of the season and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

As Walcott said, Arkansas has a bye this weekend, before playing at Florida on Nov. 4.

Sam Pittman explains OC change, why it didn’t work out with Dan Enos

Al Walcott and the Arkansas defense did its job in the Razorbacks’ most recent game against Mississippi State, but Arkansas struggled mightily on offense in the 7-3 loss, leading to a change at offensive coordinator.

Dan Enos was fired and Kenny Guiton was promoted to interim offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, earlier this week.

Head coach Sam Pittman made the move for one simple reason.

“We lost our spirit on offense and we’ve got to get it back,” Pittman said Wednesday on an SEC teleconference call. “I think Kenny has a great rapport with the kids and he’s very knowledgeable, and I think the kids believe in him, and that’ll make us play better right then and there.

“We obviously have to block them better and do things like that, but we also have to have the enthusiasm to do that and I think that’s what he’s bringing to our offensive staff.”