Sam Pittman explains why Mississippi State game is a must-win for Arkansas
When the 2023 season kicked off, the Arkansas Razorbacks came in with the hopes and expectations to compete for a chance to represent the SEC West in the conference championship game. Unfortunately, midway through the season, that dream has flown out the window.
Arkansas is currently 2-5 with a 0-4 record in SEC play. But that does not mean that their season is over. In an attempt to push this team to finish out the year and have a successful 2023, head coach Sam Pittman called Saturday’s game against Mississippi State a must-win earlier in the week. And on Wednesday, he explained why Saturday’s game is a must-win for his Razorbacks.
“I think we were a little bit better team when we’re real,” said Pittman. “And the kids need to understand that. Like anything, I’m sure they watch my press conference and things of that nature. A lot of times, we say things to you that we want to get back to the kids without us saying it, to be perfectly honest with you. We use the media in some aspects at times. But our kids know what we need to get done.
“Let’s make no mistake about it: we want to go to a bowl, and we need to win. Again, I don’t wanna get crucified because I’ve said here, ‘Well, all he wants to do is go to bowls.’ That’s reality. It ain’t what we wanted, but it’s reality. We want to get to a bowl game, and to do that, we’ve got to win Saturday.”
The Arkansas headman got real for a moment here. It has been widely understood, in the current format, that in order to have a chance at playing for a national title, nearly every game must be treated as a must-win. But with how Arkansas season has gone, that mindset could easily be pushed aside by the players. Which is why Pittman was using the media to relay the message to his team that the season is not over.
While Arkansas may have entered this year with high hopes and aspirations, only to have them ripped away in the first half of the season, the year is not over with. The Razorbacks still have a legitimate chance at making a bowl game, which does help and benefit the program in several ways. So, while it may not be the possible ending to the 2023 season that they envisioned at the start, Pittman wants his players and the Razorbacks nation to know that the program still has something worth playing for, making Saturday’s contest against Mississippi State a ‘must-win.’