Sam Pittman praises O-line play against Tennessee

FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas offensive line played much better against Tennessee and now Sam Pittman is hoping for a repeat performance against No. 8 LSU.

The Razorbacks defeated then No. 5 Tennessee 19-14 in their last outing. Following a bye week the Hogs now play host to LSU. Pittman talked about the improved play of the offensive line against Tennessee.

“Well, I was pleased that we got better,” Pittman said. “We still have a long way to go there, but we have willing participants up there. I thought (Fernando) Carmona played as good a game as he’s played since he’s been here. I thought (Addison) Nichols did, so when those guys start… (Joshua) Braun’s been really consistent. E. (E’Marion) Harris has been consistent. Keyshawn (Blackstock) has been consistent or has been good at times and then sometimes his technique has gone awry on him, which we’re trying to get fixed. And he’s willing, too. I love him. He’s going to be fine. But I think as a group, they — all five of them — had some of their better games, a little bit better game than what they had before and together that makes… We didn’t have the blatant missed assignments as much as we had in the past.”

Pittman talked about what led to Carmona’s improved play and what the standout transfer is doing well.

“I think his technique,” Pittman said. “He’s always been a good athlete, but I think this was his best technique game, especially in the pass protection. He’s always played hard and a joy to be around, but played a little bit more physical and his pass pro technique was as good as it’s been this year and I expect that to get better and better. He’s going to need to be this week because they’ve got two outstanding defensive ends. But that’s the answer.”

Carmona was named the SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week against Tennessee. It was the second time this season he has won the honor. He talked about the team relying on redshirt freshman quarterback Malachi Singleton and true freshman running back Braylen Russell on the winning drive against the Vols.

“Yeah man, to be honest with you, I couldn’t even really tell the difference,” Carmona said. “You’re out there and those guys, the way that they’ve been preparing since the day they got here and just their energy that they brought into the huddle, they knew that they were ready and when Braylen got that ball, I knew he was going to make a play. When he broke it for 20, it wasn’t a surprise to me. He’d been doing this in practice for a long time now, but he’s been learning from the vet and it’s time to let the young pup run a little bit. You guys got to see what he can do.”

The Arkansas offense hadn’t had that much success late in the game until that last drive with starting quarterback Taylen Green and running back Ja’Quinden Jackson on the sidelines.

“I think it was kind of focusing on our technique and not trying to do anything outside of our actual job and I think once we got that first first down, got the ball to (Isaiah) Sategna, we got that confidence, we heard the crowd roaring,” Carmona said. “We just kind of fed off that crowd and Braylen got the big run and from there, the train was rolling and there was no stopping us.”

Carmona admitted the celebration felt great after the Tennessee game. He then addressed what it was like coming back to earth.

“Yeah, no, it was really quick,” Carmona said. “Obviously we watched it Sunday and everything was great, man. You watch the film you know you take away the goods and you take away the bads and right after that you just flush it away. In the SEC you can’t hold onto those games because then you’ll miss another big week, like we have this week. We have LSU. You have to have a really quick switch in your mind. It was great. It was great that we beat Tennessee. But we have another top 10 opponent so we had to flush it and transition our mind to LSU really fast.”

LSU averages 3.5 sacks per game. They will be coming after Green or Singleton. Carmona feels the offensive line will be ready.

“Yeah, no, most definitely,” Carmona said. “They’ve got some dudes off the edge. They bring a lot of pressures. I think they kind of found their groove later on in that Ole Miss game and you kind of saw them start to heat up the quarterback, bringing all these different kinds of blitzes. So I think they’re really in tune with each other as a team. It’s think it’s going to be huge for just as an offensive line to know who we’re blocking and then just trusting our technique. They’re got really good dudes so we’re just excited for the challenge.”

Carmona and the Hogs will kickoff at 6 p.m. Saturday night against LSU with the game televised on ESPN.