It’s a constant refrain when former Arkansas players are asked their thoughts on Sam Pittman. They would enjoy playing for him and approve of what he’s done with the Arkansas football team in just his first year as football coach.
Former linebacker Mark Smith didn’t hesitate with high praise for Pittman ahead of the Missouri game this week in Columbia, Mo.
“This team makes me proud,” Smith said. “They play with great effort. You see the fight until the end.”
The Webb City, Mo., product — named to the newest class of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame — will be in front of his TV at 11 a.m. pulling for “my Razorbacks” to give him bragging rights among the handful of Missouri fans in his circle of friends.
Smith isn’t the bragging type. Quiet was the first thing anyone said about the former All-SEC linebacker from the Danny Ford days at Arkansas. Actually, Smith can call Jack Crowe and Joe Kines his head coach, too. He arrived in the summer of 1992 as the Hogs prepared for The Citadel.
“God didn’t bless me with communication skills, but he gave me drive,” he said.
But that’s not what he saw among many players when he first got to Arkansas and practice began for the season opener against The Citadel.
The 10-3 Arkansas loss – one of the worst in school history – didn’t altogether surprise the hardnosed Smith after August camp.
“We had a running back, Jeff Savage, who had freak ability,” Smith said. “I had just gotten there as a true freshman. We were in one-on-ones and I hit him. He grabbed me and said, ‘Slow down, man!’ I got mad.
“Well, that’s why we got our butt kicked by Citadel. I didn’t have a good feel about that team. That was my first game and I thought, ‘What am I doing here?’”
What he did was play his butt off for four years. Smith redshirted in 1992 because of foot surgery, then became a starter in Week 7 of 1993 and was the centerpiece of the defense through 1996. He led the team in tackles in 1994 with 79, then again with 115 for the ’95 team that played in the SEC Championship Game.
Playing hard was never a problem with Smith. He was a ferocious tackler, a downhill linebacker who never took a play off in practice or in a game. A stress fracture in his foot slowed him as a true freshman, but that was fixed surgically.
“It was just an over-use thing and I hurt it again my very first practice,” he said. “We tried to let it heal, but Dr. (Tom) Coker finally fixed it with some pins. I’ve still got them in my foot. They usually take them out, but I never did.”
Tom Coker Sr. was near retirement when Smith arrived on campus. Smith wasn’t sure he was the right choice for the surgery when they first met, but trainer Dean Weber assured that he was the best and had fixed a similar fracture that plagued basketball great Bill Walton.
“He made me nervous when he walked into the room,” Smith said. “He limped and had thick glasses. But he did a great job. The only problem I ever had was the field in Little Rock was so hard that it hurt the foot with the pins.”
Smith picked the Hogs over Missouri in recruiting. He said it came down to two honest recruiters, Louis Campbell and Kines. Smith played linebacker for Kines for three years, then for Joe Pate.
“I loved my coaches,” Smith said. “Louis Campbell was the lead recruiter and was so honest, just down to earth. He didn’t sell that we were about to win a national championship. He told me what it would be like and how we’d play on defense.
“To be honest, part of it was I hated the drive from Webb City to Columbia. I made the right choice and just loved Arkansas.”
Everyone there loved Smith, including every secretary in the football office. They all thought he was top shelf, with movie star good looks.
It was still a tough first year.
“I spent most of it with a cast on my foot,” Smith said. “I was barely healthy by spring ball. I felt disconnected from the team. I didn’t know anybody.”
Smith opened 1993 behind veteran linebacker Shannon Wright and did get some playing time. He recalls chasing Tennessee quarterback Heath Shuler in an early-season loss to the Vols in Little Rock “when I felt they threw me to the wolves.”
It was soon after that a shocking result put him in the middle of the defense as the main man, a spot he held for the rest of his Arkansas time.
“Shannon shot himself and I became the starter for the Ole Miss game in Jackson,” Smith said. “I was so quiet that I think the coaches were worried about me mentally. So they put Tate Turner (from Camden, Mo.) on the travel squad to room with me.”
Smith might have seemed shy off the field, but played loud. He was an impressive hitter and took care of his assignments as the signal caller of a 4-3 defense.
Joe Lee Dunn, the defensive coordinator in 1995, questioned his speed, but it was never an issue in games. Smith seemed to play faster than his 40 times.
There are similarities with the way Smith played to current Arkansas linebackers Grant Morgan and Bumper Pool. And, Smith thinks there are similar traits to his coaches and current Arkansas staffers.
“I knew it was going to work out when they hired Sam Pittman,” Smith said. “He played at (Pittsburg) State, right up the road from me. My high school coaches were from Pitt State.
“I knew exactly what kind of coach he was going to be, the kind players want to run through a brick wall for. I watch every game.
“Those linebackers we’ve got now at Arkansas, I’ll watch them all day long. I saw a shot from the end zone in the first game of Morgan next to a Georgia offensive guard. Morgan came up to his belly button. But he’s one of the better linebackers we’ve had. He plays so hard.
“I like to watch the freshman safety Jalen Catalon, too. He is a really good player and so smart.”
Smith had season tickets but did not renew after watching the 2018 North Texas game under Chad Morris, a 44-17 Arkansas loss.
“I quit going because I didn’t see a team that would fight back,” Smith said. “This team does. They have not won all the games, but they fight back. I see a team that fights until the end.
“I’m excited to watch this (Missouri) game. We will have everyone in the family there. My two kids are home from college, and we will watch together.”
Smith’s wife Camber (Welker), a dance team member at Arkansas, doesn’t miss games, either.
“I overachieved there,” Smith said. “She’s the boss now. I’m helping her with her wedding venue business. It’s done well and we aren’t hurting.”
He’s available because his job in pharmaceutical sales was eliminated last month.
“I’m kind of humbled,” he said. “Except by the (Kansas City) Chiefs, I’d never been laid off before. But we are lucky, because Camber’s business is going good. My job is cleaning 600 chairs (after weddings).
“Tell Coach (Barry) Odom that I’m available as a water boy.”
This is the week that would be fun. Smith wants to end the losing skid to the Tigers.
“It’s been tough sledding for me around here the last few years,” he said. “There are two people who have been giving it to me. I’m not sure they are even that big of a Mizzou fan, but they act like it around me. I just bite my tongue.
“I think it’s a good matchup, the two programs. They are similar in that neither one is going to get a lot of five-star players, so coaching shows up more at Arkansas and Missouri.”
Smith knows exactly what the Hogs have as far as the recruiting stars.
“I do keep up,” he said. “I don’t keep up with much in the sports world, but I keep up with my Razorbacks with who they are after and sign.”
With the start of this week’s keys to victory, it’s appropriate to start with effort. Smith suggests it’s clear what to expect.
The Fight
It’s a budding rivalry game, the so-called Battle Line Rivalry. It’s a bit of a contrived name for a series that has only 11 previous meetings. The thought was hatched in 2014 with the first trophy given in 2015. The two teams have split two bowl games with the Tigers winning the Cotton Bowl at the end of the 2007 season and the Hogs taking the Independence Bowl in 2003.
Effort has not been a problem for the Hogs in the eight games played under Pittman. That was one of the keys that appeared in this space for the first couple of weeks this season because of an up-and-down pattern of effort under recent coaches.
It’s been a given this season. Pittman made a prediction about effort after the Auburn game.
“I was proud of them, and that they fought their butts off,” Pittman said. “We’ve got a good football team, and that the times of us going someplace and embarrassing our fans and our football team are over.”
That bodes well for the trip to Columbia.
Still, this is a week that effort will figure heavily in the outcome. Mizzou is playing hard, too. The Hogs will have to match that effort. Who maintains effort and strains until the end? Expect a hitting contest with toughness emphasized on both sides.
Physical Play
The wins and losses in this 3-5 season seem to mirror line of scrimmage results as the Hogs have attempted a 10-game SEC schedule that is perhaps the most rugged in school history. The Tigers are a hard-nosed line of scrimmage team, finally healthy on the offensive line with two starters back last week.
The Hogs lost the physical battle up front in their last outing against LSU. They got a lead thanks to a few big plays, but could not sustain drives and were not strong enough or big enough in the defensive line to stop LSU’s simple dive plays.
Of course, the Hogs had a host of linemen out because of covid-19 problems or injuries. Noah Gatlin and Beaux Limmer were out in the offensive line and the defensive line was missing Eric Gregory, Dorian Gerald, Julius Coates, Isaiah Nichols, Xavier Kelly and Zach Williams. Most of those will be back this week when Pittman anticipates a more robust roster.
It won’t be just about the lines playing physical. Running back Trelon Smith thinks the Hogs need to step up in all areas with a strain to the whistle.
“I feel like coming into this next game we’ll do a better job of adjusting and just (being more physical than) these guys,” Smith said. “I feel like we weren’t as physical as LSU was and that (was) a major role in it. We’ve just got to out-physical these guys this coming weekend.”
It’s an area that Pittman has stressed all year. One of his common phrases is to push the strain. It’s part of his mission to produce a tougher team. The Hogs have been soft under Morris and probably for the last two years under Bret Bielema, too.
Connor Bazelak
Mizzou’s redshirt freshman quarterback started against Arkansas last year, but gave way to Taylor Powell because of injury in a 24-14 victory over the Hogs. Bazelak was 7 of 9 for 80 yards in that game.
Bazelak played in the first two games this year in a reserve role, but has been entrenched as the starter after exploding against LSU with a 29 of 34 day for 406 yards, the second-best completion percentage day by a Mizzou quarterback.
Bazelak hasn’t repeated his LSU performance, but has been effective. He’s 147 of 209 on the season for 1,622 yards, but has thrown for only one touchdown since that explosion against LSU. He completed 15 straight passes against LSU.
The 6-3, 220-pound Bazelak is a strong runner but has been content to hang in the pocket. His strength is reading the zone read in coach Eli Drinkwitz’s run-pass option game featuring running backs Larry Rountree and Tyler Badie.
Feleipe Franks
This could be the edge the Hogs need to win the trophy. Franks has given the Hogs lots of big plays this season with 17 touchdown passes. He’s on track to break the school record for completion percentage, sitting at 68% with two games to play.
Franks is a part of everything the Hogs do on offense since a lack of consistent blocking puts the pressure on the run-pass option in the Kendal Briles offense. He has carried 92 times. He’s gained 359 yards and after 130 in sacks has a net of 229.
By contrast, Smith, the lead running back, has 89 carries for a net of 469 yards, a big chunk on an 83-yard dash against Florida.
The senior quarterback has battled injuries. He is sporting a knee brace and a heavily taped left hand, the latter injured against Florida. Franks transferred from Florida in January and has been a team leader.
The Wizard
The Razorbacks’ media relations director Kyle Parkinson deserves credit for this key, or at least a tip of a wizard cap. He identified Barry Odom, the Arkansas defensive coordinator, as a “wizard” in his game notes.
Odom’s picture in the game notes — new this week — identified Odom as “of Gryffindor,” a reference to the Harry Potter books. The House of Gryffindor is characterized as a place for “daring, nerve and chivalry.” Odom will need all of that to design something that pressures the Mizzou quarterback and stop Rountree and Badie.
Thanks to Photoshop, Parkinson added a pair of wizard-like glasses to the Odom photo.
Odom has resurrected the Arkansas defense this season with improved tackling and a marked jump in effort. The Hogs allowed 39.9 points last year, 30.9 this season against an all-SEC slate. They allowed a third-down conversion rate of 53 last season, 43 this season.
The Hogs have forced an SEC-best of 17 turnovers, including 13 interceptions, second in FBS. The last two UA teams combined to make 11 interceptions.
Obviously, Odom is a key figure in this game. He is a Mizzou graduate and has spent much of his coaching career with the Tigers. He was fired as head coach after the Arkansas game last year.
Overlooked Arkansans
The Tigers have three key contributors from Arkansas: wide receiver Barrett Banister (Fayetteville), defensive end Akial Byers (Fayetteville) and defensive tackle Markell Utsey (Little Rock Parkview). None were offered scholarships by the Arkansas under Bielema.
Banister has only started against Kentucky and Florida this season and has four total starts in his career, but has been in the rotation as a slot receiver over the last two seasons. He is a solid route runner and has great hands. The Hogs failed to cover him on one entire drive last season and best not repeat that mistake.
The former walk-on has 43 catches over the last two seasons. He is the grandson of Harold Horton, a legendary former UA player and coach. He made six catches against Arkansas last year.
Utsey (6-4, 295 pounds) is listed as a co-starter. He’s been in the lineup six times this season. Byers (6-4, 305) has started three of the last four games. Both are seniors and solid.
The Running Backs
This is a position the Tigers hold the edge, as much because of attrition as ability.
Rountree is one of the best backs in the SEC. At 5-10, 210 pounds, he is a physical runner. He breaks tackles and has a feel for setting up blockers. Badie is speedier, but can pack a punch, too. Few teams in the SEC have a better one-two punch than the Tigers.
Arkansas has little depth at running back after team captain Rakeem Boyd opted out — the popular word for quitting — after retuning from his Houston home Sunday. He missed the LSU game because of contact tracing. He’s been bothered by injuries in a lackluster season.
Smith will get the bulk of the carries, but there may be a reason to expect more chances for TJ Hammonds after he turned in two big plays to set up a field goal against LSU. Hammonds caught a pass for 51 yards and added a 29-yard run. Until then, most of the times his number has been called this season resulted in bad plays.
“I told (Hammonds) to hang in there and be ready,” Smith said. “His confidence should be high now.”
The task for the Arkansas backs will be to beat Nick Bolton, Mizzou’s terrific weakside linebacker. Bolton has 76 tackles, 53 unassisted. He’s quick and plays downhill. He beats his blocker and is waiting in the hole on most running plays.
Smith has the speed to give Bolton trouble, but it’s not as good of a match-up as the Hogs have gotten against a few other linebackers in their counters and RPO game.
Protection
While trench play has already been mentioned, what happens in regards to pass protection is critical. Arkansas would like to rely on Franks more in the passing game, if the protection holds up.
There has been a concerted effort to improve the running game over the last month, but that backfired two weeks ago when LSU stuffed Smith’s attempts between the tackles. That left a lot of third-down situations.
It may be that the Hogs have to pass more on early downs, to help protection.
Conversely, the Tigers have a healthier offensive line. They had the preferred five starters together for the first time since opening week in last week’s blowout victory over Vanderbilt.
Can the Hogs get some pressure against Bazelak? The Hogs probably enter the game with the thought that stopping the run (and Rountree) is the first priority, but they have left their pass defense vulnerable of late because there has been little pressure, and the pass interceptions the Hogs lived on early have been tougher to produce.
Help is on the Way
The Hogs will have to hold on for two quarters while safety Catalon serves a suspension for the controversial targeting penalty in the fourth quarter of the LSU game.
Catalon is second on the team with 86 tackles, including a team-best 45 solo stops. He also has three interceptions.
As much as the Hogs will miss Catalon’s physical play and tackling ability, it’s his ability to make adjustments and correct alignment mistakes that will be tough to replicate. Pittman said there are older players on the field with leadership capability, but it’s Catalon that is the unquestioned leader of the defense.
Pittman said there is an “aura” to Catalon’s play and no one argues. His play rivals the recent great Arkansas safeties, Kenoy Kennedy and Ken Hamlin. Neither played as well as Catalon has as a redshirt freshman.
Catalon was already at a season-best 16 tackles when he was ejected in the LSU game. No SEC freshman has totaled more tackles in a season since at least 2000.
The Hogs will likely rotate Myles Mason and Myles Slusher in Catalon’s absence. A big part of their challenge will be to get Rountree on the ground — and to hold on until Catalon’s return in the second half.
Third Down
It was the focus of the “keys” before the LSU game. Never before has one lead key turned out to be such a big part of a defeat. The Hogs went 0 for 10 on third down against a defense that had struggled all season.
The Hogs have slipped to 32.7% on third downs after that woeful performance, 13th in the SEC and No. 114 in the nation. Mizzou’s defense — basically the same scheme from last year — allows only 33.7%. It won’t be easy.
The Hogs have to sustain their offense better to take some pressure off of a defense that has been on the field too much. Opponents are averaging 10 minutes more in time of possession. It’s been much more lopsided of late.
The answer? It’s never as simple as one thing. And, to point back to the first two items in this list is over simplification, too. But it’s a good place to start and end.