Arkansas Football: Post-Treylon Burks offense impressive in Cincinnati win

Cincinnati and Arkansas football went down to the wire, but it was a Razorback win in the end. What did we learn about the Razorbacks?

The Razorbacks took on Cincinnati to open the season in what ended up being a much more competitive game than I expected it to be. Fayetteville was hopping and it looks like this could be a great season for the Hogs after they got their first ranked season-opening win since 1975.

What did we learn about them?

Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson finished with three passing touchdowns and a rushing score on the day, including this jump pass that was every bit as exciting for those wearing red as it seems it would be.

He was 18-for-26 through the air with no interceptions, something that is extremely promising for the Razorback faithful. He showed that he can lead this offense, for the most part, and that he is ready to put together a dark-horse Heisman campaign.

Look for him to be a big part of the push to a winning season while the Hogs play the 10th hardest schedule in the nation this year, according to the strength of schedule rankings. This could be a special year in Fayetteville, so get excited, Hog fans. You’ve got your coach and your quarterback, so get after it.

On the receiving side, it would seem that Arkansas has not found Treylon Burks’ replacement just yet, but that may not be as bad as some may think. Tight end Trey Knox came up with two touchdowns today and running back Rocket Sanders had 20 carries for 117 yards.

Oklahoma transfer Jadon Haselwood had three catches for 42 yards on the day as well. Maybe, just maybe, it is addition by subtraction for this offense.

I’m not saying that losing Burks to the NFL doesn’t hurt. What I am saying is that spreading the ball out and finding new targets isn’t always a bad thing. The Razorbacks needed to spread the ball out more after finding Burks for like 60 percent of their offensive production a season ago, so things are not as bad as it seems.