FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Sam Pittman received a token warm reception for the start of his radio show at the Catfish Hole on Wednesday.
A couple of minutes into the show, Pittman received a loud ovation after radio play-by-play man Chuck Barrett complimented Pittman by saying, “Your team competed and I think that's what people were proud of as they watched your team in the first half.”
The effort shown by the Razorbacks — in particular on defense — in their 37-10 loss to No. 4 Georgia has been roundly noted in the days since the season-opening game.
Arkansas led Georgia 10-5 midway through the third quarter, but the game got away after a series of big plays by the Bulldogs’ defense and special teams.
“We gave up 37, but really we were a three-touchdown defense,” Pittman said.
“I was proud of the way the defense played. I was proud of them the entire the game, but I think we wore down a little bit. The first half, the defense was incredible.”
Perhaps the biggest takeaway and an observation that was uttered on more than one occasion by Pittman on Wednesday: the Razorbacks must learn how to win.
“We just have to learn how to finish games,” Pittman said. “We have to learn not to panic. Defense will give us a chance.
“The first 2 ½ quarters did build confidence for our football team. We can build confidence off that game.”
Arkansas will carry a 20-game SEC losing streak into its 6:30 p.m. matchup with No. 16 Mississippi State on Saturday in Starkville, Miss.
The state of Mississippi has been the site of the Razorbacks’ past two conference victories — at Ole Miss in 2017 and at Mississippi State in 2016.
In order to make it three straight SEC wins in the Magnolia State, Arkansas must slow down an explosive Mississippi State offense led by quarterback K.J. Costello, who passed for an SEC-record 623 yards in a 44-34 victory at LSU last week. Costello passed 60 times in the Bulldogs’ first game running new coach Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense.
Pittman said Costello was “incredible” at LSU, but said an important key for the Razorbacks this weekend will be to stop running back Kylin Hill, a senior who led the Bulldogs in rushing last season. Hill rushed just 7 times for 34 yards at LSU, but had a team-leading 8 receptions for 158 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown.
“He’s exceptional,” Pittman said. "He might be the best running back in the SEC, or at least one of them."
“Kylin Hill is hard to tackle. We have to have a band of Hogs to get around him and get him down, and we’ve worked very hard on that.”
Another key for Arkansas will be to force Costello to check down from his primary receiver options.
“You have to keep them in front of you,” Pittman said. “If they catch it and they’re behind you, it’s going to be hard to catch them. We have to rally to the football. We have to gang tackle once they throw the ball underneath, if we’re fortunate enough to get them to check down.”
Pittman knows Arkansas must produce significantly more on offense to have a chance to pull the upset. The Razorbacks had 280 yards — and only 77 rushing yards on 28 attempts — against a Georgia defense that led the nation last season in rushing defense and scoring defense.
Arkansas’ only touchdown came on its second possession, a 49-yard touchdown pass from Feleipe Franks to Treylon Burks.
“We weren’t in rhythm all day on offense. We just weren’t,” Pittman said. “We couldn’t run the football on them. We did not expect to be able to run inside on them. I’d been practicing against those D-linemen for four years, so we understood how incredibly gifted and big they were."
Mississippi State recorded seven sacks in its upset of LSU. Pittman said the MSU defense will show blitzes and several twists along the front.
“We’ve prepared hard for that, but (it’s hard) until you get that type of athlete against you,” Pittman said.
Pittman said he likes how the Razorbacks match up with Mississippi State and some of the things Arkansas has in its game plan. He said the offense has to do more to help Franks, who completed 19 of 36 passes for 200 yards in his debut as a Razorback. Franks was intercepted twice, including a third-quarter interception Georgia’s Eric Stokes returned 30 yards for a touchdown.
“We have to line up right,” Pittman said. “He was switching the backs, he was switching the tight ends. We had a motion go the wrong direction. We had some things that — he needs to look at the defense. He needs to see about what’s going on on the other side of the ball, not on our side.
"I think we've fixed that problem."
Georgia limited Arkansas senior running back Rakeem Boyd to 21 yards on 11 carries, but Pittman said he was pleased with other aspects of Boyd’s game.
“He didn’t get down,” Pittman said. “His blocking and protection was outstanding Saturday and he’s going to need to be that way again for us.”
But, Pittman added, “For us to be efficient, I believe we have to run the ball first and then get into everything else our offense can do.”
Pittman didn’t elaborate, but said the Razorbacks will try some new personnel on special teams this week. Georgia had two 40-plus-yard kickoff returns and also blocked a punt to set up a touchdown in the season opener.
On two occasions Pittman said the Razorbacks had only 10 players on the field for a special teams play. On Monday he attributed the struggles, in part, to covid-19 quarantines and using players on special teams who weren’t necessarily groomed to play the positions in which they found themselves.