FAYETTEVILLE — As the offense repeatedly struggled to string together drives Saturday, there was an audible grumble throughout Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Comments on social media and message boards were much less subtle, with fans calling for redshirt sophomore KJ Jefferson to be benched in the first half of his first start as the full-time starting quarterback.
However, Sam Pittman stuck with him and he rewarded his coach by leading the Razorbacks to their largest second-half scoring outburst since 2003 in a 38-17 win over Rice.
Speaking to the media on Monday, with the benefit of film review, the second-year coach reiterated that Jefferson was Arkansas’ starter and there wasn’t a quarterback controversy.
“I want to say this: I think KJ probably took a lot of heat this week,” Pittman said. “Everybody’s got their opinion, but the one that really matters is mine. He’s our quarterback and he’s going to be a heck of a quarterback for us.”
It certainly didn’t start out great for Jefferson. His first four passes fell incomplete and he was just 4 of 11 passing for 21 yards in the first half.
Three dropped passes didn’t help, but the former four-star recruit also sailed a few of his passes well over his intended target. Pittman said when he’s missed throws in practice, they’ve been high, but he “wasn’t too concerned” about it.
“I was watching some tape on some high school kids that are 4- and 5-stars and they miss plays, they miss it too,” Pittman said. “I’ve seen Dan Marino miss a pass, you know what I mean? I don’t want to make a mountain out of a mole hill there.”
Pittman’s biggest critique was Jefferson not throwing the ball away when he got out of the pocket. It was one of those plays that led to his lone interception, as he tried to force a throw to Ketron Jackson Jr. along the sideline in the second quarter.
“That right there was stress,” Pittman said. “That came from not having early success and I’m trying to make a miracle happen out here. When we can just throw it away. I think he would throw it away nine times out of 10. I think he was pressing at that point.”
On the game’s first play, Jefferson actually held on to the ball too long and took a sack for a loss of 5 yards – something else Pittman pointed to as a point of emphasis moving forward.
He didn’t make it sounds like too big of a deal, though, because later in the game, he took off and used his legs like you’d expect from a true dual-threat quarterback. He finished with 89 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries, which includes minus-13 yards on a pair of sacks.
“I’m not real concerned with that because I think as soon as he becomes a runner, I think he’s a better thrower,” Pittman said. “I know that sounds silly, but I believe that it builds up his confidence.”
In the second half, Jefferson led a 31-point barrage by completing 8 of 10 passes for 107 yards and one touchdown. Those halftime adjustments gave Pittman a lot of confidence and proved to him that he was the right guy.
“You can’t erase what’s happened,” Pittman said. “We can’t erase that we didn’t have a good first half, but you also probably need to talk about that the kid played well in the second half, too. He corrected it.”
It’s also worth noting that Jefferson’s biggest strength in the passing game – the deep ball – wasn’t really utilized Saturday. He attempted just one pass that traveled at least 20 yards downfield, which was caught by Tyson Morris for a 31-yard gain.
Stretching the field likely would have loosened up the Owls’ defense, but the Razorbacks couldn’t sustain drives, going three-and-out on five of their first seven possessions. Deep balls are great if they’re completed, Pittman said, but if not, they’re staring at second-and-10 with very little time off the clock.
“You’re trying to figure how we can stay on the field, keep our defense off the field and get a first down,” Pittman said. “It probably wouldn’t be the most popular call at that time from (offensive coordinator Kendal Briles) to throw four verts. We’re trying to figure out how to stay on the field a little bit.”
With Arkansas sputtering out of the gates, any plan to give backup quarterback Malik Hornsby some reps went out the window. Jefferson played all 67 snaps as the talented redshirt freshman watched from the sideline.
“Your intentions are always your intentions before the game starts,” Pittman said. “Then when the game starts like it did for us, especially offensively, you’re trying to fix your starter and you’re trying to fix your starters.”
Pittman had said leading up to the game that he’d like to put Hornsby in the game because he brings another dimension to the offense with his speed and reiterated Monday that he had no problem playing him.
Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, though, that opportunity never presented itself against Rice because of the bad first half.
They’ll try to get off to a hotter start in Week 2, but will have to do so against a much tougher challenger. Texas is a top-25 team and cruised to a 38-18 win over No. 23 Louisiana in its opener.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT Saturday in Fayetteville and the game will be televised on ESPN.