KJ’s last stand in his home state should serve as motivation
KJ Jefferson is a native of Sardis, Mississippi.
Both Ole Miss and Mississippi State recruited him, but he chose the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Since his arrival on campus, he has never won a game in his home state that he played in.
He didn’t play in Arkansas’ victory over Mississippi State during the 2020 COVID campaign. When the team went to Starkville last year, he was injured and wasn’t cleared to play.
He started and played outstanding against Ole Miss two years ago but lost a 52-51 heartbreaker.
So it should come as no surprise that the senior is motivated to win Saturday night in Oxford.
“I think everybody in life needs a little bit of motivation to get to whatever you need to get,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. “But I think this is a big deal going back. Last time we were down there just didn’t quite get it done. It sure wasn’t because of him.”
Jefferson set the school record for touchdowns accounted for during Saturday’s 34-22 loss to Texas A&M.
“I’m really weird about awards, records.” Pittman said. “Obviously if I would have, if we would have won, something like that, that would have been a really special moment, but I had forgotten all about it to be honest with you. It’s really great. You’ve got to stay healthy for a long period of time and you’ve got to be a good player to set any type of record. I’m real happy for him and I hope he puts it so far out there that the next guy has a long way to go to catch it.”
