Andrew Armstrong putting up big stats, but seeking wins

FAYETTEVILLE — Andrew Armstrong was outstanding last season in his first year with the Razorbacks, but he is even better in 2024.

Armstrong missed the season opener, but still has caught 45 passes for 646 yards and a touchdown. In 2023 after transferring in from Texas A&M-Commerce, Armstrong caught 56 passes for 764 yards and five touchdowns. Stats are nice, but not a priority for Armstrong.

“I want to win,” Armstrong said. “I’m not too focused on my personal stats. If we’re winning and the offense is going, it’s clicking, the stats for myself will come. I’m not too focused on my personal goals.”

Arkansas is 4-3 on the season including 2-2 in the SEC. However the Hogs are coming off a rough 34-10 loss to LSU on Saturday. They will face Mississippi State this week.

“The locker room is great,”Armstrong said. “Everybody’s just ready to go out there and play again, like I said. The game is passed us. There’s nothing we can do to change the outcome of the game so everybody is just ready to go on to the next game in Starkville.”

Mississippi State stunned Arkansas 7-3 in Fayetteville last season. Following the game, Sam Pittman fired Dan Enos, the offensive coordinator. Does that game still stick in your mind?

“I don’t remember that game,” Armstrong said.

Once again, Mississippi State is 1-6 on the season and winless in SEC play. But don’t try to convince Armstrong this is a trap game for the Hogs.

“Nah, I mean, I don’t really look at the record because, like I said, this is SEC football,” Armstrong said. “Every team in the SEC is capable of competing. So if you’re looking at the record that’s where you get stuck. So I feel like we don’t try to look at the record. We’re just going to go out there and play, no matter if they were undefeated or haven’t won not one game.”

The Arkansas running game wasn’t clicking against LSU. Arkansas only managed 38 yards rushing in the game.

“I mean it’s very important,” Armstrong said of getting running game going. “The way our run game has been throughout the season it’s been great. And for our run game to kind of stumble last game, we’re very keen on trying to bring that back up to speed. Our running backs have been doing great this week at practice and we’re just ready to go.”

The running game could be missing leading rusher Ja’Quinden Jackson this week. How has the room looked?

“It’s been great, you know,” Armstrong said. “[Rashod Dubinion], [Braylen Russell], [Tyrell Reed], they’ve all been back there, doing exactly what they’re taught to do, expected to do. Getting the ball, running downfield, finishing their runs, running all the way through the end zone, just practicing those great habits, so that when we get to the game, you know, it can reflect.” 

The Razorbacks have actually played pretty well on the road the past couple of seasons under Pittman. They won at Auburn and nearly defeated Oklahoma State this season.

“Like I said, for me personally, home or away, we prepare for every game the same way,” Armstrong said. “The only difference is you have to get on that airplane and go there. You still get the same amount of rest you do. The only thing, like I said, the only difference is you’ve got to travel there. But you know we’re still going to go out there and play to the best of our ability. We have been playing great on the road lately and that’s just our plan.”

The Bulldogs are known more for offense under new coach Jeff Lebby, but the defense has made some big plays.

“When you look at film they like to play their little zone or whatever,” Armstrong said. “They play man a little bit, but our plan is just to go attack them. Attack their weak spots, attack everywhere that we feel like we can attack.”

The hamstring issue that hampered Armstrong in preseason and forced him to miss the UAPB game is in the past for him.

“I don’t even remember my hamstring being injured,” Armstrong said. “I just try to put that behind me and not have it in my head, because that’s where the mental blocks come in, where you think about it. Once I tried to get healthy, I just tried to look forward and forget about it.”

The touchdown catch against LSU was his first touchdown on the season. But once again that wasn’t something that concerned Armstrong.

“Everybody was worried about me scoring a touchdown and things like that,” Armstrong said. “That was the last thing on my mind. The first thing on my mind was trying to win. I wasn’t too focused on my personal goals.”

But it had to feel good to get that touchdown right?

“It felt great,” Armstrong said. “It’s always going to feel great to get in the end zone. To get one against LSU, where my one last year against LSU got called back, it was fun. It was exciting.”

While Armstrong has been the go-to guy for Taylen Green other receivers have stepped up. Isaiah Satenga has had a good season. Tyrone Broden and tight end Luke Hasz had good games against LSU.

“The thing about it is they’re confident,” Armstrong said. “They always had confidence. Even when things weren’t going their way, they were still confident. Like, that’s what I love about our team. That’s what I love about our players. Even when things go wrong, even when things go right, you know, everybody still has confidence. Everybody still has the same mindset of, ‘let’s go out there, let’s do our business, let’s win. No matter if you make a mistake, make that mistake at 100 miles per hour.’ That’s everybody’s mindset.”

Armstrong said he feels he has developed a good relationship with Green.

“I feel like me and Taylen just – I don’t know,” Armstrong said. “Like I said my thing is I just wanted to be a quarterback-friendly wide receiver like I said you know. When he’s rolling out, and he’s done it multiple times, he’ll find me. I feel like that builds the trust in him with me, that he can roll out and look for me, and find me and throw it. I feel like it’s just me and his connection has been great, from the spring through the summer through fall camp and there.”

Armstrong is a veteran in the SEC this being his second season at Arkansas. He feels his game reflects his experience.

“I feel like the older I get more hungry I am,” Armstrong said. “Last year I was hungry, but I’m even more hungry this year. The year before I got to Arkansas I was hungry, I was ready to play football. Last year I was more hungry than the year before that. I feel like each year, I continue to get older, I get even more hungry.”

Arkansas and Mississippi State will kickoff at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday and televised on ESPN.