It’s Battle Line Rivalry Presented By Shelter Insurance Week, so Arkansas and Mizzou face off on Friday.
This series has not been kind to the Hogs, to say the very least. Since annual games began in 2014, the Hogs are 2-7 against the Tigers. Mizzou won easily in the two years it had the clearly better team (2018 and 2019), and Arkansas has won the two years when it had the clearly better team (2015 and 2021). The story of this rivalry is the other five years: all toss-ups on paper, all close wins for Mizzou (2014, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022).
On paper, this doesn’t really look like a toss-up. Arkansas is 4-7 and Mizzou is 9-2, looking for a 10-win season in Eli Drinkwitz’s breakout. Drink is a complete goober, but he’s also a good football coach. He slowly built up depth and stability in the program, going from 5-5 to 6-7 to 6-7, and finally landed 5-star receiver Luther Burden and turned him into a super-weapon. That’s a good way to win at a place like Mizzou.
The Guiton audition
With the news that Sam Pittman is returning next year, all eyes go to his offensive coordinator. The hire of Dan Enos did not in fact sink the Pittman ship, so he’ll get a chance to atone for that bad hire and get this one right.
We’ll do a post after the season on what Pittman should be looking for and who the candidates might be, but for now, Kenny Guiton gets a one-game audition. His three games have produced the two best offensive performances of the season against FBS competition (Florida and FIU), but the Hogs also had that dud against Auburn. Given the extreme pressure on Pittman and the high risk of fan apathy, I don’t think he can afford to simply make Guiton permanent unless Guiton’s entire four-game run is exceptional, and it won’t be exceptional without a big performance on Friday. If the Hogs win and the offense scores 30+, I suspect that Guiton is the candidate to beat for the job.
As we mentioned on Sunday, there are going to be a lot of possible candidates who figure to be home-run hires, like Dino Babers, Sean Lewis, and Brennan Marion, but all of those would require a transition (though it’s worth noting that Babers and Lewis both run the same Briles veer-and-shoot that Arkansas has been running), and Pittman doesn’t have a lot of time for a transition. Arkansas has monster games against Oklahoma State and Texas A&M next September, plus potentially-tricky games against UAB and Louisiana Tech. They’re going to have to be crisp from the get-go, or Pittman’s fate may be sealed by mid-October.
Other games to watch
The Egg Bowl (Thursday, 6:30 pm, ESPN). Ole Miss was flat and lost in Mike Leach’s final game a year ago, but Lane Kiffin can finish with his second 10-win season in four years with a win. State needs this one to make a bowl, but they have an interim coach after firing Zach Arnett.
Texas A&M at LSU (Saturday, 11 am, ESPN). Jayden Daniels is probably the Heisman favorite, but I’m not sure voters would give it to him if LSU goes 8-4. The Aggies are Jimbo Fisher-less for this one as they look for a new coach to overpay.
The Iron Bowl (Saturday, 2:30 pm, CBS). After Auburn’s incredible dud against New Mexico State, Tiger fans better hope Hugh Freeze was just prepping for this game. A loss means Freeze goes 6-6 in his first year, and many of the concerns that came with him from his time at Ole Miss (winning big games, but laying a couple eggs a year) are still with him at Auburn. Alabama is still a playoff contender, and has a good chance of being in if they win this one and then beat Georgia.
Florida State at Florida (Saturday, 6 pm, ESPN). Florida State is a team that Alabama is hoping to jump, as the 11-0 Noles are without Jordan Travis for the first time in four years. Florida is 5-6 and needs this to make a bowl, but they are also without Graham Mertz, who was injured against Mizzou. Billy Napier’s seat will be on fire if the Gators don’t win this one. He could get fired this year, but most likely, he’ll enter next year with the hottest seat in the country.
Clemson at South Carolina (Saturday, 6:30 pm, SEC Network). Shane Beamer won’t get fired this year, especially after escaping Kentucky 17-14 last week, but his seat will be warm next year if the Gamecocks lose this one and miss a bowl in Year 3.
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