Arkansas’s FAYETTEVILLE Central Florida, congratulations. After a 6-7 season, which included a 3-6 showing in the Knights’
conference debut, Gus Malzahn needs victories in the Big 12, and he couldn’t have signed a quarterback with a stronger track record of
accomplishing just that than former Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson.
During Jefferson’s three years as an established starter, the Razorbacks finished 8-16 versus SEC opponents; however, he was 4-1
against teams who were either in the Big 12 at the time or are still in the Big 12. This past season, the only defeat came at the hands of
BYU in Fayetteville, 38-31.
The strong quarterback, who resembled a linebacker, scored 15 touchdowns and had 1,629 yards of offense in five games. No five
games exist where
The closest anybody got was a three-game span in which one of the two starting quarterbacks from previous season, John Rhys
Plumlee, scored 327 in a 27-13 victory over Houston, 332 in a 24-23 defeat to Texas Tech, and 375 in an upset of Oklahoma State in a
45-3 game. Even though it was the Knights’ best run of the season, Plumlee only scored six touchdowns—three fewer than Jefferson
averaged in the same period against the Big 12.
Plumlee’s touchdown total in the Texas Tech game was just one. Even if Jefferson were only mediocre, UCF would still win handily.
The remainder of the year’s stats paled in comparison to what the former Razorback can do on a typical Big Game.
Jefferson may be exactly what the doctor ordered to put the Knights in the running for the Big 12 championship, which should be lot
easier to win without Texas and Oklahoma in the way, even though he had a difficult time defeating the SEC.
It should be mentioned, though, that the Longhorns’ performance on the field the previous time Jefferson took the field with Texas
was not good.
It will undoubtedly be entertaining to see. Malzahn can cause a lot of damage with Jefferson if he can regain his confidence, quickness,
and overcome his inability to read defenses. This will be his strongest schedule to date.
On August 31, the Knights will play their first game in Orlando versus New Hampshire. It remains to be seen if Arkansas fans will be
able to witness Jefferson’s debut as the Big 12 broadcast schedule for season openers has not yet been announced.
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