A whole new season begins Saturday, as the Bobby Petrino Era 2.0 kicks off. Petrino wants the job and has eight weeks to earn it. And he’s going to have to earn it: four teams ranked in the top-15 are still on the schedule, so to make a bowl, the Hogs will have to beat at least one of them. That begins Saturday with a road trip to Tennessee, who will probably want revenge after what happened last year in Fayetteville.
Unsurprisingly, the Hogs have been in the national media since elevating Petrino. Yahoo’s college football podcast featured an excellent discussion on the quality of the job featuring Ross Dellenger, Andy Staples, and Steven Godfrey. It’s worth checking out if you have the time:
This was the first time I had considered the theory that Hunter Yurachek is essentially laying a trap for Petrino so he can exclude him as a candidate in November. By firing Sam Pittman so early and then specifically mentioning that Petrino wanted to be a candidate for the job full-time (a sentence in the firing release that Godfrey noted was unusual and completely unnecessary), he turned the rest of the season into an audition… against a gauntlet schedule. If (or when) the Hogs do not reach six wins, Yurachek can move on to candidates he actually wants to hire.
This makes some sense. Of course, it’s risky if Petrino actually gets the team to a bowl. If the Hogs somehow go 7-5 or 8-4, then Yurachek would have little choice but to give the job to Petrino. At 6-6 exactly, it’s dicier, because a 6-6 season might not have been enough to save Pittman, and a 4-3 record over seven games, even seven hard ones, isn’t exactly national championship material.
Anyway, all eyes will be on Knoxville this weekend. I have no idea what kind of team you’ll see.
Games to watch
Here’s a quick rundown of games that might be worth tuning into, either to see future opponents in action or watch potential coaching candidates.
Wednesday night
Missouri State at Middle Tennessee (6:30 pm, ESPN2). Should Petrino end up getting the head job, there’s an obvious candidate for the full-time offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach position. Bobby’s son Nick Petrino has been the offensive coordinator in Springfield since 2020, with the Bears retaining him after Bobby left in 2022. In their first season in the FBS, the Bears are at a major talent disadvantage, but their offense is competitive thanks to a solid 13% explosive play rate, good for 29th in the FBS. They are the FBS’s worst team on third down, though.
Thursday night
East Carolina at Tulane (6:30 pm, ESPN). Tulane coach Jon Sumrall has the most eye-popping resume of any up-and-comer, and he’ll likely be in the SEC next year or the year after. The Green Wave are 4-1 with their lone loss coming to Ole Miss.
Friday night
South Florida at North Texas (6:30 pm, ESPN2). This game is a double-dip, as both USF’s Alex Golesh and UNT’s Eric Morris will be mentioned as candidates. Golesh is a respected Josh Heupel disciple, running a Briles-style offense that features tempo, deep choice routes, and RPOs. The Bulls went 7-6 in each of his first two seasons but they are 4-1 this year with wins over Florida and Boise State. Morris is a former Mike Leach and Kliff Kingsbury assistant who runs a form of the Air Raid offense. He went 11-14 over his first two seasons in Denton but the Mean Green are 5-0 this year.
Saturday morning
Ohio State at Illinois (11 am, FOX). Barry Lunney Jr. has gone and made a name for himself as an offensive coordinator. The former star quarterback for the Razorbacks served as Arkansas’ tight ends coach and in-state recruiting coordinator through the Bret Bielema and Chad Morris eras (2013-2019) before following Jeff Traylor to UTSA for a couple seasons. He’s been paired with Bielema in Champaign since 2022, and this year the 5-1 Illini have a dangerous passing attack led by veteran quarterback Luke Altmyer. He may get a head coaching opportunity soon, though it’s probably a little early for the Hogs to pursue him for anything other than offensive coordinator for the next coach.
Alabama at Missouri (11 am, ABC). This is the first big test for 5-0 Missouri, while Alabama is a battle-tested 4-1. I’m interested to see how ULM transfer Ahmad Hardy, the SEC’s leading rusher, performs against a good defense.
Stanford at SMU (11 am, The CW). Yes, SMU has a lot of money and is sitting pretty in the ACC, but the fact that this is a football game on The CW is a pretty good argument for why Rhett Lashlee might want to come back home. The Mustangs are just 3-2 with a couple of close losses, but the back half of the schedule is littered with cupcakes.
Saturday afternoon
Arkansas at Tennessee (3:15 pm, SEC Network). Any hope of an in-season recovery depends on at least a strong performance here. With LSU and Texas wavering, and four SEC opponents still having to come to Fayetteville, all hope is certainly not lost if the Hogs don’t win this game. But this might be a rare case where a moral victory is at least worth something.
Indiana at Oregon (2:30 pm, CBS). Want proof of what can happen if you just make the right hire? Look no further than seventh-ranked (!) Indiana, now 5-0 a year after a playoff bid. Indiana is historically one of the worst power conference jobs, but Curt Cignetti is doing an incredible job there, and this year’s roster is decently competitive in terms of NIL, although the Hoosier payroll pales in comparison to Oregon’s.
Oklahoma vs. Texas (2:30 pm, ABC). So, Arch Manning is just terrible? That’s it? He’s looked abysmal this year, and Texas dropped from ninth to unranked after an ugly performance in the Swamp. Voters are tired of this team not living up to the preseason hype. The Sooners are playing their backup quarterback as John Mateer recovers from surgery. However, Brent Venables’ defense ranks first in the FBS in all of the following defensive advanced stats:
- EPA per Drive
- EPA per Play
- EPA per Play on Passing Downs
- EPA per Pass Attempt
- Overall Success Rate
- Rushing Success Rate
- Passing Success Rate
- Sack Rate
Good luck, Arch.
Air Force at UNLV (2:30 pm, CBS Sports Network). Dan Mullen has the Rebels at 5-0, and UNLV’s win over UCLA is looking much better after the Bruins upset Penn State. I don’t think he’s nearly as bad a hire as some people seem to think.
Appalachian State at Georgia State (2:30 pm, ESPN+). No, Dowell Loggains isn’t going to be a serious candidate for the Hogs this cycle, but tune in to watch the Razorback alum lead the Mountaineers, who will ride former Hog Rashod Dubinion on the ground.
Saturday evening
Florida at Texas A&M (6 pm, ESPN). Get a preview of the fifth-ranked Aggies, who will visit Fayetteville next weekend. Florida just upset Texas, maybe they are finally finding their groove?
Georgia at Auburn (6:30 pm, ABC). Looking at Auburn’s schedule, it is entirely possible that Hugh Freeze’s bunch will need to win in Fayetteville to make a bowl. Georgia is the first of four ranked teams left on the schedule, and Auburn already has two losses. Arkansas has dealt a fatal blow to a sitting head coach three times in recent years: Tommy Tuberville in 2008, Gene Chizik in 2012, and Bryan Harsin in 2022. (You could, and probably should, also count Gus Malzahn in 2020, even though the SEC still maintains that Auburn won that game.) Assuming the Tigers lose this one and also to Missouri next week, a loss in Fayetteville on October 25th might seal Freeze’s fate.
Purdue at Minnesota (6:30 pm, Big Ten Network). Barry Odom wouldn’t be an exciting candidate, but there are worse options out there. And Minnesota is quarterbacked by Fayetteville’s own Drake Lindsey.
South Carolina at LSU (6:45 pm, SEC Network). That two-week November road stretch of Texas and LSU no longer appears as scary as it once did, as LSU’s offense has struggled this year. The defense remains strong, but LSU is worth watching over the next few weeks.