Gus Malzahn impressed with the effort the Razorbacks give on the field: 'I believe that's coaching'
The way Gus Malzahn praised the coaching job being done in Fayetteville this year, you’d think he didn’t know who ran the Arkansas program last season.
Of course, you could write off Malzahn’s recent comments as pure coachspeak, but considering the Razorbacks just ended a 20-game SEC losing streak, there’s something to the recent comments from Auburn’s coach.
What stands out about the Razorbacks after two weeks? According to Malzahn, Arkansas is giving incredible effort on the field so far this season.
“Well, what stands out to me is they’re playing extremely hard. When you get a team that’s playing extremely hard, I believe that’s coaching,” Malzahn said. “So hats off to those guys and they’re off to a very good start. And like I said, I think Sam (Pittman) is a football coach, he’s got those guys playing extremely hard.”
That wasn’t all the praise Malzahn offered up for the Arkansas coaching staff.
The big story from Arkansas’ upset win over Mississippi State was the performance of Barry Odom’s defense. After the Bulldogs scored 44 points on LSU in the opener, a game in which K.J. Costello threw for an SEC-record 623 passing yards, the Razorbacks limited Mississippi State to just 14 points and forced four turnovers.
“He deserves two Coach of the Week awards. He’s always been one of the best, it doesn’t surprise me,” Malzahn said of Odom.
Lastly, on Arkansas QB Feleipe Franks, Malzahn notes that the Razorbacks have a veteran that he believes the rest of the roster has faith in to get the job done on Saturdays.
“Yeah, you know, it looks to me like he’s confident, his offensive guys are confident around,” the Auburn coach added. “Like I said earlier, I mean I was always impressed with him in Florida. He’s a veteran guy that understands the league and understands what it’s like to just start in this league.
“So I think it gives them stability, you know, at that position.”
Based on those comments, Malzahn must believe Arkansas made a coaching upgrade this offseason after moving on from Chad Morris.
If you throw on the tape of Auburn’s offensive performance against Georgia from last weekend, it would be hard to argue otherwise.