Arkansas QB KJ Jefferson ready to move past catastrophic fumble with shot to rebound against Alabama

It was going to be so excellent. Main Texas A&M 14-7, the ball in his fingers, the aim line proper in entrance of him, Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson knew he may punch the Aggies within the throat with a landing. Beneath heart, he jabbed ahead, then tried to leap up excessive of the crimson-and-white pile for a decisive assertion.

Jefferson goes 6-foot-3, 242 kilos. He’s a locomotive, all however unstoppable on the aim line. There was only one drawback this time: he wasn’t on the aim line. He was ranging from the 4. And so reasonably than thundering down a windmill dunk of a landing, all he did was give A&M defenders a juicy goal. One punch-out later and A&M was off on a momentum-shifting and game-shifting full-field landing run, a 14-point swing that altered the remainder of the night and led to Arkansas’ first lack of the season.

The loss knocked Arkansas down 9 spots to nineteenth within the nation, a intestine kick proper earlier than the hardest opponent on the entire slate — Alabama — involves city. Jefferson’s aim now: shrug off the irritating previous, put together for a treacherous future.

“It’s all about the way you reply and get again to work,” Jefferson advised Yahoo Sports activities Tuesday. “You’ve acquired to ensure this doesn’t divide the group.”

Jefferson is aware of Arkansas let a possibility slip away. Had the Hogs held on to win Saturday, they might have been arrange for a marquee nationwide matchup with No. 2 Alabama. School GameDay seemingly would have chosen Fayetteville over Clemson. He additionally is aware of he has to overlook about these what-ifs, and overlook about that fumble, too, or Alabama will peel much more out of him.

“You’ve acquired to not let the second get too huge, keep on a fair keel, take management of the curler coaster and maintain a impartial mindset,” he stated.

Jefferson responds to most questions that approach, spiraling out little curlicues of knowledge and soccer aphorisms that every one lead towards a central level. It’s not not like the way in which his fortunes, and people of Arkansas as a complete, have tracked over the previous couple of years, from irrelevancy to curiosity to problem to borderline menace.

Story continues

After a get-acquainted 3-7 season in 2020, head coach Sam Pittman and Jefferson led the Razorbacks to 9 wins in 2021, greater than the prior three years mixed and probably the most Arkansas had managed in a decade. For the primary time in class historical past, Arkansas claimed all three of its rivalry trophies — the Southwest Basic (A&M), Battle Line (Missouri), and Golden Boot (LSU). The Hogs reached a excessive of eighth within the nation, ending the 12 months ranked twenty first after a win over Penn State within the Outback Bowl.

Main that cost is Jefferson, who’s leveled up since what was already a formidable 2021 season. A real dual-threat quarterback, he’s thrown for 941 yards and eight touchdowns in opposition to one interception. On the bottom, he’s averaging 68.5 yards on 16 carries per recreation, with 4 touchdowns already. Alabama’s Bryce Younger and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud are (rightfully) gaining all of the requisite Heisman hype, however Jefferson is on a path that might earn him an invite to the ceremony.

“Massive, robust man, laborious to deal with, laborious to sack, laborious to get on the bottom,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban stated of Jefferson on Monday. “(He can) push the pile, run over folks when he runs quarterback runs, a really bodily participant. However you may’t decrease the effectiveness of this man as a passer. Actually good, robust arm, he throws the deep ball properly.”

“He is our quarterback,” Pittman stated not too long ago. “He makes us go. He units the tone for our soccer group.”

He’s additionally — like most star athletes within the NIL period — a mini-corporation of his personal. Along with his soccer duties and classroom work, he holds NIL offers from Walmart and Outdated Spice. He’s advocated for charitable endeavors in his dwelling state of Mississippi. He’s the general public face of a group that’s introduced pleasure again to Fayetteville’s soccer devoted.

That’s plenty of weight to bear, and Jefferson says he handles it by staying humble — repeating his mantra of “a impartial thoughts, taking management of the curler coaster.”

Nonetheless, there are challenges to preserving a chill mindset once you’re a marquee SEC quarterback. “There’s much more eyes on you,” he stated. “You’ve acquired to look at the whole lot you do, each time you work together with totally different folks. I simply attempt to present my true character, take a while out to make somebody’s day higher, whether or not it’s taking an image, signing a ball or having a dialog.”

He decompresses with self-care like mani-pedis — “it eases my thoughts, lets me take into consideration one thing aside from soccer” — and by enjoying Madden, a method he says lets him decelerate the true recreation in entrance of him. His chosen group in Madden ‘23: the Miami Dolphins. (“I like throwing to these receivers,” he says, and in contrast to most Madden gamers, he’s on a observe to do this for actual.)

Earlier than he can take into consideration life after Arkansas, he’s acquired to get via this season, preventing via a schedule that ESPN projected because the hardest Energy 5 slate within the nation. That’s what occurs once you’re within the SEC West and schedule two ranked non-conference opponents (Cincinnati and BYU) on prime of that.

Final season in opposition to Alabama, Jefferson threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns, preserving tempo with Younger. Arkansas was inside six factors with lower than six minutes left within the recreation, however a 40-yard move from Younger to Jameson Williams ended that dream. However Arkansas left Tuscaloosa with the assumption that extra was attainable.

“Alabama has been a troublesome group for I don’t know what number of years. However the entire group believes we may pull an upset. It’s all about maximizing alternatives,” Jefferson stated, “and ending drives.”

_____

Contact Jay Busbee at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or on Twitter at @jaybusbee.