Sam Pittman talks about quick start by Arkansas offense

Arkansas‘ dominant Week 1 performance versus Western Carolina was highlighted by their fast start, scoring the first 21 points of the game in the first quarter on their way to a 56-13 win.

It was head coach Sam Pittman‘s fourth opening day with the Razorbacks and his squad didn’t disappoint, and after the game, he was asked about the red-hot start of his offense.

“Anytime you start fast you take a chance to stray on what you do,” Pittman said. “We talked about physicality right after stretch, something. Whether it be bubble, whether it be fast ball starts, whether it be pods, it worked. Now I don’t know if it’ll work every time, but I thought we really started fast.”

Whatever the Razorbacks did before the game definitely worked, scoring on their second offensive play of the game when quarterback KJ Jefferson found Jaedon Wilson on a quick pass that he took 65 yards to the house for a touchdown.

Arkansas followed that with two straight consecutive scoring drives, but their defense also played a role in their offense getting the ball back so quickly.

“I think the defense had maybe three, I know two thee-and-outs in a row and then the offense went right back and scored. Started the game, had a little lull in the second quarter, and then scoring on the last play of the half was a big momentum for us as well to go up 35-3,” Pittman said.

Just like the offense, Arkansas’ defense got off to a quick start, forcing three straight three-and-outs on their first three possessions then securing an interception on their fourth possession.

It was a dominant day for both sides of the ball in Fayetteville, as new offensive coordinator Dan Enos dialed up a potent offensive attack that produced 49 points, 379 total yards of offense, and zero turnovers.

Even the defense got involved in the scoring with Brad Spence returning an interception 85 yards for a touchdown that represented Arkansas’ final of the day. The Razorbacks also added four more turnovers to the stat sheet on the day and held Western Carolina to just 64 yards on the ground.

There’s no doubt the Razorbacks looked sharp last weekend, but they’ll have to look a little bit sharper in Week 2 as they now face an FBS opponent, taking on Kent State this Saturday at 4:00 p.m. ET in a matchup airing on SEC Network.