What Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said after beating Florida
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA — Sam Pittman was part ecstatic and part relieved. And who could blame him. Saturday, his Arkansas team became the first in school history to win at The Swamp, beating the Florida Gators 39-36. It was a hard-fought victory, one that went to overtime.
Afterward, Pittman talked about the win.
Here are some notable quotes from Pittman’s postgame presser:
From Pittman’s opening statement …
“Florida has got a really good football team. We knew coming in here that they would be very physical, which they were. And Billy Napier is a wonderful coach and a good friend of mine. I’m really proud of our team — a lot of stuff went on in the program and the kids just stayed with us and they stayed believing. And to come down here — I don’t know how many times we’ve played them — and to be the first team to ever win here is a big deal. There ain’t but one first.”
On new offensive coordinator Kenny Guiton, who took over heading into the Florida game after Arkansas fired Dan Enos ….
“Congratulations to Kenny Guiton. He did a great job. To have the most yards that we’ve had all season in a bye week — was a credit to him, the players and the coaching staff. Obviously, we’re really excited about the win.”
On his message to the team Saturday ….
“I told them, you’re either quitting or fighting in life. That’s it. And you’re not doing maybe one or the other. That’s what you’re doing. You’re either fighting like hell or you’re quitting like hell. And, I was really proud of them, because we fought — we fought. And what a great game.”
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On what Guiton added to the team in his new role (he had been just the receivers coach) ….
“We tried to find out what we could do well. And he brought a lot of enthusiasm too and a lot of belief in the kids. You know, a coach — a good coach — gets his kids to play better than what they are. Not as good as they are. Better than what they are. A lot of coaches have the ability to do that and some don’t. Kenny is one of those guys that has that ability. Kids want to play. They respect him so they want to do well. And you could feel it all week — didn’t know if we were going to win or not. On Wednesday I felt like like we were.”
On Arkansas’ play after facing 1st-and-20 in overtime ….
“They wanted to win. They had the passion back. I think I did say maybe last week or a week and a half ago we had lost our edge on offense, our passion on offense. … We had it back today.”
On what it meant to have running back Raheim Sanders back from injury (he rushed for 103 yards)…
“Obviously, he’s been hurt for awhile but I thought he ran extremely hard and ran over some guys. He had a close one there. A guy made a shoestring tackle – I thought he could have scored there earlier in the game going to our left. I thought he played well. Held onto the ball well and ran hard. It was real good (to have him back). He’s got a ‘C’ on his jersey. He’s a captain. It’s more leadership as well.”
