Pittman wants Arkansas’ running game to get back on track

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ running game wasn’t good against LSU, but Sam Pittman is hoping for a much better showing Saturday against Mississippi State.

The Hogs may be without starter Ja’Quinden Jackson and backup Rodney Hill, who has missed the past two games. On Wednesday, Sam Pittman provided an update on the health of that pair.

“I would say probably coming out tonight on the injury report, I would say that Ja’Quinden would be questionable — doubtful,” Pittman said. “And Rodney would be probable.”

How big is it to get the running game back on track?

“Yeah I think it’s big for us,” Pittman said. “We certainly have practiced hard for it our first two days, and have a great plan for today as well. But we’ve got to take pressure off our quarterback and our wide receivers and our offensive line for that matter in third down. 

“Sometimes games dictate, whether you’re behind or up, how far you are, dictate the amount of runs that you’re trying to do. But every time you turn around and hand it off you want to have success. We have not necessarily done that the latter part of the last two, three games. We’re trying to get it back. We know that’s a big vital part of us having opportunities to win.”

Hill has carried 15 times for 78 yards and one touchdown before missing the games with his injury. He’s considered a tough runner.

“He’s just a fearless guy,” Pittman said. “He’s a wonderful kid first of all. But he’s a fearless runner. We saw that before he entered the transfer portal when he was playing at Florida State in that first game of the year when they were playing LSU a few years back. But he is slight as you mentioned. But his style of running, he brings that to the room as well and he’s a wonderful kid. We need him back just because of his toughness and the way that he runs and hopefully that becomes infectious.”

Jackson leads the Hogs in rushing with 104 attempts for 592 yards and 10 touchdowns. True freshman Braylen Russell rushed 27 times for 127 yards and two touchdowns. Tyrell Reed has rushed five times for 28 yards and a touchdown. Rashod Dubinion has nine carries for 40 yards. Center Addison Nichols knows the importance of getting the running game back up to par.

“Yeah, a huge part of our offense is running the football, and that’s been a huge emphasis this week for us, and just going out there and every day just making that a priority in practice,” Nichols said. “I think we’ve done a great job of that so far, and I think our running game is as good as ever and will be great for us this weekend. 

“With the running back room that we have, it doesn’t matter who we give the ball to. They have our full trust, and we know that they’re going to go out there and run the ball hard, fast and physical. If we have JJ, that’s amazing. If we don’t, then the next guy up is going to do a fantastic job.”

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