Sam Pittman calls Mississippi State cowbells 'louder than loud'

Arkansas heads into their week 6 matchup versus Mississippi State not only having to compete with Mike Leach’s air raid offense, but with a stadium equipped with loud cowbells. The ringing of cowbells at Mississippi State football games has been a long-standing tradition since the late 1930s, but newer restrictions have been put in place regarding when fans can ring them. Razorback head coach Sam Pittman spoke on what he expects to hear during Saturday’a game from the crowd.

“You know I talked to some people that have played them and they said it is louder than loud in pregame and then that their fans have certainly abided by the rule, once the quarterback is approaching underneath the center, then they can’t do it anymore,” Pittman said. “And they said they didn’t, so think it’s a penalty if they do.”

Thankfully for Arkansas, they won’t have to hear cowbells ringing for the entirety of their next away game, but Pittman is still preparing his team for the noise at practice this week with some artificial cowbells playing through their speakers.

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“Well that’s probably the plan, we’re only gonna do it in team settings, today we’re gonna cut them some slack in 7 on 7, but team settings we certainly will,” Pittman said.

The Razorbacks will be competing with noise this weekend, but will also have to compete with the duality of momentum heading into this matchup. Arkansas is coming off of a tough 49-26 loss to Alabama, their second consecutive loss as they fell to Texas A&M the previous week in heartbreaking fashion.

Mississippi on the other hand enters the game with all the momentum, fresh off of a win over those same Aggies in a blowout, upset win 42-24. The win was enough to earn the Bulldogs their first top 25 ranking in the latest AP Poll coming in at No. 23, while Arkansas loss took them out of the top 25 for the first time this season.

Arkansas certainly has some adversity to fight heading into this matchup, including injuries suffered to some of their key players last game including star quarterback KJ Jefferson, wide receiver Warren Thompson, and safety Myles Slusher. Their injury statuses will be be monitored and updated throughout the week, as the Razorbacks hope to get all of them back and get themselves back .500 in conference play this weekend in Starkville.