Arkansas Football: 2 Reasons Why Razorbacks Will Win 2022 SEC Championship

After failing to play in a bowl sport for 4 years in a row, the Arkansas Razorbacks lastly made their return to bowl season in 2021, even profitable the Outback Bowl on the expense of the Penn State Nittany Lions in January 2022. That signifies that the Razorbacks are again, and they’ll look to construct on that stable marketing campaign this upcoming season the place they must show that Arkansas soccer is greater than only a flash within the pan in as we speak’s panorama of faculty soccer. Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman is optimistic about what lays forward of Arkansas soccer.

Through Aaron Suttles of The Athletic:

“I feel once we first bought right here we wished to, you realize, to have the ability to compete,” Pittman mentioned. “Our first objective annually is to be bowl eligible, after which after that, it’s wherever the season takes us. We wish to be loyal. We wish to be robust. And we wish to play onerous as hell. And if we are able to do this, then the outcomes, in my view, will maintain themselves.”

With all that mentioned, listed here are a few explanation why the Arkansas Razorbacks can find yourself because the 2022 SEC champions.

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Why Arkansas Soccer Will Win 2022 SEC Championship

2. The double-edge Razor(again)

We’re speaking about KJ Jefferson right here who will likely be getting into his junior 12 months in Fayetteville coming off the heels of an amazing physique of labor in 2021 the place he actually turned the nook. After warming the seat for many of his first two seasons in Arkansas as a secondary possibility within the quarterback room, Jefferson lastly bought his likelihood to be on prime of the place’s pecking order in 2021. That season. Jefferson handed for two,676 yards and 21 touchdowns in opposition to simply 4 interceptions whereas additionally connecting to his targets 67.3 p.c of the time. Amongst certified SEC quarterbacks final season, Jefferson’s completion price was fourth finest within the league — placing him forward of the like of Alabama Crimson Tide signal-caller and Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Younger and just some decimal ticks beneath Ole Miss Rebels gunslinger and now Carolina Panthers rookie Matt Corral.

Pittman has loads of causes to imagine that Jefferson may surpass his 2021 manufacturing and effectivity in 2022, particularly with the expertise he now has. However there’s extra to Jefferson than simply being a reliable passing quarterback. In his first 12 months because the full-blown starter of Arkansas soccer, Jefferson made positive to show as properly what he may do along with his legs. Jefferson paced the Razorbacks with 644 dashing yards to go along with a complete of six touchdowns on 146 dashing makes an attempt for a median of 4.5 yards per carry. In different phrases, he was the central determine of Arkansas soccer’s floor assault that led your entire SEC with 227.77 dashing yards per sport. Jefferson may regress, in fact, however he’ll all the time be seen as a harmful dual-threat by opponents, and possibly that’s going to be all Arkansas must loosen up SEC defenses.

When the Razorbacks went toe to toe in opposition to Alabama late within the 2021 season, Jefferson struggled to realize yards on the bottom, developing with a paltry sum of twenty-two dashing yards on 13 carries, however he was golden transferring the rock by means of the air, going 22/30 for 326 passing yards and three touchdowns with out getting intercepted. Jefferson goes to be an issue, and it’s in all probability even higher for the Razorbacks that he feels as if he’s bought a chip on his shoulder after not getting a nod to be a part of preseason all-SEC groups.

Through Kyle Deckelbaum of KATV:

“It’s fairly regular now. I’ve been doubted my entire life,” Jefferson instructed KATV. “Having that motivation going into the season all the time provides you an edge.”

1. Hogging the limelight on the bottom

Arkansas soccer’s passing assault will get dinged with vast receiver Treylon Burks now incomes professional cash within the NFL. Burks was the highest possibility downfield for Jefferson, main the Razorbacks with 1,104  receiving yards and 11 touchdowns on 66 receptions. He was head and shoulders over everybody else within the receiving corps of Arkansas, which ranked 81st nationally in passing yards per sport (214.0) and simply eleventh within the SEC.

Nevertheless, the Razorbacks can all the time depend on their dashing sport. As talked about earlier, KJ Jefferson is a respectable dual-threat quarterback and he will likely be working the gaps on the bottom along with returning working backs Raheim Sanders and Dominique Johnson, who every had a minimum of 575 dashing yards final season whereas additionally combining for 10 dashing touchdowns. AJ Inexperienced can also be again and he could possibly be on the verge of breaking out in his sophomore 12 months after dashing solely 47 instances in 2021 and changing these to 227 dashing yards and a landing.