FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas’ KJ Jefferson and LSU’s Jayden Daniels entered the season as the top two returning quarterbacks in the SEC.
While Daniels and the high-octane Tigers currently lead the nation in total offense, Jefferson got caught in a clunky transition to a new system that the fifth-year senior admitted had been frustrating for weeks on end. That is until Coach Sam Pittman let offensive coordinator Dan Enos go and brought aboard young, energetic Kenny Guiton to simplify and speed up the attack and call the plays.
Then the sun came out last Saturday afternoon in Gainesville, Fla., and the old Jefferson re-emerged in a 39-36 overtime win at Florida, shedding new light on the three-time captain’s pursuit of almost every quarterback record in the Arkansas books.
Jefferson will enter Saturday’s 3 p.m. game against Auburn with sole possession of two of the biggest career records — passing yardage and touchdown passes — clearly in his sights.
Jefferson is tied with Brandon Allen for the Razorback record of 64 touchdown passes and his 7,606 passing yards are just 159 yards shy of Tyler Wilson’s record of 7,765.
“It’s a humbling experience, a surreal moment,” Jefferson said of his record chase. “It’s a blessing for one, just to be able to come in and do the things that I did at the quarterback position at a very high level on the big stage in this conference.”
Jefferson, a 6-3, 247-pounder with 19 career rushing touchdowns, took over as the full-time starter as a redshirt sophom*ore in 2021 after Feleipe Franks led the Razorbacks to a 3-7 mark in 2020.
The Sardis, Miss., native has been a captain for three of Coach Sam Pittman’s four years at the helm.
“Setting records is over longevity obviously, but when you’re playing well and you’re setting records I think it even means more,” Pittman said. “What a nice game he had Saturday.
“But for the program, obviously I think he was a big key and has been — well I know he is — the reason for turning the program around, and certainly this year has been disappointing with all the close losses, but our season is not over. He’s been as valuable as anybody we’ve had in our program and I’m very happy he’s our quarterback.”
Jefferson’s first touchdown pass as a Razorback was a 2-yarder to Blake Kern in a wild 50-48 shootout loss at Missouri on Dec. 5, 2020. His last was a 4-yard dart to Tyrone Broden for the walk-off winner at Florida that tied Allen.
Jefferson has thrown touchdown passes to 20 Razorback teammates, the newest being redshirt freshman Isaiah Sategna in a road game at Alabama.
“I wouldn’t be where I am at without my teammates,” Jefferson said. “Those guys always push me to be the best that I can … put me in great situations and also bail me out sometimes as well.”
Jefferson, who surpassed the late Ryan Mallett’s 7,493 career passing yards last week to reach the spot behind Wilson, said he actually took a look at the school records this week.
“I looked at it today, the records and everything,” Jefferson said Tuesday. “It’s a big deal to me. I want to be able to break the records, the touchdown record and also the passing yards record.
“I’m not just trying to focus [on the records] to go out there and try to do too much to try to make sure I beat the record. I’m going to play within the system and take what the defense gives me and take advantage of it.”
Auburn Coach Hugh Freeze, the former Ole Miss coach, said he has been aware of Jefferson’s skill set since his high school days in northwestern Mississippi.
“I’ve had great respect for him for many years now,” Freeze said. “I knew him out of high school, and he’s a great leader. They’ve kind of gone back to playing like they did last year offensively. They seem much more confident.”
Jefferson surpassed a couple of career marks earlier this season. He went past Matt Jones’ school record of 77 combined touchdowns (passing and rushing) with a 48-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Armstrong against Texas A&M. In that same game, he exceeded Jones’ record of 8,392 total yards and currently sits at 9,327 yards, with 7,606 passing yards and 1,721 rushing yards.
Now he’s up to 83 touchdowns of responsibility after accounting for three last week. Jefferson threw an 8-yard touchdown to tailback AJ Green to cap the Razorbacks’ game-opening drive, and ran for a 25-yard go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter in addition to his game-winning pass to Broden.
Jefferson is a rare three-year captain, only the second in school history. He’s accounted for touchdowns in each of the past five seasons, courtesy of a redshirt year in 2019, and he is actually eligible for another season due to the covid-19 season allowance granted by the NCAA.
He’s been the face of the program for its rise from the ashes of the Chad Morris years back to respectability under Pittman, including the peak of a 9-4 season in 2021.
“I mean, he definitely changed the program, changed the culture of this place,” senior center Beaux Limmer said. “When we came here, we were 2-10 and 2-10 back-to-back our freshman year.
“So just to see where we’ve come from and the culture change that has taken place here, he’s spearheaded all of it. He’s a great player. I love playing in front of him and blocking for him, and he’s really fun to watch on the field.”
Jefferson’s revival appears to have come in the nick of time with the Razorbacks needing to win out against Auburn, Florida International and Missouri to reach bowl eligibility.
But it came after a trough that included six consecutive losses as Jefferson and the Razorbacks appeared bogged down in too much thinking, too many complications and reads in the slower-paced Enos offense.
The nadir came in the last home game, a 7-3 setback against Mississippi State on Oct. 21, when Jefferson’s streak of 18 consecutive starts with a touchdown pass — dating to a 24-10 win over Penn State in the Outback Bowl to cap the 2021 season, — came to an end.
Now Jefferson said he is feeling less restrained and ready to resume his records pursuit.
“I still want to play within the system and make sure I’m not forcing the ball in tight areas and just being careless with the ball … just because I want to break the record,” Jefferson said. “I’m going to let the game come to me and just take advantage of it.”
