Sam Pittman on possible in-season staff changes: 'I don't really want to answer that'

Arkansas slipped to 6-2 in humbling fashion on Saturday with a loss to Mississippi State, a team playing a backup quarterback with its starter injured.

The pressure has continued to mount on Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman, whose squad is heading the wrong direction after a promising start to his tenure in Fayetteville, Ark.

Pittman was asked directly after the game if he might consider some in-season staff changes.

“I don’t really want to answer that,” he said, before moving on to another question.

Needing to win out to achieve bowl eligibility, Arkansas faces a huge uphill climb. And it’s hard to see many wins on the schedule given the way the Razorbacks are playing right now.

Up next is a road trip to Florida, followed by home dates with Auburn, Florida International and Missouri. While the FIU game is a probable win, Arkansas is likely to enter the other three games as an underdog.

Pittman may only get so much time to make staff changes before his job is on the line; though the details of Sam Pittman’s buyout may have as much to do with that as anything.

Mississippi State wins an important one

Both programs on Saturday were looking for their first SEC win and some key momentum amid the daunting gauntlet that is the SEC.

It was backup quarterback Mike Wright and the Bulldogs who took charge, taking command with an early touchdown and then relying on a defense that stymied the Razorbacks throughout the afternoon. Coach Zach Arnett praised his squad after the game.

“It was hard. Both teams were obviously looking for their first SEC victory. Somebody had to go out and take it,” Arnett said after the win. “The defense made enough plays there. [Arkansas] played great defense, too. … [Mississippi State] has pride. When you’re a competitor, you’re not satisfied with how we played during the first half of the season — we know that we can get a lot better.

“We can’t give up a lot of points in this league and expect to win a lot of games, so I think they took the bye week, took the criticism to heart dug into self-scouting and it paid off and we went out and executed a lot better.”

Mississippi State recorded four sacks in the contest and held Arkansas starting quarterback KJ Jefferson under 100 yards passing on the afternoon, undoubtedly frustrating Sam Pittman. Arkansas gained just 200 total yards in the contest.