Sam Pittman acknowledges offensive struggles, expresses belief in Dan Enos

After Kendal Briles left Arkansas to become the offensive coordinator at TCU, Sam Pittman brought Dan Enos back to Fayetteville. He previously served as the Razorbacks’ OC from 2015-17, but opted to return to help KJ Jefferson and the offense take a step forward.

Through five games, that hasn’t been the case. Arkansas ranks last in the SEC in total offense despite ranking seventh in the league in scoring. It’s been a mixed bag for the Razorbacks so far as Jefferson is averaging just 210 passing yards per game.

Pittman noted Arkansas’ struggles on offense, but reiterated his belief in Enos and the ability to turn things around and get better.

“Obviously, we have to get better as a team in all those things,” Pittman said. “Working with him has been enjoyable. I think we’re all a little bit, including him, frustrated that we’re not having more explosive plays and things of that nature. But working with him has been fantastic. We’ll continue to try to improve every week and he knows we have to improve. I know it, the kids know it, the rest of the staff knows it. But it’s been enjoyable.”

Jefferson enters Week 6 tied for fifth in the SEC with 10 passing touchdowns after totaling 24 passing TDs a year ago. The biggest difference in his game, though, is with his legs. Last season, Jefferson had 640 rushing yards after running for 664 yards in 2021. This year, he has 125 rushing yards through five games with just one rushing touchdown.

The plan this year was to get him to use his arm more in Dan Enos’ scheme. But the threat he brings with his legs poses a big challenge, especially considering he became the Razorbacks’ all-time leader in touchdowns responsible. For SEC coaches trying to game plan against him, it’s tough because of his ability to improvise.

“He gets bigger every year,” Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said ahead of this week’s game against Arkansas. “This guy, he’s so hard to bring down and so challenging to play against. Always brings his great game against us also. We got to tackle him really well. We got to cover because he makes so many plays out of rhythm by scrambling and has really good vision downfield and very good accuracy.”

Arkansas will try to get the offense back on track Saturday against Ole Miss, which just allowed 49 points in a victory over LSU last week.