Sam Pittman offers high praise to Bobby Petrino following Arkansas win over Missouri State
The Razorbacks were in the midst of a nightmare on Saturday, down by 10 points to former Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino and his Missouri State Bears.
Several big plays helped lift the Hogs over the hump in the fourth quarter of the game but Sam Pittman gave Petrino all the credit afterward. He went so far as to say he believed the Bears were the more prepared team on the field.
“Well, I want to congratulate Missouri State and Coach Petrino on a great game plan,” Pittman said. “He had his kids better prepared than I did. He did a wonderful job. They have a really good quarterback, we knew that coming in and man, did he make a lot of plays. We turned the ball over, twice. But when Bryce Stephens returned a punt for a touchdown, that hasn’t been done since last year.
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“We’re just so fortunate to win. In games like this, if you’re not playing well, you’re just trying to fight and claw to get the win. There were several points where it looked like we weren’t going to. Our kids just kept fighting and clawing to come out with the 11-point win. it says a lot about the culture of our program and our kids. I’m really proud that we won the game, I’ll leave it at that right now.”
Going into the matchup, Petrino also credited Pittman for the job he’s done returning Arkansas to prominence for the first time since he was the skipper in Fayetteville.
“Sam’s done a great job,” Petrino said. “When you watch them play, first and foremost, you see they have deep beliefs in what they’re doing, you know? What they’re doing offensively, what they’re doing defensively, the coaches really believe in it and the players go out and execute it. What he’s done with the program, he’s done a great job.”
Razorbacks escape Missouri State with clutch fourth quarter
As Sam Pittman said, when the Razorbacks were most in danger, they found ways to deliver on Saturday. They needed execution and some good luck in the fourth quarter to escape with a 38-27 victory.
Arkansas never led through the first three quarters but outscored the Bears 21-3 to end the game. They took their first lead of the game with 9:16 remaining on an 80-yard punt return from Bryce Stephens.
“Sam Mbake was on their gunner, and we felt like if we could handle the gunner we could have, not an opportunity to score a touchdown, but have an opportunity at a decent return,” Pittman said. “Mbake did a really good job on the outside and Bryce won the 100 meters in Oklahoma, he’s fast. He got up the sideline and out-ran ’em.
“We had to put some pressure on ’em,” Pittman added. “That allowed us to play with a lead, which was a big, big thing at the end of the game.”
Quarterback KJ Jefferson finished with 385 passing yards on 19-for-31 completions with two touchdowns and an interception. He also added another score and 40 yards rushing on nine carries.
With their record unblemished, the Razorbacks will travel next to Texas A&M for a 7 p.m. top-25 showdown.