'Little Cam' Comes Up Huge with First Game-winning Field Goal
Sam Pittman calls him "Little Cam."
"I know his name is Cam Little but I call him Little Cam," said Pittman after slipping past LSU in overtime Saturday night. "But his leg ain’t. Big Cam is his leg."
It wasn't exactly a situation Little has dealt with much over his entire career.
"This is actually my first game-winner — ever," he said later. "It’s the first time I’ve ever been put in that situation and I was just glad to make the kick."
After Montaric Brown's interception ended LSU's first possession in overtime, Pittman was just trying to set things up for his freshman kicker, who has turned a position that has been an adventure for a few years into one of the biggest positives on the team.
"They didn’t throw it, Mo went and got it," Pittman said. "At that point, I told KB (Kendal Briles) we were going to run it twice to center it, and if we didn’t make a first down Cam was going to go win the game. That’s exactly what happened."
He didn't waste time distracting him, either.
"I didn’t look at him,” Pittman said. “I was talking to the wings and the tight ends about handling the edge pressure. But I pretty much felt like if he got the ball up he was going to make it."
Little has hit 17-of-21 field goals this year and 34-of-34 on extra points. Going three-for-three against the Tigers he passed Zach Hocker's 2010 season for the most field goals by a Razorback freshman.
He's also been named SEC Freshman of the Week twice, most recently last week after kicking three against Mississippi State.
As noted above, it's a weapon for the Razorbacks' offense.
"How nice is it to have a kicker that you know if you put it in the middle of the field he's going to make it?" Pittman said later. "It doesn't matter what the pressure is."
For Little, though, he was ready for it.
"The (Texas) A&M game was another game where they called a timeout, and I kind of spent it the same way," Little said. "Just swinging my leg, getting warmed up. We’ve gone through this scenario in practice a couple of times with Coach (Scott) Fountain. It was just a normal situation for me. It didn’t really affect me that much."
And the flip-flop on the name has pretty much become natural.
"I just kind of adopted the name, I guess, it would have been in fall camp," said Little. "I don't mind it. It's just what he's always called me, so I'm used to the team calling me it. I don't mind it. It's pretty funny."
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