A year ago they hoped. Today they expect.
By Tom Rinaldi | Special Feature
On a humid August morning, long before the crowds arrive and long before the first kickoff of the season, Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium sits quiet.
The stands are empty.
The scoreboard is dark.
The field looks exactly the same as it did a year ago.
Everything else is different.
One year ago, Arkansas was trying to convince itself it belonged.
Today, Arkansas believes it does.
That belief is everywhere.
It can be seen in the confidence of veteran players walking through practice.
It can be heard in the expectations of fans who suddenly find themselves discussing conference championships instead of bowl eligibility.
It can be felt inside a football building that no longer talks about rebuilding.
The rebuilding is over.
Now comes something much harder.
Living up to what has been built.
For quarterback D'Eriq Robinette, the journey to this point has been anything but conventional.
A year ago, Robinette entered the season as a talented athlete with questions surrounding his ability as a passer. He was dangerous with the football in his hands, but critics wondered whether Arkansas could win a championship with him at quarterback.
By the end of the season, those questions had largely disappeared.
Robinette didn't just lead Arkansas to an SEC Championship.
He became the face of the program.
The comeback wins.
The fourth-quarter scrambles.
The impossible plays that somehow turned into first downs.
Every championship team develops defining moments.
Robinette seemed to create one every week.
Yet those closest to the program believe the most important development happened this spring.
Not because of a throw.
Not because of a statistic.
Because of maturity.
Throughout camp, coaches consistently praised Robinette's growth as a leader and his continued development as a passer. The spectacular plays remain, but there is now a greater sense of command to everything he does.
The game appears slower.
The confidence appears stronger.
The pressure appears lighter.
That's a dangerous combination for the rest of the SEC.
On the other side of the ball, leadership now belongs to Joey Cabral.
When Arkansas coaches awarded him the No. 1 jersey during the offseason, it was about far more than talent.
It was about trust.
Throughout spring practice, Cabral became the voice of the defense.
He made the checks.
He organized the secondary.
He celebrated teammates' successes.
When junior-college transfer Reggie Parrish broke up a pass to end a spring-game drive, it was Cabral who sprinted across the field to congratulate him first.
The moment lasted only a few seconds.
The significance was much larger.
The best teams eventually stop being coached by coaches.
They start being led by players.
Arkansas appears to have reached that point.
The veterans may carry the expectations, but the future arrived this spring as well.
Freshman Joey Dowdell quickly found a home at wide receiver and flashed the athletic ability that made him one of the most intriguing recruits in the class.
Bob Meeks looked increasingly comfortable at cornerback and may already be pushing for meaningful playing time.
Josh Turner arrived as one of the most versatile athletes in the recruiting class and immediately began working at running back, adding another dimension to an already talented backfield.
Those are the visible pieces.
The names fans know.
The highlights that find their way onto message boards and social media.
But inside the building, coaches often talk about something else.
Competition.
The thing Arkansas lacked when this rebuild began.
The thing Arkansas now has everywhere.
At linebacker.
At receiver.
In the secondary.
Along the offensive line.
For perhaps the first time in years, Arkansas doesn't simply have starters.
It has depth.
And depth is often what separates contenders from champions.
The spring revealed dozens of smaller stories.
Edwin Scott emerging as a receiving threat out of the backfield.
Cornelius Davies transforming himself into a disruptive force on the defensive interior.
Matthew Henderson taking control of the center position.
Mark Smith turning a potential concern at tackle into a position of strength.
Javon Garcia somehow finding ways to make impossible catches look routine.
Individually, they are small developments.
Collectively, they explain why expectations continue to grow.
Championship teams are rarely built by one player.
They're built by dozens of players improving simultaneously.
That is exactly what Arkansas believes has happened over the past year.
Of course, belief is easy in August.
Every fan base believes.
Every coach is optimistic.
Every locker room thinks this might be the year.
What makes Arkansas different is that its confidence no longer feels borrowed.
It feels earned.
The Razorbacks won the SEC.
They won the Sugar Bowl.
They survived the biggest moments.
They have already proven they belong.
The challenge now is proving they can stay there.
The schedule offers no favors.
Georgia arrives in Fayetteville to open the season.
Michigan awaits one week later.
Alabama still looms.
Auburn still lurks.
LSU still waits at the end of the road.
Every goal Arkansas has set for itself will have to be earned.
Nothing will be given.
That is precisely the way Porter Davis prefers it.
As the final days before kickoff disappear and another season approaches, the feeling around Fayetteville is unlike anything the program has experienced in decades.
Hope has become expectation.
Potential has become belief.
Dreams have become goals.
No one knows how the story will end.
Arkansas doesn't know if it will win the SEC.
Arkansas doesn't know if it will reach the College Football Playoff.
But for the first time in a very long time, the Razorbacks enter a season believing those goals are realistic.
And that may be the biggest victory Porter Davis has delivered yet.
