Sam Pittman addresses what makes Columbia, Missouri hard to play at

The Arkansas Razorbacks are looking to finish strong on the road in Columbia, Missouri to finish the season. The only problem for head coach Sam Pittman has been the struggles that he’s found during road games against the Missouri Tigers.

Ahead of the game, Pittman was asked what made road games difficult in Columbia and while he didn’t have one reason for it, there are plenty of contributing factors.

“I wish I knew that,” Sam Pittman said. “We’d have a couple more wins. I think Eli [Drinkwitz] has done a great job of cultivating the fans. When we play them, it’s usually cold, which they’re probably a little bit more used to that than we are. I don’t know exactly. We’ve been playing on Friday. Maybe they did a better job of preparing their team than we have.”

Since Sam Pittman first got to Arkansas in 2020, he’s played road games in Columbia twice, losing both games by two points each. He did get a home win against Missouri in 2021 but is 1-3 overall against Eli Drinkwitz and the Tigers. Now, he’s preparing for another road trip.

“But it’s always been up there it seems to me like it’s been a close game and something happened,” Pittman said. “Like, two years ago we went up there and I kicked a field goal to put it within a one-score game, and we never got the ball back. Hindsight probably should’ve went for it from the five or whatever it was at the time. So, they’re always close games, and we’ve just got to find a way to win it.”

In the last two seasons, Missouri has a home record of 12-1. The only loss came in a thriller against the LSU Tigers during the 2023 season. They’ll be looking to add to that mark with their game against the Razorbacks.

Both teams enter the game bowl-eligible already. Neither is in a position to make it to the SEC Championship Game at this point. However, the Tigers do believe that, with a win and a bit of chaos, they’d still have an outside shot at making the College Football Playoff as a three-loss SEC team that could earn an at-large bid.

Sam Pittman jokes Eli Drinkwitz ‘stirs up a lot of stuff’ ahead of rivalry game

Ahead of their game, Sam Pittman joked that Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz likes to stir things up before a rivalry game.

“I have respect for [him]. He stirred up a lot of stuff, not just with Arkansas. So I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a hell of a coach now, and you don’t want him to have the ball on the last drive. And, I mean, you don’t, because he’s outstanding and has won a lot of games that way,” Pittman said.

“You know as a rivalry, he told me he’s going to try to start up too when we first came here, I respect the guy. He’s obviously done a really nice job there. So, you know, we’re rivals, and they’ve got the trophy. They’ve had it for the last two years. We’d like to get it back.”

Arkansas and Missouri are scheduled to kickoff at 3:30 p.m. EST on Saturday, November 30th.