Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

In trying to understand what Arkansas’ victory over Auburn on Saturday meant to the Razorback football team, it’s easy to get lost in dreaming of some sort of dramatic turnaround that results in Arkansas becoming the football team fans imagined they were getting before the season started. Cynics might think the game was more a result of a truly horrible effort from Auburn than a Razorback rejuvenation. It could prove to be either, but right now it means Arkansas has simply given itself a chance.

We don’t mean some sort of goofy, hyperbolic longshot of winning a championship or going to the Sugar Bowl. We mean more of a chance for Arkansas to rid itself of the dumpster fire metaphor and to finish the season with pride and respectability. 

The team already deserves a ton of credit for not quitting after suffering what will be remembered as one of the most brutal months in program history. But now it has to do something with it. 

When the 2008 Razorback team unexpectedly won at Auburn after getting blown out over the previous three weeks, it faced upcoming games against Kentucky, Ole Miss, and Tulsa. Ring a bell? That team gave away a victory in Lexington and lost a very winnable game to the Rebels before finally claiming another victory over Tulsa. It ended up costing those Razorbacks a bowl trip. 

This year’s team faces the same situation. Arkansas opened as a 16-point favorite over the Kentucky Wildcats and could be the favorites for the two following games. If the Razorbacks can win all three, they will go into the final weeks of November with a 5-4 record, and needing a win over either South Carolina, Mississippi State, or LSU to become bowl eligible.

Of course, it’s true that simply earning bowl eligibility was not the team’s goal coming into the season. It was thought to be a formality, but that shouldn’t diminish the accomplishment of what earning a bowl trip would mean at this point. Expectations change as circumstances change. After going through all the injuries and general disappointment of September, just keeping the motivation to practice, play, and win is significant.

The Razorbacks have a chance to not be a punchline this season. Before the Auburn victory, each of the previous four weeks resulted in some sort of national joke or viral video. Winning gives the team an opportunity to move beyond that. This weekend, Auburn fans are the ones melting down and Razorback fans are trying to steady themselves like an earthquake just ended.

But just because the earthquake is over doesn’t mean there won’t be aftershocks.  Arkansas can’t dismiss any team as an easy victory no matter how many touchdowns it is favored by. A loss to Kentucky would wipe out any positivity gained by defeating Auburn.  The Wildcats showed some spark early in the season but have struggled severely since quarterback Maxwell Smith went down with an injury. Ole Miss has shown signs of improvement (it is actually favored to beat Auburn this week) and Tulsa is 5-1 although it hasn't really beaten a good team yet. But at the very least, Arkansas has a good chance to be competitive in those contests.

Arkansas did the hardest part on Saturday by not succumbing to a losing mentality. It has an opportunity to build something worthwhile from it. The year is just halfway over. Inexperienced freshmen are gaining experience. Injured players will hopefully be able to return soon. The Hogs get a bye week after Kentucky to further get themselves together for the stretch run.

When a team self-destructs as severely as the Razorbacks did in September, it can be very difficult to curb that momentum. Stopping the downward spiral, or at least slowing it down, is what the Auburn victory did. If the Hogs want to truly rebound, put the program in a positive light, and, hey, make the program as attractive as possible to coaching candidates, they must keep winning. 

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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.