Sam Pittman after Arkansas' Liberty Bowl win: 'We have Taylen Green, a lot of teams don't'

Arkansas won the Liberty Bowl over Texas Tech 39-26 on Friday, using a hot start to dictate the pace and tempo of the game.

By the end of the first quarter it was 21-3 Razorbacks. And while the Red Raiders would battle back, that was ultimately enough to get some younger players much-needed confidence in the contest.

“I think it was real important,” coach Sam Pittman said. “The defense held them to a field goal and then Taylen (Green) and the guys got; we ran the ball well early. Was it Rodney (Hill) went for about 60 or 70, I think, right there off the bat? And we got rolling.”

Though Arkansas played well in several facets, Pittman pointed to confidence as one of the key deciding factors in the game.

Arkansas had to use a number of new players, something typical of bowl games with the influx of opt-outs that have taken the sport by storm in recent years. That those players were actually influential was huge.

“I think a key to tonight’s game was we had to get some confidence in our team,” Pittman said. “I talked to the older guys about building confidence into the guys that hadn’t played much. The older guys had to play well, and you see they’re sitting here (on the stage in post-game). So the young guys could feed off of that confidence.”

There was also one other major factor for Arkansas: Quarterback Taylen Green.

Green ran for a team-high 81 yards and a touchdown, then also threw for 341 yards and two more scores. He didn’t throw an interception, sharp in his final outing of the season.

Pittman praised his Arkansas quarterback after the fact.

“I think it was a fast start,” Pittman said. “Defense making an early stop and then they made a fourth-down stop. Then really the offense took over. Taylen took over. And we have Taylen Green, a lot of teams don’t. He gives us an opportunity to win.”