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Arkansas is the talk of college football as it enters its open time. Despite being picked to finish last in the SEC West and several projections having them going 0-10 this year, the Razorbacks are 2-2 and a bad call away from being 3-1 and likely ranked in the top 25. The dramatic turnaround from consecutive 2-10 seasons, ugly losses to the likes of Colorado State, North Texas, San Jose State and Western Kentucky, and a 20-game SEC losing streak to not only being competitive, but winning games has made Arkansas arguably the most surprising team in the country. Those in the Razorbacks’ football facility - like wide receiver Mike Woods - aren’t surprised by how quickly first-year head coach Sam Pittman has gotten them back on track.

Even though Arkansas didn’t get spring practice this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, it became evident early on to the players - especially those like Ty Clary, who’ve experienced three straight abysmal seasons - that items would be different in 2020. Leading a top-5 Georgia team into the third quarter of the opener was a good sign, but going into Starkville, Miss., and knocking off a top-20 Mississippi State team fresh off an upset of LSU seemed to open the floodgates. Despite losing in heart-breaking fashion at Auburn, Arkansas bounced back again the following week by shutting down Ole sportswear letter and number Miss’ explosive offense with six interceptions. That win improved the Razorbacks to 2-2, which is their best start in SEC play since 2015. It’s also just the second time in eight years they’ve won two of their initial four conference games. The good vibes that come with that have also contributed to the turnaround.

As a senior, Clary has never experienced this level of success at Arkansas. His freshman period was 2017, when the Razorbacks went 4-8 and received only one SEC game - resulting in the firing of Bret Bielema. The next two years, the Fayetteville native was a starter as the shedding reached historic levels, so actually winning and changing the perception of the program has meant even more to him, but he’s far from content. Coming to Arkansas in the same class since Clary, Hayden Henry provides extensive ties to this program. His father, Mark, was an all-conference center for the Razorbacks and his older brother, Hunter, is definitely arguably the best tight end in school history. With his younger brother, Hudson, also on the team, plus a grandfather - Skip Coffman - who played basketball here and his mother having graduated from the UA, Henry said he wanted to change the way Arkansas is viewed across the country. Most of the players Arkansas is putting on the field this season were already in the program when Pittman took over. The Razorbacks added a few key graduate transfers - most notably quarterback Feleipe Franks - and signees, but for the most part, they didn’t overhaul their roster. In fact, just 15.6 percent of Arkansas’ total offensive, defensive and special teams snaps so far this season have been taken by newcomers. Take out the special teams - where it’s easier for true freshmen to get on the field - and that drops to just 13.7 percent. What has happened instead is Pittman and his staff have taken what they inherited and made them believe they are better than what the results of the past two seasons have custom Calgary Flames t shirt heat transfers shown.

Pittman has accomplished that by being genuine. Rather than creating his very own catch expression or go-to cliche - something he joked during an interview on SportsCenter that he Multi Color Logo Iron On Transfers wasn’t smart more than enough to come up with - the long-time assistant trainer said he simply speaks from the heart. That interview, conducted by Scott Van Pelt during the midnight ET edition of SportsCenter, is just one example of the attention Arkansas has received since beating Ole Miss on Saturday. There has been a steady flow of praise from national publications, commentators, other media members and general university football fans the past few days. Considering what they’ve been through the last three years, the positive publicity hasn’t really had an impact on the players yet, so focusing on the task at hand over the next six weeks shouldn’t be a problem.