Sam Pittman Won't Say It, But Knows Hogs Should Blast Eagles
This is the type game you can tell how good a coach can play the psychological game with his players.
Sam Pittman knows he's got better talent than Georgia Southern.
He also knows the Razorbacks can't just wallow around at Razorback Stadium on Saturday afternoon and give the Eagles hope.
That's when you have problems.
"To be honest with you, I’m not one bit concerned about it and I’m not going to talk about it a lot," Pittman said at his press conference Monday.
By Wednesday that had changed. He wasn't happy with practice the day before and he was sending a message to his players.
"I didn't like the intensity," he said about the Tuesday practice.
He's played the role all week building up Georgia Southern's players, who were rolled by Florida Atlantic last week, 38-6. Pittman said don't pay attention to that.
"You can’t really caught up in 38-6 because Georgia Southern was up 6-0 and had an opportunity to go up 13-0 and fumbled down around the 7 or 8-yard line in the second quarter," he said earlier this week.
Pittman, who was the offensive line coach at Georgia before getting the Hogs' job, was even talking about the south Georgia area.
"They’re tough," he said. "They’re a little bit like us, I think, they’ve kind of got a little chip on their shoulder, and maybe are fighting to get respect, and things of that nature."
He also said getting behind early was the big thing.
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"It went south on them, to me," Pittman said, "I don’t know, I’m not their coach. After they fumbled down there with an opportunity to go up two scores (is when things went south)."
In case you're wondering, that's coach-speak for they quit without saying that in so many words.
It's the same thing Texas did Saturday night. Rice didn't quit the week before, mainly because the Hogs kept stumbling around on offense.
All of that is why Pittman is wanting to avoid a slow start Saturday. We'll find out if he can get the players' attention to avoid giving the Eagles hope.
It's the real test of a coach.
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