From the Other Side: Arkansas’ Sam Pittman lauds Ole Miss defense following 27-20 Rebel win

No. 16 Ole Miss survived SEC West rival Arkansas on Saturday, 27-20. The Rebels improved to 5-1 (2-1 SEC) on the season, while the Razorbacks fell to 2-4 (0-3).

Here’s everything Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman had to say following the Razorbacks’ third straight loss.

OPENING STATEMENT

“I want to congratulate Ole Miss; they found a way to win. It was a very hard-hitting game. We’ve got several injuries that went out throughout the game that we’ll have to figure out exactly how long those guys are gonna be out. 

“But I thought they had a really good game plan on defense (and) they executed it well. They played extremely hard and played through a lot of injuries out there. Offensively, we’ve got to find a way to run the football. Until we do that, we’re putting way too much pressure on our quarterback, our offensive line to protect during those times and our wide outs to get open. It’s hard to win a game when you can’t run the football. We’ve gotta figure out a way to do it. Obviously we’re trying, but what we’re doing is not working, so we’ve gotta figure that part of it out. 

“The way we’re built, we can’t win games not having success rushing the football.

ON ARKANSAS QB KJ JEFFERSON RETURNING TO HIS HOME STATE WITH A LOSS

“I think he’s just like everybody else on the team — he’s gotta get better as well. 

“I know he played extremely hard. He’s certainly just like everybody else on the team. I know it was special for him coming back, wanted to win, but he played his heart out. I think if you ask him, he’d probably take a couple, about three or four throws, back. But that’s part of the game. 

“I felt like he led extremely well tonight and played very hard.”

ON THE BELEAGUERED ARKANSAS OFFENSIVE LINE

“Well, the first drive we go down and score, but we really didn’t block a whole lot of guys. We had a lot of guys coming through untouched. The movement was bothering us, especially at center. 

“So, in the second quarter, we decided to put Beaux (Limmer) back at center (to) maybe help that. At halftime, I decided to just go back to where we were the first five games to see if we’d be better. 

“I’ll have to watch the tape to see if we got any better or not with that combination of guys. That’s what went into the decision. We could not handle the run throughs and the movement. They were too quick for us, so I thought if we moved Beaux back in the middle, maybe that would calm some things down.”

ON ARKANSAS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR TRAVIS WILLIAMS’ PLAN FOR OLE MISS

“I thought it was fantastic. His call fourth and two that got us the ball with the opportunity to score a touchdown in their 40 was big. Our kids really bought in to what they were selling. Ole Miss had as good as a football game offensively as you can have a week ago. You know, if we do a little bit more on offense, we certainly would have been able to continue to do that. We changed up a little bit defensively while trying to get that ball back, but I think they had a great game plan and executed it well.”

ON ARKANSAS TE TY WASHINGTON, PLAYING IN PLACE OF INJURED LUKE HASZ

“Oh, man, you wanna know something? I’m so happy for him. I took him aside just right before I came here and told him how proud I was of him. Seven catches for two touchdowns. He never griped, he never complained. He’s playing behind Luke, and he came in and had that type of game. I believe he blocked well, too. 

“That’s certainly gonna do well for his confidence and our confidence in him. For his, really, his first start, to do that was really outstanding. I’m really happy for him.”