15 seniors to play final game

Arkansas defensive end Randy Ramsey (right) talks with an official during a game against North Texas on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018, in Fayetteville.

No matter what happens in today’s Arkansas-Missouri game, the 2018 Razorback football season will be put to bed.

Thankfully.

The 15 seniors who will be playing their last game should be appreciated for their decision to come to Arkansas, thanked for their service while in Fayetteville and everybody should wish them well as they go on through their lives.

So should the other players who won’t be back whether it is by their choice or the coaching staff’s.

But one thing is clear in my mind and that it’s time for a redesigned Razorback team to move forward with new faces, new talent and a new mindset.

Arkansas has won only six of its last 25 games heading into today’s contest.

There’s no way to describe that other than unacceptable, as first-year Razorback coach Chad Morris angrily deemed his team’s effort after last Saturday’s 52-6 loss at Mississippi State.

One of the few good things about this season has been the almost unprecedented recruiting done by Morris and his staff, whose 2019 class is currently 10th by Rivals, 16th by 24/7 and 17th by ESPN.

The class has 24 pledges so far and is headed to 29, which joined with last season’s 18 scholarship signees gives the new staff 47 of their players among the 85 on scholarship.

The roster turnover can’t happen soon enough and you could sense that in Morris’ comments at his Monday press conference.

“We got a lot of people, a lot of people, pouring their heart and soul into the program, but we need more and we are going to get them,” Morris said.

Besides recruiting, it seems to me that there is another thing that has been the most well-received by the fans when it comes to the new staff.

That is Morris’ response to players who were caught behaving badly.

Morris kicked Nate Dalton off the field and out of the program after a silly personal foul penalty in Arkansas’ 23-0 win over Tulsa back on Oct. 20.

He followed that up by suspending starting secondary players Ryan Pulley and Kamren Curl for this week’s game after it was brought to his attention they were fraternizing with Mississippi State’s pom girls before warm-ups started.

The resulting uproar has caused embarrassment for the team and the program that didn’t need any more.

“They will not be here today or yesterday or any part of this week for unacceptable behavior, actions that are completely unacceptable to anything we’re about,” Morris said.

You have to lay down the law with the veterans before the newcomers arrive.

The 2019 class has talent, speed, skill players and interior linemen with the Razorbacks still hoping to add a pair of immediate impact junior college defensive linemen in Scranton (Pa.) Lackawanna Community College standout Chibueze Nwanna (6-7, 315) and Iowa Central’s Myron Cunningham (6-5, 300).

That’s important, but it is also very important to weed out those who have not bought in.

That starts in earnest today and is likely the best thing that will have been done all year that pushes the program forward.