Both Teams Perfect, but Cougars May Not be Pushover Fans Picked

No one picked BYU to be much of challenge for Hogs, which Sam Pittman knows is bad

Author:
Andy Hodges
Publish date:
Sep 12, 2023 6:42 PM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Despite what a lot of fans think, Arkansas coach Sam Pittman isn't in any rush to put Saturday's game with BYU automatically in the win column. It's a completely logical way to look at things when you think about it.

"They haven’t learned how to lose yet in the season," Pittman said in his Monday press conference. "That group of guys that’s playing together hasn’t been beat, so they don’t know how to lose. They’re 2-0. They play extremely hard. I mean, they do. They did last year. They’re a better football team than they were last year."

Okay, when all of us were doing those predictions for months, nobody seriously gave a lot of thought to the Razorbacks dropping a game to the Cougars. That includes me because I didn't even hesitate. For some reason, I don't feel that way now. Mainly because BYU looks better than I thought. So does Sam.

"Last year BYU was an urgent game," Pittman said. "It was a must-win for us and all those type things. It is now. It’s hard to beat a team that hasn’t lost. Both of us haven’t, so someone’s going to have to. Our kids understand the urgency of this game."

It's going to be a night game in Razorback Stadium, which usually means a lot of fans are going to be well-lubricated. They will have a few more hours of tailgating and for a stadium that's usually loud with all the concrete and metal. The Cougars also have coaches that look at film, too, and they will have a plan for the Hogs.

"Because of our not having success running the ball I’m sure we’re going to see a tremendous amount of looks," Pittman said. "They move pre-snap, some things we’ve got to get ready for. But they ran odd pressure. They’re a fire zone team, which we have not seen this year either, where it’s true three under, three deep. They’re going to cause us some problems because they move so much. They blitz quite a little bit."

The problems running a lot is over-rated in this day and age, in my opinion. The key is being able to run to control a lead in the fourth quarter when you need to do that. Offensive coordinator Dan Enos got more production passing when he was with the Hogs from 2015-17. The lack of big plays on offense is as unsettling as anything in the rushing game.

"The second game we didn’t hardly have any explosive plays," Pittman said. "Explosive plays are what you need for a lot of reasons. BYU got quite a few explosive plays through the air."

It's a difference that should be concerning, but nobody seems particularly interested in that, assuming the talent level with the Hogs is largely better that what the opponent has. Both teams have new faces all over the field and we'll find out Saturday who came out better.

The Hogs' game with BYU kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2 and fuboTV. You can listen online to HitThatLine.com or on the radio at ESPN Arkansas 99.5 in Fayetteville, 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.