Hogs arrive in Memphis, Sam Pittman talks bowl game

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas arrived in Memphis on Monday afternoon and ready to face Texas Tech in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl Friday night.

Arkansas (6-6) and Texas Tech (8-4) both will be without some key players. Arkansas is missing far more than the Red Raiders, but Tech is missing a very key piece in quarterback Behren Morton. He had surgery and won’t play. Sam Pittman talked about running back Braylen Russell who has entered and withdrawn twice from the transfer portal.

“Braylen Russell, he’s going to play, he’s here,” Pittman said. “So that’s been back and forth there, but we’re glad to have him. I think he’s been to over half of them (practices). He’s ready to go. He’s obviously practiced Sunday and practiced today. Practiced, I think twice, so he may have been to four of them to this point. He’s in good shape. He’s looked good in practice. You know, Rodney (Hill) and Tyrell (Reed) both have looked good in practice, as well. So, I think he’s ready to go.”

As a true freshman, Russell carried 47 times for 304 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also caught 3 passes for 18 yards. Russell had big games against Tennessee and Mississippi State. Pittman was asked if he could detail any of what has gone on there?

“Well, I can give you a coach’s answer on it a little bit,” Pittman said. “We talked him out of… He went in the portal and I called him in, talked to him, and he decided not to go into the portal. And then I don’t know the reason of going back in. And then he texted me and said, ‘Coach, I’d like to talk to you.’ And that was after the second time he had went in the portal, and obviously we had an agreement there about- The look wasn’t good on him, nor me or the program, and if we were going to have him back, we wanted to make sure that it was the last and final time. I felt good about that, he felt good about that, so that’s kind of what happened.”

Pittman also updated the status of wide receivers Jordan Anthony and Tyrone Broden. Anthony caught 8 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. He also had seven yards on two carries. Broden had 15 receptions for 197 yards and a touchdown.

“Jordan Anthony will not,” Pittman said. “He’s got some family issues at home that are very serious that he needs to be home and taking care of that. Broden, he’ll be available. Broden’s had some personal issues as well that we knew about, and so he’s been back for the last couple of practices, and so he’ll be available.”

A new rule may allow former junior college players to have eligibility at the NCAA level not having the two-year school count against them. Pittman is planning to talk to Anton Juncaj immediately. He had 15 tackles for the Hogs this season after transferring in from Albany.

“Boy, I hope so. I certainly have talked to him. I’d love to have him back. I’ve already talked to him about that. As a matter of fact, I got a call on the bus. We were in West Memphis, they told me that the NCAA has passed a rule or is going to, that if you played your last year this year and you played in junior college that you’ll have availability to play next year. Just so the lawsuits won’t be abundant, you know, and they’ll pass the rule. If that’s the case, Juncaj will be one of the first guys I go to. He’s a great kid and I think he’s a really good player, he just was hurt most of this season.”

Russell wasn’t the only Razorback to enter the transfer portal and then return. So did true freshman cornerback Selman Bridges, a four-star recruit out of Texas in the Class of 2024.

“Well, he just came to me and said he’d like to come back, and I don’t know how long he was in the portal. Maybe a couple days,” Pittman said. “It wasn’t long. And just would like to be on the team. We’d like to have him. So again, I think it’s just an individual case. Case-by-case, there’s some kids that went in that maybe want to come back, that we say, ‘No, we’re going to move on.’ But maybe it’s the history of that particular young man, and we just move on.”

As far as young guys who will get a chance to play much more on Friday than they have during the season, Pittman praised some of them.

“Well if I’m thinking defensively, Quincy Rhodes has really stood out,” Pittman said. “I think he’s had a good camp. Charlie Collins is another guy we haven’t seen much that’s done really well. Jaden Allen has come back and looked good. [Anthony] Switzer has come back, he’s looked good, wasn’t healthy. Offensviely I go to Brooks Edmonson and Kobe Branham. Those are two guys that we thought were good players but as we’re seeing them, we feel very comfortable with those guys in there and ready to go, more importantly their team does. Krosse Johnson at wide receiver, CJ Brown at wide receiver, those two guys have stuck out.

“I’ll tell you a guy that we moved to wide receiver that was playing tight end and is really good is Shamar Easter. We moved him out to wideout and he’s done some good things. Just quickly off the top of my head, those are some guys…oh, and Rodney Hill and Tyrell Reed. They’ve looked good at running back, and of course Maddox Lassiter has continued to improve all the time. So those are just some guys off the top of my head.”

The kickoff for the AutoZone Liberty Bowl is set for 6 p.m. Friday and televised on ESPN.