Cam Little: Arkansas’ High Pressure Weapon

Hog fans, we are witnessing one of the more exciting Razorback football seasons in recent memory with plenty of worthy heroes. KJ Jefferson has made his stamp as one of the SEC’s top quarterbacks for the foreseeable future. Jefferson has shown consistency for much of the season with tremendous performances against Texas, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State. Treylon Burks has confirmed our opinions that he is a top wide receiver in college football and soon to be a first-round draft pick. The veteran linebacker group of Grant Morgan, Bumper Pool, and Hayden Henry have made game-changing plays for the Razorback defense throughout the season. Similarly, the talented young running backs have significantly impacted the offense’s ability to diversify their attack. But perhaps the most critical attribute to the Hog’s season is Cam Little’s clutch field goal ability.

The freshman placekicker is 14-18 in field goals and 33-33 in the extra point category with three games left to play. Many of Little’s field goals came in Arkansas’ most significant wins of the season thus far. Against Texas, he was 4-4 in field goals with a long of 44 yards. Little gave the Razorback offense a boost and continued to widen the gap in a 40-21 domination of the Longhorns. A few short weeks later, Little made a 46-yard field goal to help the Hogs beat Texas A&M for the first time since 2011.

On Saturday, Little had his best performance to date. He made 3-4 field goals, including a career-long 51 yarder. In a game with no true momentum shift, Little picked up the slack for the Razorback offense, who failed to punch it in from the red zone a few times. Little’s performance earned him recognition as the SEC freshman of the week. Without him, I do not think the Hogs beat Mississippi State to improve to 6-3.

Following the game, Little was the first to console Nolan McCord after the Mississippi State kicker pushed his game-tying field goal to the left. Arkansas fans have become accustomed to this compassion from Little during his short time with the Razorbacks. This season, Little donates $10 to Down Syndrome Connection of Northwest Arkansas for every made field goal. It’s nice to know the next few years of Arkansas kicking is in good shape with the confident and generous right-footed freshman.