What Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said after the 34-31 loss at No. 12 Tennessee

What Arkansas interim head coach Bobby Petrino said after his team’s 34-31 loss at No. 12 Tennessee Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium:

Opening Statement 

“I thought our players really competed hard. Were well prepared. They came out and were well prepared for the game. We played physical, we played tough. They’re a good football team. Offensively, they know how to move the ball. We gave up some explosive plays, but we kept our poise and our players stuck together and came up with some huge stops that gave us an opportunity to win the game. Offensively, I like the way we started. They made some good adjustments in the third quarter that hurt us being able to continue to run the ball. Probably too stubborn with it, because I wanted to keep them on the sideline. But then we came out and started throwing it around and I thought we did a good job of throwing and catching. We got hurt with some protections and negative plays and obviously the turnovers ended up killing us. And then I made the decision to go for it instead of kick the field goal, and that ended up killing us, too.” 

If going for it on fourth-and-3 instead of kicking the field goal was a gut feel

“Yeah, we went into the game saying, hey, man, we’re gonna be real aggressive. We’re gonna have to go score points. And it worked in the fourth-and-one. That’s where I felt like, oh, my gosh, am I really doing this? Going for it on fourth-and-one. But our O-line and Taylen (Green) did a great job on that one. And I thought we had the call for the last one and Raylen Sharp was wide open and we chose to go to the other side. So that, sometimes you pick the wrong side and on that one we did.”

What he told his Arkansas team in the locker room after the game 

“I just told them to keep their heads up. We came in here to show that we were gonna compete. We were well prepared. They played physical and tough. They never gave in. They wanted to play one play at a time and find a way to win in the fourth quarter. I was proud the way the defense stuck together and kept competing. And obviously we gave up some things, but we also made plays to give us a chance to win. So now we just got to stick together and continue to practice and prepare the way that we did these last two weeks — probably a week. We’re right there, we just gotta find a way to get over the hump.”

Arkansas competing the way it did two weeks after a lopsided home loss to Notre Dame

“What made me feel good was the way they practiced, the attitudes that they had, the number of kids that came into my office and wanted to talk one-on-one. And then they go out there tonight and compete extremely hard. It’s a credit to those players. It’s a credit to the guys within the team. They made the decision to keep everybody together. And that’s what I wanted to make it about, was the players. And I’m very proud of them.”

Only having one penalty on the road, Arkansas being disciplined 

“Yeah, what doesn’t make you feel good is those turnovers and going for the fourth down instead of kicking the field goal. But I’m proud of the way the players competed and the way they stuck together. Because there was a point in there offensively that it felt like, hey, this thing’s falling apart a little bit. And then they came together and talked about it with each other and then went out and competed. We had probably six plays where all of a sudden one guy’s making a mistake here, then the next guy, then the next guy, and it looked like, oh, shoot. But they did a good job of coming continuing to compete.”

The operation of the Arkansas defense with a new defensive coaching staff

“Well, when the (head) phones went down, they were so bad at it. I’m kidding.Yeah, that was weird. The phones went out at halftime. Someone said they think it was when the quarterback went into the thing. I don’t really know. We were just trying to make sure it was equal, who had them and who didn’t have them. But I thought they did a nice job. I thought their communication with the players, the communication on the sideline, situational football, I think that’s one thing that really stands out to me. They were 2 of 9 on third down. So situational football for us on third down defense was very, very good.” 

What adjustments Tennessee’s defense made in the second half

“Yeah, they came down and got in more of an eight-man front. And they were rocking and rolling their safeties. And just said throw the ball, basically. And it took me too long to get to throwing it. I wish I would have done it a series earlier.”

What he learned about this Arkansas team after going down 17 in the second half, coming back late in the game

“Yeah, I mean, their toughness, really. I thought they stuck together and showed toughness and showed some grit. Because when things aren’t going good, there’s been times when you can turn the other way and give in a little bit, but they showed tremendous grit, tremendous toughness and pride in each other. And the enthusiasm that we had out on the field helped everybody.”

Improvement from the Arkansas defense since the 56-13 loss to Notre Dame

“I mean, I didn’t really watch the defense in the Notre Dame game. I turned the rearview mirror off and said we’re going forward, we’re moving forward. I didn’t want to have any preconceived ideas of players that we’re going to have that we need to play and compete and get better. So everything was about go forward, move in the right direction. And I liked what I saw all week. I liked the attitude that they came to practice with, the encouragement that they gave each other, the coachability. They were really coachable with new coaches there and I thought bought into it and showed toughness.”

How much there was change in scheme for the Arkansas defense after the coaching changes on that side of the ball

“Yeah, I mean there was a lot of change. And that’s one of the things we told them that they, everyone’s gonna have to do the rest of their life. Everybody’s gonna have change the rest of their life. So how they handled it was pretty good. They had great attitude, great work ethic, came to practice with a smile, finished practice with a smile, helped each other out. So I’m just proud of the players.”

His first time being a head coach in a game since Missouri State, how it felt for him

“Try not to think about it. I still haven’t really thought about it. I’m mad about the not kicking the field goal. Kick myself in the head all the time for that one. I feel like we could still be out there playing and seeing if we could win or not, so it’s a bad decision. When that happens, it’s a bad decision.  There’s no question about that.”

If he enjoyed being back on the sidelines opposed to the press box 

“I did enjoy being back on the sideline, that’s for sure. And being right in the thick of it and the adjustments and seeing the players’ eyes and encouraging the players. I think the feel for it was very, very positive. The feel for how they were coachable on the sideline, the adjustments they made, the confidence that they showed each other, I thought was something that’s encouraging.”

The Arkansas run game going for 256 yards

“Yeah, it was great to see. I thought they ran really well hard. Kept waiting for Mike (Washington) to break one. I think he was like inches from breaking a long one four or five times. And, Braylen (Russell) competed hard. Braylon’s had two great weeks of practice running with his pads down and being explosive. And that’s what we wanted him to do. And I feel bad for him fumbling the ball because he was working hard at it. He just got a know to chin the ball and lock it at that point. There was two guys there, not just one.”

Fixing the fumbling issues, if it’s as simple as emphasizing the problems at practice

“Yeah, definitely, quarterback wise .We got to understand that when we’re running to the left, that we just got to tuck the ball away and take what we get, not try to make that throw with the pressure on him. And so we talked about that on the sideline. We work hard all the time on ball security. And that was a heck of a football game out there. The speed of their defense and the collisions and the physicality of the game caused a couple of those fumbles. You’ve got to give them credit, too, because they ran fast through the football.”

Arkansas using Kam Shanks more in the offense  

“Yeah, Kam, I thought really stepped up for us. With the injuries that we had, we knew that he was going to be out there on the field a lot more. I really liked him in spring ball. He did a great job for us. And then in camp he was hurt a lot and missed a whole bunch of time. And we’ve been waiting for him to get back in and get back at it and it was good to see. He’s a tough competitor.” 

Getting some three-and-outs after Arkansas turned it over

“On the first and second down, we were able to stop the explosives. And then I thought all day long we played very good situational third-down defense. So I think that that showed up definitely in those situations.”

What Arkansas needs to take from this game, going back home to host Texas A&M

“We need to take the same work ethic and practice, the same attitude, the same belief in each other. And then we need to improve on the individual breakdown offense that hurt us at times. We get better at certain line games in the protection. They’re going to bring it next week too. They got a great line, defensive line. So we worked harder in the fourth quarter trying to get the ball out of our hand quicker. And that helped us. Got a little more reliable on the quick game and still running the ball. We can run the ball and continue to do what we did running the ball tonight. We’ll be right there.”