Pittman Vows to Turn Page, Despite Uncertain Injury Outlook

Razorback coaches, players stick together despite brutal stretch next few weeks

Author:
Daniel Shi
Publish date:
Sep 18, 2023 3:52 PM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Oh, the glories of knick-knack pains and aches that happen throughout a football season. Coach Sam Pittman vowed to take control of the team after a rough 38-31 loss to BYU on Saturday.

"I’m going to tell them what we have to do to beat LSU today and that’s what we have to go do at practice," Pittman said. "As anything in life, as it fades a little bit, it’s not so hit-you-in-the-face. It fades a little bit and it kind of gets easier to turn the page and go to the next opponent."

Injuries definitely played a role in the team's struggles so far. Perhaps the immediate need is to try and get sophomore tackle Devon Manuel back for the first time all year as he recovers from a stinger, Pittman hoped for the best heading into conference play.

"I hope so," Pittman said. He just hasn't practiced well because he physically can't... We need him. Obviously, we had practiced Brady (Latham) out there a couple times, and he was the next best option we had. Just unfortunate when he had to move out there and all that, but he did as good of a job as he could do, and he was the right guy to move out there. It's just we need Dev back."

Running back Raheim "Rocket" Sanders also missed a second straight game against BYU, Pittman wouldn't commit to anything other than having Sanders at practice on Monday to "kind of see where he's at."

Quarterback KJ Jefferson is the latest to land on the list of potential injury concerns, although Pittman felt that although he was "a little banged up going into the game," he "is a lot better today than he was last week." It will certainly be something closely monitored at practice all week.

Despite all the trials and tribulations, Pittman knows this is his ship to run and is ready for the challenge of blocking the external noise and having a successful season.

"Nobody really cares what your feelings are," Pittman said. “If you don’t know somebody, why should you be concerned about their feelings? They’re not going to be in your life and they’re not in your life, so why should you care? I know I’ll get beat up for saying that too, but that’s how I feel. But I think it’s all going to be okay. The staff and the kids go off, I’m the leader and how am I going to approach it. We still got nine games left. I mean, we do. We’re undefeated in the SEC. We are. So, let’s see what happens.”

Pittman will look to lead the team to a bounce-back victory Saturday 6 p.m. against LSU in Baton Rouge La. The game will be streamed live on ESPN and fuboTV.