Pittman hopes Razorbacks' three strengths equal successful season

Sam Pittman was a man of many words during a lengthy meeting with the media earlier this week while coating his answers with equal parts of hope and confidence.

Arkansas' congenial football coach offered about 3,700 words while assessing his team and the outlook heading into Saturday's opening skirmish with Alabama A&M.

What stood out most? To me, it was three words:
1 - Speed.
2 - Size.
3 - Experience.

Teams with those three attributes are usually successful. When those teams get a little luck, they often contend for conference titles. When those teams are lucky AND play up to their absolute potential, they contend for an NCAA playoff berth.

Before we get carried away, please understand there are no guarantees for any team, especially one picked in the bottom fourth of the 16-team SEC. That's where the pundits figure the Hogs will finish.

The perpetually positive Pittman feels in his heart the Razorbacks will do better than that, or at least have the potential to do much better.

But that's how every coach and team feels before they play a single game. The preseason is a time for dreams. Everybody's still undefeated and should be full of confidence

We'll know a lot more about the Razorbacks following their date with Ole Miss in Oxford in week three. Both coaches remember last year's 63-31 beatdown the Rebs gave the Hogs in front of their home crowd.

A glorified scrimmages against A&M won't tell us a lot. Remember, that's not the Aggies from Texas but the Alabama version from Huntsville.

Huntsville, Ala., is only 150 miles from Tuscaloosa, Ala, home of the mighty Crimson Tide. But the football teams are light years apart and a tussle with the Bulldogs will serve to help the Hogs fine-tune parts of their game and build confidence.

But it won't tell us much about how well Pittman's team will fare against the likes of Notre Dame and LSU

That speed and size Pittman alluded to will be on display against Alabama A&M in Razorback Stadium. In fact, the ol' ball coach will flash both attributes when he leads the Hogs onto the artificial turf prior to kickoff.

He's anxious to be the first man out after missing that opportunity last year due to an injury. Hip replacement surgery has him rarin' to go.

"I'm gonna run as fast I can run," Pittman said. "I've been a year off. I should be in better shape than I've been.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman (middle) holds a cane while directing the Hogs to a 39-26 win against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Dec. 27, 2024 in the Liberty Bowl at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Running through the "A" can be a special moment, Pittman said, and he'll bask in the tradition.

"It's a great tradition, really is," he said, "and to be a part of that and be the first guy. Now I don't finish first, but to be the first guy running out there, it's ... a great honor to be that guy. And I hated it last year that I wasn't able to do it, but I can this year. I'm going to be rolling."

This is Pittman's sixth season as the Head Hog and he still gets that tingling feeling where he wants to pinch himself.

"It’s exciting," he admitted. "I’m the head coach at Arkansas."

His prayers are that this team gels and excels, scores some road upsets and takes care of business at home.

SEC road games (in order) are at No. 21 Ole Miss, No. 24 Tennessee, No. 9 LSU and and No. 1 Texas. That's when Arkansas fans will get their first up-close look at heralded quarterback Arch Manning against the Hogs.

The Hogs go to Oxford Sept. 13, to Tennessee Oct. 11, and following a bye week travel consecutive weekends to LSU on Nov. 15 and Texas on Nov. 22.

Three SEC games are at Razorback Stadium Oct. 18 and 25, and Nov. 1. are against No. 19 Texas A&M, Auburn, Mississippi Staten. The Hogs close at home against Missouri on Nov. 29.

Good part of the schedule? Three home games against unranked teams. Oh yeah, No. 6 Notre Dame invades Fayetteville Sept. 27.

Worst part of the schedule? Those four road games against ranked teams. Pundits predict four losses but Sam, as always, has hope.

Much of that confidence is because he has a senior quarterback in uber-athletic Taylen Green, who is in his second season with quarterback guru coach Bobby Petrino.

Pittman and his staff have rebuilt much of the team due to transfer portal losses, countered by incoming transfers.

"This year’s a little bit different because we have a lot of players that the state hasn’t seen and we haven’t seen on a Saturday," he said. "We certainly have seen them in practice and scrimmages, so it is exciting to see what we have.

"And that’s the thing in football, you have guys on Saturday that are better than what they were in practice, and sometimes you find out they’re not quite as good.

"We will see all the ones that are better, and I think that we will because we have an older, veteran team."

We'll also see come week 3 at Ole Miss and beyond if that size and speed measure up to SEC-level studs. If they do, could be a fun season for Sam and fans.

If not, well, let's wait and see. Sam and his team are due to win some close ones. They're do to have some breaks and turnovers go their way.

Oddsmakers won't agree but I can see a 4-0 bunch of rip snortin' Razorbacks thirsting for another upset when the Fighting Irish come to Northwest Arkansas.

Now that would be fun to watch.

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