Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Normally, the descent of a top college program is a long evolution that takes a few seasons to bottom out. Top players graduate or leave for the NFL, and in following years losses begin to mount as recruiting classes prove to not be up to par.

That’s not the case with these Arkansas Razorbacks.

For the Hogs, the hopes of an amazing season with a beloved group of seniors have ended just three games in, like a magician ripping the table cloth from beneath fine china, only the plates and cups have fallen and shattered on the floor.

In a matter of eight days, events have resulted in fans blaming Athletic Director Jeff Long, former coach Bobby Petrino, the current coaches, and some have even blamed players. One has to wonder how much more the Arkansas fan base can absorb. After spending several seasons passionately pining for the removal of Houston Nutt, fans seemed to have the answer to all of their questions in Petrino. After a brief taste of the high life in college football, the program feels like it’s back at square one.

Thus far, the 2012 season feels like the 2008 campaign with an all-too-tight game against Louisiana-Monroe followed by a blowout home loss to Alabama. Only that 2008 team was filled with promising freshmen. This team is loaded with the remaining seniors and a few fifth-year seniors from Petrino’s best recruiting classes.

Fans were expecting some sort of rebuilding year in 2013 even if Petrino was still here, but that seems to have started already after two early losses that will live on in the lists of worst defeats in Razorback history. This week, some fans even started leaving the game in the second quarter, and the stadium shuttle busses were running at halftime, something that usually only happens once the game is over.

Surely, the weather had something to do with that. It’s not hard for many Razorback fans to come up with a better way to spend an afternoon than sitting through Alabama touchdowns, Arkansas fumbles and CBS commercials in the rain. But the crowd was still a solid crowd through most of the first half, and given any reason to think the game might be just the teensiest bit competitive, many likely would have stayed.

Going back to Nutt’s final seasons, fans haven’t held back when it comes to booing the home team (or, more specifically, the coaches) for sloppy play or questionable play calling. On Saturday fans just left. After the Louisiana-Monroe loss, ticket prices for the Alabama game plummeted on the secondary market. Fans can now buy tickets to the next three games in Fayetteville for as low as $9 on some Internet outlets.

Despite early departures from Razorback Stadium, it’s not fair to think fans have given up. There is plenty of enthusiasm, even if much of it is embodied in frustration with the coach or athletic director. That’s why the Rutgers game this week is so huge. Many people expected the Alabama game to go poorly, so the reset button after the ULM game actually starts this week. If Arkansas is going to make anything of this season, it’s a must-win game. If Arkansas loses, the Hogs must go 4-4 in conference and beat Tulsa just to earn bowl eligibility. There may be some fans who don’t have it in them to make the trip to Razorback Stadium after the last two weeks, but if Arkansas can’t beat Rutgers, how many people are going to come in from out of town to see Kentucky or Tulsa? Especially when competing with deer season?

Even if the tickets to those games are already sold, the athletic department will still have concerns about donations, merchandise sales, concession sales, and so on. Arkansas has facilities to build and likely has coaches to hire in the near future. The university can not afford apathy. Look no further than Long’s twitter account, which has changed in tone from friendly question-and-answer banter with fans to uplifting messages of support and hope.

Since Petrino won’t be around to prove he can reload a team, that pressure now falls onto Long. One question to be answered is “How do the last two games change the way Long looks for a coach? If at all?” At one point, if Arkansas had the season many expected them to have, it might have been easier for Long to get away with hiring a coach who didn’t necessarily have the name-brand excitement of some fantasy coaches because everyone thought the program was in a good position. Now, if the new coach fails to generate instant enthusiasm, will fans have the patience to wait for success?

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Doc Harper is the editor of ArkansasExpats.com and is a regular contributor to ArkansasSports360.com. You can email him at heydocharper@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @doc_harper.