Sam Pittman on playing in five different stadiums in five games: 'We're going to embrace that'

Arkansas will play just one game in Razorbacks Stadium during the first five games of the Hogs’ 2024 college football season.

Beginning the season inside War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, the Razorbacks will battle Arkansas Pine Bluff in an in-state rivalry contest before heading out west to battle the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Stillwater. Arkansas hosts its first home game in Week 3 for family weekend against UAB, but will follow that up with a true road game against Auburn to begin SEC play followed by a matchup with Texas A&M inside AT&T Stadium in Dallas.

“The deal with that is as long as we are involved in the game in Dallas and involved in the game in Little Rock, we’re going to have home games,” Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said about Arkansas’ neutral matchups against Arkansas Pine Bluff and Texas A&M. “This one in Dallas is an away game. We’re going to have home games that are away from our university. … All I can say is we’re going to embrace that.

“Last year we had the away games right there in a row, what was it, at Alabama, LSU, on the road. We needed to a better job than what we did a year ago. The difference is a little bit the time. There will be an 11:00, a noon, a night game, so we’ll certainly have to get ready for that.”

Regardless of the kickoff time of each game, the Razorbacks still have a lot to improve on from their 4-8 finish to the 2023 season, and they have ample time to prepare for each matchup. Still, there appears to be a certain peace of mind for Pittman learning the schedule down to the minute.

“I do know that our first two games are going to be at night and then in the morning, and then our third game will be in the afternoon,” Pittman continued. “So we’ll have covered all those, so then the fourth and fifth time we go to a new venue we should have been able to cover the time frame and the game and schedule that with the kids.”

The season-opening matchup against Arkansas Pine Bluff happens the Thursday of Week 1, two days before the Saturday Week 1 slate begins. The special kickoff time is set for 6:30 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPNU and in the ESPN app.