STILLWATER, Okla. — In his first game of the 2024 season, redshirt senior wide receiver Andrew Armstrong reassumed his role as Arkansas' leading pass catcher in the Razorbacks' 39-31 (2OT) loss to No. 16 Oklahoma State at Boone Pickens Stadium on Saturday.
Head coach Sam Pittman opted not to play Armstrong in Arkansas' 70-0 Week 1 victory over the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions due to an injury suffered in fall camp, but the former Division II transfer from Texas A&M-Commerce returned with a vengeance against the Cowboys.
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Against the Oklahoma State secondary, Armstrong caught 10 passes for 164 yards — good for an average of 16.4 yards per reception. It's only the second time Armstrong has eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark as a Razorback, with the other occurrence coming against Florida in 2023, and he became the first Arkansas receiver since Treylon Burks (2020) to have 10 or more receptions in a game.
"I thought he was really good, had a lot of yards after he caught the football, made some guys miss, ran extremely hard, played hard, blocked well," Pittman said after the game. "Ten catches for 164 yards, I thought he had a really good day. Of course protection and the thrower had something to do with it as well but he got open. I was pleased to get him back out there."
Besides a 35-yard reception against Oklahoma State's "prevent" defense to close the first half, Armstrong's biggest play came on the final drive of the fourth quarter. In a 3rd-and-10 situation on the Razorbacks' 40-yard line, quarterback Taylen Green found Armstrong for a 33-yard gain that eventually led to an overtime-clinching field goal.
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"I felt like our chemistry didn’t fall off," Green said after the game. "Credit to him. He’s been in the training room, you know, Monday through Sunday. Every single day, he’s been working, and he looked really good out there on the field. I’m extremely proud of him, how he fought through. Dealing with a hamstring, it’s a lot of mental toughness that goes through that. I felt like our chemistry was second-to-none out there."
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Green — who finished with 477 total yards of offense and one passing touchdown — targeted Armstrong 13 times against the Cowboys. Arkansas' leading receiver from a season ago, Armstrong was expected to be the top target in Bobby Petrino's passing attack, and his performance Saturday only cemented it.
"He just knows his frame," Green said. "He knows what he’s good at, and just the versatility that he has. Whether it’s a deep ball, or whether it’s intermediate or short, I know if I put it in his range, he’s going to catch it. That’s what I like. A quarterback loves that in a receiver."
Arkansas will return home next weekend for the home-opener at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville against UAB on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 3:15 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
