Sam Pittman addresses Arkansas quarterback depth ahead of Outback Bowl

The Arkansas Razorbacks are just a few days away from taking on the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Outback Bowl. However, questions linger for Sam Pittman regarding the state and health of his quarterback room moving forward.

Arkansas sophomore quarterback Kade Renfro went down with an ACL injury during the team’s bowl practices, causing Sam Pittman to question his decision not to sign a quarterback for the 2022 class.

Though Renfro isn’t a contributor at this point in his career, with him out, the Hogs are relying on just three scholarship quarterbacks.

“I think it certainly makes you look,” Pittman said. “If we had ended up doing that, we’d certainly have to talk to Malik (Hornsby) and KJ (Jefferson) about it before we ever would. I know it’s going to be fluid and at the end of the day, we have the opportunity to get six more kids, but we’d have to lose six more. If we got to a total a six, we might possibly do that. But (Lucas) Coley’s getting a lot of reps and getting a lot better too, so.”

Starting quarterback KJ Jefferson finished the year in 8th in the conference in passing yards per game with a 66% completion percentage. He also added 554 yards rushing, the fourth most by an SEC quarterback this season.

Jefferson was the only Arkansas quarterback to take snaps this year for the Hogs and he’ll return for a fourth year in 2022. Behind him are underclassmen Malik Hornsby and Lucas Coley, both former three-star prospects out of Texas.

Pittman addresses Tre Williams departure

Arkansas Razorbacks defensive end Tre Williams was arrested on Saturday night with a DWI charge. Following his arrest, Williams decided to opt out of the Outback Bowl to pursue taking the next step to the NFL.

After his decision, Sam Pittman commented on Williams’ departure, also addressing Arkansas’ plan at defensive end to offset the loss of Williams.

“Well I think we’ll be fine, first of all,” Pittman said of Arkansas replacing Williams at defensive end. “But Jashaud Stewart, Eric Thomas would take some of those. I think they would be the guys that would probably take a little bit more than what they normally have. We’ll move Eric down there some. We have a few more inside players. It depends if we play three or four down front, which we will play both. But I think that’s probably who, right off the top of my head, would take the extra reps.”

Williams spent the first four years of his collegiate career at Missouri. This season, Williams led Arkansas with six sacks, also adding 28 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss. In his five-year college football career, Williams has 104 tackles, 14.5 sacks, 21 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles in 54 games.