Arkansas had to beat Kansas two or three times to win the Liberty Bowl, but the Hogs finally got it done in three overtimes, 55-53, to win the Liberty Bowl and finish the 2022 season at 7-6.
If we’re being pedantic, the final score was 38-23 and everything that happened after the 2:46 mark of the fourth quarter was a glorified exhibition. I mean, come on:
There are close calls, and there’s that: a fundamentally game-changing play in which Matt Landers’ arm was very clearly down. The ball came free because his entire forearm hit the ground.
“Well, it may have been a bad call, but Arkansas has to overcome!” Given that this a multi-billion dollar industry and not a mugging in a dark alley, then no, I’m not really interested in pivoting a discussion about a game-changing call into a side discussion about how Arkansas responded. Just because Arkansas eventually won doesn’t mean we don’t need an explanation for how the replay crew reached that conclusion.
The targeting call was also pretty bad, but there are calls that ended up having less impact on the game that were just horrible. With 1:31 left, facing 2nd-and-19, Kansas was called for holding on this play. But see if you can spot a bigger penalty that didn’t get called:
If that’s not intentional grounding, then there’s no such thing. No Kansas receiver was within 20 yards of that pass, and Jalon Daniels was not outside of the tackle-box. Intentional grounding would have included a loss of down, so Arkansas would have preferred that over holding. Kansas ended up converting anyway, so it’s not clear what impact that miss had, but it’s still a horrible call.
Anyway, you can call this game a lot of things. I’m not sure I would go with “exciting”, because Calvinball isn’t exciting. It’s absurd. That’s probably how I’d describe it. But it’s also a win, and you can’t complain too much about that.
Takeaways
Great game for the freshmen/young players. The NCAA may not be able to provide competent officials, but the new rule allowing redshirt candidates to play in bowl games without it counting is a really good one. The Hogs got extended looks at several players who were able to preserve their redshirt. Tight end Ty Washington made his first career catch: a 17-yard touchdown on a Shanahan-influenced fake screen pass. Washington would not have played if not for the new rule, as he’s seen special teams snaps in a few games. Jaedon Wilson – who had seen some snaps this year but had just one catch for two yards – officially caught two passes for 47 yards, but he also snagged a two-point conversion in the second overtime. He looked really crisp running routes and showed good hands. Isaiah Sategna made his second career catch, while Bryce Stephens made his 12th. Harper Cole also had his first career catch and recovered a fumbled kickoff.
With Rocket Sanders exiting the game early with an injury, Rashod Dubinion was the workhorse, recording career-highs of 20 carries for 112 yards and two scores, plus three catches for 19 yards and a two-point conversion. AJ Green rushed for 99 yards and a touchdown. Ty’Kieast Crawford made his second career start on the offensive line, but was injured in the first quarter, so true freshman E’Marion Harris got the first extended snaps of his career.
And that’s just on offense. The Arkansas defense had even more new faces. Linebacker Jordan Crook made his first career start and had seven tackles, while Pooh Paul was all over the field in his second career start, recording 12 tackles and breaking up a two-point conversion attempt. True freshman defensive back Jaylen Lewis saw action for the first time and made his first career tackle, while Quincey McAdoo was also solid at cornerback.
The defense had some moments but got worn down. One of the reasons that Kansas was able to come back is that Arkansas ran out of gas. There’s a valid excuse: the Hogs are down 20+ players, with many of them on defense. Starters Bumper Pool, Drew Sanders, Myles Slusher, Isaiah Nichols, and highly-used backup Khari Johnson are no longer with the program, along with several other guys deeper in the depth chart who would have played.
Arkansas’ defensive line looked excellent, with Cam Ball and Terry Hampton really locking up in the middle. Jordan Domineck was everywhere: he had only one sack and two TFLs, but he caused another sack (credited to Hampton), and repeatedly got pressure. Arkansas completely shut down the run game and got a decent pass rush all game long using a 4-man front that, with Barry Odom off to UNLV, is likely to be the standard moving forward.
Big credit to interim DC Michael Scherer for having a depleted roster ready to compete against a very good offense. Scherer seems unlikely to remain on staff with rumors that Odom wants to bring him to Las Vegas, so if this is goodbye, the effort in his final game is appreciated.
KJ Jefferson had to do it all… and did. The Hogs’ offense bogged down when they tried to run the clock and took the ball out of KJ’s hands. Other than that, he was pretty much perfect, totaling more than 400 yards of offense and four scores. Matt Landers was his only reliable target, he lost Sanders early, and he was playing with a new center with Ricky Stromberg off to the NFL, but he still ran the offense with tremendous precision. You would have thought he’d been tossing to Wilson and Stephens, handing off to Dubinion, and taking snaps from Beaux Limmer all season.
Conclusion
Arkansas’ season ends at 7-6. That’s a little bit of a disappointment given the preseason hype, but Arkansas lost some very close games and dealt with a ton of injuries that particularly plagued Jefferson and the secondary. The Hogs will look very different next year, with a new defensive coordinator and a ton of new faces on both sides of the ball.
Arkansas will have several portal priorities, namely offensive tackle, wide receiver, and safety. If the Hogs can land a couple of big fish during the offseason, there’s still plenty of reason for optimism heading into next year.
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