#5 Worst: Injuries
If there is any one thing that has Razorback fans wondering what could have been, it’s seeing all these playmaking Hogs on the sideline in the early part of the season. Injuries may be “part of the game”, but this high volume of long term injuries felt almost personal from some offended football God in the cosmos.
It all started with the loss of Johnathan Williams, but we’ll talk more about that later. The receiving corp that was going to be so crucial to the new offensive scheme of Dan Enos was almost completely gone by week 3. Keon Hatcher, Cody Hollister, and Jared Cornelius were all on the sideline on crutches or in slings. As was big bruising running back Kody Walker, who joined Williams on the sideline. Josh Williams suffered a broken leg, and Dwayne Eugene got hurt against Alabama. Drew Morgan injured his shoulder about halfway through the season, but kept playing. Mitchell Loewen also went down with a broken foot.
Most terrifyingly, Rawleigh Williams III went down with a terrible neck injury. While he’s expected to make a full recovery, his timetable to return, if he ever does return, is up in the air. The injury bug bit Arkansas HARD this year, but they were able to overcome it, thanks in large part to a new man calling the plays on the sideline.
#5 Best: Dan Enos
I’m not ashamed to admit that I was 100% wrong about Dan Enos coming to Arkansas. It’s not that I thought he was a BAD hire, it’s just that I wasn’t convinced that he would pay off. And boy, was I wrong. Enos was forced to completely alter his gameplan by week 2 due to injuries, and it showed in the Hogs offensive production pre-BYE week. Once Dan got a chance to re-tool his plans, the Razorbacks offense looked like it did back in the Ryan Mallett/Knile Davis days. Balanced, aggressive, methodical, and deadly.
Enos brought out the best in Brandon Allen. He turned Allen from a game manager role to, in my opinion, the best damn quarterback in the SEC. Not only that, but Enos was able to keep the ground game going, too, despite only having 1 healthy back for the majority of the year. Alex Collins didn’t miss a step, and had his best individual season as a Hog under the first year OC.
While the offense will lose some big playmakers, they will be bringing back a lot of talent for next year’s squad. Expectations will be high for Dan Enos next year. I, along with many other’s who doubted the Enos hire, am no longer questioning his worth as a playcaller.
Next: Ugly Breakups and Fate Intervening