Sam Pittman breaks down Kansas' defense

The AutoZone Liberty Bowl will feature two 6-6 teams looking to end the season with a winning record, as Arkansas will take on Kansas on December 28 in Memphis. Ahead of their matchup, Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman pulled back the curtain on the Jayhawks defense, highlighting a few of their key contributing players.

“They’ve got a defensive end, 47 Lonnie Phelps is a player now, I mean a really good player. (Kenny) Logan their safety is really good and then (Cobee) Bryant, they’ve got a corner that’s a big time corner as well,” Pittman said. “They got a guy, or more, on each level. (Rich) Miller is the linebacker that’s making all kinds of tackles, so they have a guy, kind of like a really good player on each level of their defense.”

Personnel aside, Pittman also highlighted their style of play and the scheme they run, applauding them and head coach Lance Leipold for their success.

“They play extremely hard, they’re not overly aggressive, they’re going to be a quarters team, two shell type of team things of that nature. But what they do they do it well and you can tell coach Leipold, you can see his handprint all over the place. He’s been had so much success everywhere he’s been and you can feel it in his team,” Pittman explained.

Leipold has led a fantastic turnaround for the Jayhawks this season, turning a 2-10 squad from a year ago to a team that will be playing in a bowl game for the first time since 2008 this season. Some have compared his transition to Pittman’s last season, as he turned a 3-7 team into a 9-4 one to finish the season last year.

“And I don’t know if Trey asked me the question about Kansas being kind of how we were last year, but I’m sure they’ll be ready big time and they’re playing an SEC team, all that kind of stuff,” Pittman said. “But they tackle extremely well and they run the ball and I think they have a really good player at each level, more than just one, but a really good player at each level of their defense.”

Pittman will be looking to secure a second straight bowl victory at the helm for the Razorbacks, as they take on the Jayhawks and their stout defense on December 28 in a game airing at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.