2022 Arkansas

7–⁠6 (3–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Sam Pittman.

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 2022, game by game: won vs. No. 23 Cincinnati 31–24; won vs. South Carolina 44–30; won vs. Missouri State 38–27; lost vs. No. 23 Texas A&M 21–23; lost vs. No. 2 Alabama 26–49; lost at No. 23 Mississippi State 17–40; won at BYU 52–35; won at Auburn 41–27; lost vs. No. 23 Liberty 19–21; lost vs. No. 7 LSU 10–13; won vs. No. 14 Ole Miss 42–27; lost at Missouri 27–29; won vs. Kansas 55–53+17−23Won 31–24 vs. No. 23 Cincinnati+7No. 23 CincinnatiWon 44–30 vs. South Carolina+14South CarolinaWon 38–27 vs. Missouri State+11Missouri StateLost 21–23 vs. No. 23 Texas A&M-2No. 23 Texas A&MLost 26–49 vs. No. 2 Alabama-23No. 2 AlabamaLost 17–40 at No. 23 Mississippi State-23No. 23 Mississippi Sta…Won 52–35 at BYU+17BYUWon 41–27 at Auburn+14AuburnLost 19–21 vs. No. 23 Liberty-2No. 23 LibertyLost 10–13 vs. No. 7 LSU-3No. 7 LSUWon 42–27 vs. No. 14 Ole Miss+15No. 14 Ole MissLost 27–29 at Missouri-2MissouriWon 55–53 vs. Kansas+2Kansas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Kansas 55–⁠53 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 34th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 19
  2. Wk 2: 16
  3. Wk 3: 10
  4. Wk 4: 10
  5. Wk 5: 20
Record
7–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 8th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 10
Points
423–⁠398
Coach
Sam Pittman
Elo
1618 +46 this season
SP+ rating
12.0 No. 29 of 131; offense No. 19, defense No. 63, special teams No. 64
SRS
6.5 No. 34 of 131 in FBS
Returning
68% of last season’s EPA, No. 44 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 28 roster talent No. 26 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Kendal Briles
Defensive coordinator
Barry Odom
Captains
Simeon Blair, Jalen Catalon, K.J. Jefferson, Bumper Pool and Dalton Wagner
Offense
Hurry-up, no-huddle spread
Defense
3–⁠2–⁠6

How good, play by play

  • Offense43rd of 131
  • Defense117th of 131
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted26th of 131
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted95th of 131
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1645%1.2443rd of 131
Defense0.2144%1.38117th of 131
Opponent-adjusted0.17 off
0.15 def
47% off
41% def
—26th off
95th 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
Offense4.2own 3215% allowed
Defense3.6own 2816% caused

CORE rating 0.1, 67th of 131 (offense 5.3, defense 5.3).

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 QB2,648 yds
Passing touchdownsK.J. Jefferson QB24 TD
Rushing yardsRaheim Sanders RB1,443 yds
Rushing touchdownsRaheim Sanders RB10 TD
Receiving yardsMatt Landers WR901 yds
Receiving touchdownsMatt Landers WR8 TD
TacklesDrew Sanders LB104 tkl
SacksDrew Sanders LB10 sacks
InterceptionsDwight McGlothern DB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2022 class

Isaiah Sategna WR★★★★No. 137
E’Marion Harris OT★★★★No. 291
Andrew Chamblee OT★★★★No. 339
Patrick Kutas OL★★★★No. 373
Quincey McAdoo WR★★★★No. 378
Rashod Dubinion ATH★★★★No. 399
Sam Mbake WR★★★★No. 421

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

The 2022 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs13.00.877
Receivers53.60.893
Offensive line53.60.872
Defensive line23.00.875
Linebackers33.00.870
Defensive backs23.00.881
Athletes and specialists33.00.834
Whole class213.30.873

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 2023

The 2023 draft
Rd 3Drew Sanders ILBDenver Broncos
Rd 3Ricky Stromberg CWashington Commanders

Roster 117

The 2022 roster

117 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2022 line; 55 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 9

The 2022 portal

Transfers out 22

Greg Brooks Jr. CB★★★★to LSU
Joseph Foucha S★★★★to LSU
Trelon Smith RB★★★to UTSA
Lucas Coley QB★★★to Houston
Nick Turner CB★★★to Toledo
Jalen Williams DL★★★to Southern Miss
Josh Oglesby RB★★to Stephen F. Austin
Vito Calvaruso K★★to Wisconsin
Darin Turner WR★★★★to Alabama A&M
Devin Bush CB★★★★to Grambling
Malik Hornsby QB★★★★returned to Arkansas
Mataio Soli DE★★★★to Hawai’i

And 10 more, lower-rated or unrated.

All-SEC

3 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2022 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2022 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia8–⁠015–⁠01
Tennessee6–⁠211–⁠26
Alabama6–⁠211–⁠25
LSU6–⁠210–⁠416
Mississippi State4–⁠49–⁠420
Ole Miss4–⁠48–⁠5
South Carolina4–⁠48–⁠523
Arkansas3–⁠57–⁠6
Kentucky3–⁠57–⁠6
Florida3–⁠56–⁠7
Missouri3–⁠56–⁠7
Vanderbilt2–⁠65–⁠7
Texas A&M2–⁠65–⁠7
Auburn2–⁠65–⁠7

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