Sam Pittman offers mixed review on Arkansas' 1st quarter vs. Ole Miss
It was an uneven first quarter-plus of play for Sam Pittman’s Arkansas squad on the road at Ole Miss. Trailing 10-7 early in the 2nd quarter, Pittman was trying to hang on to the good while ironing out the bad.
He explained to SEC Network sideline reporter Alyssa Lang that he’s pleased with how the defense has played, but they’ve been put in tough spots. As for the offense, Pittman said the blocking needs to get better.
“That whole first series we didn’t do a great job of blocking, we just made plays. Defense is playing really well if we don’t put them in bad situations. We’ve gotta find a way to score and hopefully our defense can keep them out of scoring,” Pittman said.
The good news for Pittman is that since he spoke with Lang, the defense stymied the Ole Miss offense. But so far, the offense has yet to come to life against the Rebels defense.
Offensive struggles are not new to Arkansas entering Saturday
After Kendal Briles left Arkansas to become the offensive coordinator at TCU, Pittman brought Dan Enos back to Fayetteville. He previously served as the Razorbacks’ OC from 2015-17, but opted to return to help KJ Jefferson and the offense take a step forward.
Through five games, that hasn’t been the case. Arkansas ranks last in the SEC in total offense despite ranking seventh in the league in scoring. It’s been a mixed bag for the Razorbacks so far as Jefferson is averaging just 210 passing yards per game.
Pittman noted Arkansas’ struggles on offense, but reiterated his belief in Enos and the ability to turn things around and get better.
“Obviously, we have to get better as a team in all those things,” Pittman said. “Working with him has been enjoyable. I think we’re all a little bit, including him, frustrated that we’re not having more explosive plays and things of that nature. But working with him has been fantastic. We’ll continue to try to improve every week and he knows we have to improve. I know it, the kids know it, the rest of the staff knows it. But it’s been enjoyable.”
Jefferson enters Week 6 tied for fifth in the SEC with 10 passing touchdowns after totaling 24 passing TDs a year ago. The biggest difference in his game, though, is with his legs. Last season, Jefferson had 640 rushing yards after running for 664 yards in 2021. This year, he has 125 rushing yards through five games with just one rushing touchdown.