Sam Pittman preparing Hogs for Ole Miss

By Otis Kirk
on 2024-10-29 17:40 PM

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will host No. 19 Ole Miss Saturday in Razorback Stadium.

Ole Miss (6-2, 2-2) and Arkansas (5-3, 3-2) are both coming off a win heading into this game. The Hogs went to Starkville and got a 58-25 win while the Rebels topped Oklahoma 26-14 in Oxford. Sam Pittman knows this will be tough game.

“Excited to play Ole Miss here at home,” Pittman said. “Early morning game. I’m happy we played last week early prepare us a little bit better for this week. Really good football team. Obviously well coached with Coach (Lane) Kiffin. Seemed like this year a little bit different. They’ve always played well on defense, but you’re looking at number one rush defense in the country and number one against points given allowed in the country. Very, very good. Their front is deep. Very good. They’re very, very good at every position on the D-line. Their linebackers are playing well. Pooh Paul’s their leading tackler. He’s playing extremely well. And they’re just really good defensively.

“You think about Ole Miss, you think about offense and then you go over on offense and they have (quarterback) Jaxson Dart who’s really, really good, (wide receiver) Tre Harris who didn’t play last week, but we’re expecting him to be there this week. And then the running back (Henry Parrish Jr.) has 650 plus yards. So just a really, really good football team, that’s very explosive. And like I said before, their defense is playing extremely well. We’re looking forward to. I think the house is going to be packed here on Saturday and we’re excited that the fans are out here supporting us and happy about that.”

Paul is a former Razorback. He left the Hogs at semester break last year and ended up in Oxford. He has 58 tackles, 33 solo, 2.5 sacks, 3 pass breakups and recovered a fumble. Pittman is 2-2 against Kiffin and Ole Miss. Both he and Kiffin have won at home and lost on road in the previous meetings.

“I think it’s a lot of fun,” Pittman said. “We’ve had four games now and of course the first one was the Hudson Clark three picks and seven turnovers. Then the next one was I went for two and we didn’t make it. The next year gets us bowl eligibility and we dominated that game from the beginning. They came back on us in the second half. Then last year’s game was certainly a tight game. I believe we were tied in the fourth and ended up losing. But all four games have been very competitive and I’m looking for the same type of situation on Saturday.”

Ole Miss sacked the OU quarterback 10 times last Saturday. Pittman knows protecting Taylen Green is very important.

“They’re going to be a big challenge,” Pittman said. “They’e good. Every sport up there (on defensive line), they’re good. I mean, real good. Some of that is we’re going to have the football and stay out of some long situations. We’re going to have to play well at tackle, play well inside. Which, we’re playing better. But that is a big challenge for us, and we maybe have to throw a draw or a screen in there here and there to try to slow that pass rush down. Have different snap counts. Because they obviously are very, very talented.”

Dart has completed 173 of 245 passes for 2,695 yards, 15 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He has rushed 67 times for 207 yards and 3 touchdowns. Dart has been sacked 17 times himself so that is something the Hogs will be thinking about.

“He’s got to graduate sometime,” Pittman said smiling. “He’s got to get out of there. Outstanding. The thing that you don’t really realize with him,maybe you do, is his ability to run. I mean, he can throw. He’s got (Patrick)m Mahomes-like stuff in him. I’m comparing the magic throws that he makes because he can make them. I mean, you’re going, how did he shovel this? But where he’s super dangerous as well is that he can run and he’s very, very competitive and very, very confident, and he’s type of guy you want leading your program.”

The Hogs and Ole Miss will kickoff at 11 a.m. and it will be televised on ESPN.


(Last updated: 2024-10-29 17:40 PM)