Sam Pittman shares what bringing Outback trophy to Fayetteville means

Arkansas reached nine wins, including four trophies this season under second-year head coach Sam Pittman. Following the Razorbacks win over Penn State in the 2022 Outback Bowl, fans who made the journey from Fayetteville Arkansas to Tampa, Florida soaked in the progress.

Sam Pittman was asked afterward how important the win is to everyone back home in Fayetteville, and what level of appreciation exists for what his team achieved.

“I hope it is,” Pittman said. “It is to us. I believe it is. You can kind of feel it in the crowd. You could kind of feel it.”

The 2021 season marked the Razorbacks’ first bowl appearance since the 2015 Belk Bowl under Bret Bielema, and Pittman led them to their first bowl victory since Bielema won the Liberty Bowl the season prior.

Not only has Pittman’s young tenure come with success, it marked a return to Arkansas’ brand of football. After a few years of middling and a detour under Chad Morris, he brought back the bruising line-of-scrimmage play only a former offensive line coach can.

“You know, we’re hungry for football,” said Pittman. “Our state’s hungry for football. We’re a proud state. Football, no disrespect to any other sport, football is big in the state of Arkansas, at the University of Arkansas. I think there’s always folks that want more. One of them is me.

“But it’s over now. To be Outback Bowl champions with nine wins, I’m really, really proud of our team with what we’ve accomplished. Two of the teams that beat us also were pretty good last night. We play in a heck of a league. I said it a long time ago, we’re in the SEC West, right where Arkansas belongs, and we’re starting to prove that.”

Sam Pittman delivers emotional message

This year, Sam Pittman once again exceeded expectations in Fayetteville. But this performance was far more spectacular, as Arkansas finished the regular season with an 8-4 record — including wins over then-No. 7 Texas A&M and then-No. 15 Texas — en route to an Outback Bowl berth. There, Arkansas took care of business against Penn State, winning 24-10 and improving to 9-4 on the year.

“It’s hard (to explain the feeling). Like I said a long time ago, I used to be one of the people in the stands. To some people this might be a big, big, huge win. Some people may think it’s the Outback Bowl, it’s not the national championship. To me it’s as big as you can get to our players,” Pittman said after the Outback Bowl win. “We’ve come a long way. We are really pleased of how the Arkansas people followed us here, the folks. I know they spent their hard-earned money to get out here. We’re so appreciative of that.”