Arkansas admin the real studs after dud performance vs. Notre Dame

Although the Arkansas Razorbacks (2-3, 0-1 SEC) were a legitimate threat to upset the No. 22 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2-2, 0-0 Independent), the Hogs decided to deliver their worst performance at the most inopportune time of the season against one of the most storied programs in college football history. The Razorbacks' atrocious performance against the Fighting Irish, a 56-13 loss, generated undesired national attention and criticism for the Hogs' football program.

Such attention and criticism played crucial roles in the University of Arkansas' administrators, especially Hunter Yurachek, director of athletics, deciding to relieve Sam Pittman of his duties as head football coach. Yurachek named Bobby Petrino as the interim head coach and announced a national search for Pittman's replacement, for which Petrino will be considered for the position beyond the interim role.

Following such an inexcusably poor performance, it's difficult to find much positive to say about the players' and coaches' performances against Notre Dame. Therefore, it's reasonable to argue that the duds far outweighed the studs for the Razorbacks against the Fighting Irish. While it's clear that most of the Razorbacks' players and coaches presented themselves as duds in the contest with Notre Dame, this article highlights notable studs and duds for the Hogs in this game that Razorback Nation wishes to erase from its memory.

Studs and Duds: Arkansas Razorbacks football vs. Notre Dame

Studs

Shaq McRoy

Before considering everything about the Hogs' performance against the Fighting Irish as a miserable failure, let's not dismiss how exciting and impressive it was for Shaq McRoy, an offensive lineman, to score a touchdown.

McRoy and his teammates on the offensive line didn't have a perfect performance by any stretch of the imagination, but they continued their excellent play. The offensive line's performance certainly cannot be blamed for the Hogs' limited scoring against Notre Dame.

Bobby Petrino

Even though his offense only scored 13 points against one of the worst scoring defenses in the nation, Bobby Petrino's playcalling was beautiful, as it has been all season. However, his players failed to execute, resulting in them squandering the opportunities he gave them to succeed against the Fighting Irish's defense.

While, admittedly, the Hogs' offensive players didn't execute Petrino's schemes well against Notre Dame, their abysmal defense, as the present writer has argued before, places such tremendous pressure on them to score each possession that it causes them to make mistakes and not play with the discipline and within the logic of the schemes Petrino has taught them. This pressure had its most conspicuous and devastating impact of the season on them against Notre Dame.

Hunter Yurachek

Even though Hunter Yurachek has helped the Arkansas Razorbacks achieve elite status in nearly every sport, he has received much negative criticism for his executive leadership (or lack thereof) as it relates to the football program, which generates the most revenue. Sam Pittman's tenure as the Hogs' head football coach has left much to be desired, to say the least. Many in Razorback Nation have wanted Yurachek to terminate Pittman for some time now, but he remained loyal to Pittman.

After two heartbreaking losses due to fumbles on the final drives of the games and the embarrassing loss at home to the Fighting Irish, resulting in a 2-3 record with a schedule that only grows more brutal, Yurachek made the necessary decision to end Pittman's tenure as head coach on Sunday and named Bobby Petrino as interim head coach. For this decision, which now presents Arkansas with a chance to reach elite status by hiring the right coach, Yurachek, backed by Dr. Charles Robinson, the university's chancellor, is the true stud of the game.

Duds

Travis Williams and the Hogs' defense

While Pittman should've been relieved of his duties before this season, Travis Williams deserves to be terminated as well. He has put some shameful defensive products on the field the past two seasons at Arkansas. Even though the Razorbacks have one of the best offenses in the nation, Williams' defense is so horrible that it compels the offense to be perfect, which, of course, is impossible. As long as Williams is permitted to continue as defensive coordinator, the Hogs' defense will continue to hinder the team's ability to achieve optimal success.

Against Notre Dame, it truly appeared that no defense ever walked on the field to compete with the Fighting Irish's offense. Many of the Razorbacks' defensive players seem to have no clue about what they're doing on the field, and defensive fundamentals are largely absent, both of which Williams fails to improve. Arkansas' defense surrendered 643 total yards and 56 points to Notre Dame's offense, which isn't the most potent offense the Hogs will face this season. Unacceptable!

Final Thoughts

Hunter Yurachek made the right decision to terminate Sam Pittman as head coach and promote Bobby Petrino as interim head coach. As Petrino strives to make the case for himself to be the head coach ultimately selected from a national coaching search, he will need to do something that will garner some unfavorable criticism: fire Travis Williams.

No matter how excellent Petrino's offense is, and it is indeed excellent, the Razorbacks may not win another game this season if substantive defensive changes aren't made. Unfortunately for Williams, those changes necessitate that he no longer be the defensive coordinator.