WATCH: Sam Pittman pulls back the curtain on Arkansas' 4th and 9 run call in hilarious fashion
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles caught some heat on Saturday night for a controversial 4th-and-9 play call versus Bobby Petrino’s Missouri State squad.
Running back Rashod Dubinion picked up five yards on the called run play, which meant the Razorbacks turned the ball over on downs while losing 17-7 in the first half.
Had the Hogs not ultimately won the game, fans might not have liked Pittman’s response to why they chose to run the ball with nine yards to gain on the Missouri State 39-yard line.
CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel
“Well, we ran it on 4th and nine, that’s exactly what happened,” Pittman said, earning laughs from the media. “He turned around, he handed off the ball, he ran for about five and then the official came up and he goes, ‘the other way!’ Missouri State’s team came out and started hauling butt down the field.”
“The call was a run-to-run, we thought that we had ’em in two or quarters,” Pittman continued. “We thought we could surprise them and get them in there. It was a run-to-run where we could hand it or KJ could run it. It didn’t work and that’s the honest-to-goodness truth. I wish I could tell you we had a pass on and something happened but that’s the truth, it didn’t work.”
Razorbacks escape Missouri State with clutch fourth quarter
Although the 4th-and-9 run play didn’t work out for them, when the Razorbacks were most in danger, they came away with the big-time plays. 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.
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. showdown. Arkansas snapped the Aggies’ nine-game win streak in the series last season, which was one of several season highlights in Pittman’s second year.