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2021 Arkansas

9–⁠4 (4–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Sam Pittman, finished No. 21 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 2021, game by game: won vs. Rice 38–17; won vs. No. 15 Texas 40–21; won vs. Georgia Southern 45–10; won vs. No. 7 Texas A&M 20–10; lost at No. 2 Georgia 0–37; lost at No. 17 Ole Miss 51–52; lost vs. Auburn 23–38; won vs. Arkansas–Pine Bluff 45–3; won vs. Mississippi State 31–28; won at LSU 16–13; lost at No. 2 Alabama 35–42; won vs. Missouri 34–17; won vs. Penn State 24–10+42−37Won 38–17 vs. Rice+21RiceWon 40–21 vs. No. 15 Texas+19No. 15 TexasWon 45–10 vs. Georgia Southern+35Georgia SouthernWon 20–10 vs. No. 7 Texas A&M+10No. 7 Texas A&MLost 0–37 at No. 2 Georgia-37No. 2 GeorgiaLost 51–52 at No. 17 Ole Miss-1No. 17 Ole MissLost 23–38 vs. Auburn-15AuburnWon 45–3 vs. Arkansas–Pine Bluff+42Arkansas–Pine B…Won 31–28 vs. Mississippi State+3Mississippi Sta…Won 16–13 at LSU+3LSULost 35–42 at No. 2 Alabama-7No. 2 AlabamaWon 34–17 vs. Missouri+17MissouriWon 24–10 vs. Penn State+14Penn State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4vsRiceW 38–⁠1756%
Sep 11vs15TexasW 40–⁠2133%
Sep 18vsGeorgia SouthernW 45–⁠1058%
Sep 25vs7Texas A&MW 20–⁠1029%
Oct 2at2GeorgiaL 0–⁠3723%
Oct 9at17Ole MissL 51–⁠5240%
Oct 16vsAuburnL 23–⁠3854%
Oct 23vsArkansas–Pine BluffW 45–⁠389%
Nov 6vsMississippi StateW 31–⁠2853%
Nov 13atLSUW 16–⁠1339%
Nov 20at2AlabamaL 35–⁠4214%
Nov 26vsMissouriW 34–⁠1768%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvsPenn StateOutback BowlW 24–⁠1042%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Penn State 24–⁠10 in the Outback Bowl; No. 21 in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 36th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 20
  2. Wk 4: 16
  3. Wk 5: 8
  4. Wk 6: 13
  5. Wk 7: 17
  6. Wk 12: 21
  7. Wk 13: 25
  8. Wk 14: 23
  9. Wk 15: 22
  10. Final: 21

Burlsworth TrophyGrant Morgan, LB

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 5th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 21 peak No. 8
Points
402–⁠298
Coach
Sam Pittman
Elo
1608 +166 this season
SP+ rating
13.8 No. 22 of 130; offense No. 31, defense No. 27
SRS
9.6 No. 22 of 130 in FBS
Returning
51% of last season’s EPA, No. 103 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 24 roster talent No. 28 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Kendal Briles
Defensive coordinator
Barry Odom
Captains
Jalen Catalon, Myron Cunningham, Joe Foucha, K.J. Jefferson and Grant Morgan
Offense
Hurry-up, no-huddle spread
Defense
3–⁠2–⁠6

How good, play by play

  • Offense21st of 130
  • Defense43rd of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted9th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted24th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2344%1.2621st of 130
Defense0.1041%1.2143rd of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.26 off
0.08 def		45% off
39% def		—9th off
24th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.6own 2717% allowed
Defense3.0own 2817% caused

CORE rating 21.5, 6th of 130 (offense 12.4, defense -9.1).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsK.J. Jefferson QB2,676 yds
Passing touchdownsK.J. Jefferson QB21 TD
Rushing yardsK.J. Jefferson QB664 yds
Rushing touchdownsDominique Johnson RB7 TD
Receiving yardsTreylon Burks WR1,104 yds
Receiving touchdownsTreylon Burks WR11 TD
TacklesBumper Pool LB125 tkl
SacksTre Williams DL6 sacks
InterceptionsMontaric Brown DB5 INT

Top recruits in the 2021 class

Ketron Jackson WR★★★★No. 165
A.J. Green ATH★★★★No. 190
Raheim Sanders ATH★★★★No. 272
Terry Wells OT★★★★No. 393
Javion Hunt RB★★★No. 491

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2021 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks23.00.861
Running backs13.00.882
Receivers43.30.883
Offensive line33.30.875
Defensive line23.00.874
Linebackers33.00.862
Defensive backs23.00.871
Athletes and specialists43.50.886
Whole class213.20.875

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2022

The 2022 draft
Rd 1Treylon Burks WRTennessee Titans
Rd 5John Ridgeway DTDallas Cowboys
Rd 7Montaric Brown CBJacksonville Jaguars

Roster 121

The 2021 roster

121 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2021 line; 65 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 5

The 2021 portal
John Ridgeway DL★★★from Illinois State
Ty’Kieast Crawford OT★★★from Charlotte
Trent Gordon CB★★★from Penn State
Kade Renfro QB★★★from Ole Miss
Markell Utsey DL★★★from Missouri

Transfers out 16

Michael Woods II WR★★★to Oklahoma
Jarques McClellion CB★★★to Florida State
Shamar Nash WR★★★to Memphis
Blayne Toll TE★★★to Colorado
Chibueze Nwanna OT★★★to Charlotte
Deon Edwards LB★★★returned to Arkansas
Enoch Jackson Jr. DL★★★to North Texas
Julius Coates DL★★★no new school on file
Micahh Smith S★★★no new school on file
Myles Mason S★★★to Louisiana Tech
Nic Fulwider DL★★★to Texas State
Karch Gardiner WR★★no new school on file

And 4 more, lower-rated or unrated.

All-SEC

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2021 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2021 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia8–⁠014–⁠11
Alabama7–⁠113–⁠22
Ole Miss6–⁠210–⁠311
Kentucky5–⁠310–⁠318
Arkansas4–⁠49–⁠421
Texas A&M4–⁠48–⁠4
Tennessee4–⁠47–⁠6
Mississippi State4–⁠47–⁠6
South Carolina3–⁠57–⁠6
LSU3–⁠56–⁠7
Auburn3–⁠56–⁠7
Missouri3–⁠56–⁠7
Florida2–⁠66–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠82–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.