Will the Arkansas football program be able to reach the heights it had seen two seasons ago this year?

Arkansas had gone 9-4 and defeated Penn State in the Outback Bowl in 2021. The Razorbacks started their season off with a 3-0 run after they defeated Cincinnati in Week 1, but ended the 2022 season with an overall record of 7-6 and a triple-overtime win over Kansas in the Liberty Bowl. Quarterback KJ Jefferson combined for four total touchdowns, two passing and two rushing, in the December matchup. Running backs Rashod Dubinion and AJ Green combined for 211 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns.

Arkansas will have plenty to prove after making a variety of coaching hires and adding 19 players through the football transfer portal. Head coach Sam Pittman will be entering his fourth season with the program after he was hired to be the team's newest head coach in 2019. Jefferson will be entering his fifth year with Arkansas. The former four-star recruit has played in 32 games and started in 26 over the course of his career with the Razorbacks.

What are some bold predictions for Arkansas heading into the 2023 season?

4. Arkansas will finish the 2023 football season with at least eight wins

Arkansas will have its fair share of tough matchups as it moves through its 2023 schedule.

The Razorbacks will take on No. 5 LSU in Baton Rouge, No. 23 Texas A&M in Arlington, No. 22 Ole Miss in Oxford and No. 4 Alabama in Tuscaloosa from Sept. 23 to Oct. 14. Arkansas went 1-3 against the four schools in 2022. They defeated then-No. 14 Ole Miss at home last season, taking a 42-27 victory at Razorback Stadium behind 232 rushing yards from running back Raheim Sanders.

The Razorbacks must tap into the potential of Jefferson and Sanders and tighten up their defense under co-defensive coordinators Marcus Woodson and Travis Williams. If they can, they will have the chance to pull off a few much-needed victories against some of the SEC's more formidable foes.

3. Raheim Sanders will take a top-5 spot in the country in total rushing yards

Raheim Sanders, a former four-star recruit in Arkansas's 2021 recruiting class, ended last season with 1,443 rushing yards, good enough to put him in 13th place in the country. He placed ahead of Pittsburgh running back Israel Abanikanda, TCU running back Kendre Miller and Southern Mississippi running back Frank Gore Jr.

Raheim Sanders will need to keep pace with Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins, who is returning to Oxford in 2023 after taking seventh place in the nation with 1,567 rushing yards last season. If he does, he can have the opportunity to take a top-five spot in the country and the top spot in the SEC in total rushing yards in 2023.

2. KJ Jefferson will have a breakout season with a new offensive coordinator

KJ Jefferson finished the 2022 season with 2,648 passing yards and 24 passing touchdowns. He threw for 367 yards and five touchdowns in an October matchup with BYU, adding 32 rushing yards as the Razorbacks took a 52-35 victory in LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Arkansas hired Dan Enos as the team's new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after spending the last few seasons in the same role for the Maryland Terrapins. Maryland's offense took third place in the Big Ten with 259.8 passing yards per game in 2022, according to BigTen.org. It took spots over Penn State, Michigan State and Nebraska. Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa placed third in the conference with 3,008 passing yards and second with a 67% completion percentage.

Bowling Green wide receiver Tyrone Broden transferred to the Arkansas football program in January. The 6-foot-7 receiver ended the 2022 season with 506 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns. Three other receivers joined the program through the transfer portal. Former North Texas tight end Var'Keyes Gumms committed to Arkansas in April.

Jefferson can have a breakout season if he fits well with some of the team's new additions and a new coordinator and QB coach in Enos.

1. Arkansas's secondary takes a massive leap from 2022 season

The Razorbacks saw plenty of high-potential transfers join the secondary via the transfer portal.

Cornerback Jaheim Singletary, a former five-star recruit in Georgia's 2022 recruiting class, committed to the program in March. Defensive backs Lorando Johnson, Alfahiym Walcott and Kee'yon Stewart joined the program in the offseason. Arkansas's defense allowed 294.7 passing yards per game, putting it in dead last in the country behind Middle Tennessee, East Carolina and Vanderbilt, according to NCAA.com.

Woodson spent the last three seasons as the defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator for Florida State. Arkansas hired Deron Wilson as the team's secondary coach in January. Arkansas's secondary will have the opportunity to take a giant leap from 2022 if its newest members are able to lock in early and be a key part of the Razorbacks' defense.