Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman met with reporters for one final time Thursday at the DoubleTree Hotel Downtown in Memphis to give his final remarks ahead of the Liberty Bowl matchup against Texas Tech on Friday at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee.
Pittman's squad features plenty of new faces, especially on offense, in the two-deep depth chart following a mass exodus of 20-plus scholarship players to the transfer portal following a regular season that resulted in a 6-6 overall record and a 3-5 mark in Southeastern Conference play.
ALSO READ: Arkansas' official depth chart for Texas Tech game
“We’re thin,” Pittman said Thursday. “I think everybody knows that we’re thin. That doesn't mean we can’t play, but we are thin. I’ll tell you what, I’ll be honest with you, I’m so excited to see some of these guys that we haven’t seen necessarily on a Saturday, that the state of Arkansas — and to be honest with you, a lot of them, the ones that are popping on my mind right now on offense, are from the state of Arkansas that we haven’t seen.
“Kobe Branham, Brooks Edmonson, CJ Brown, Maddox Lassiter who is going to take a different role as a tight-end a little bit more. Those guys love the University of Arkansas, they love the state of Arkansas. I’m just really excited to see them. This entire 10, 12, 15 days, we’ve been talking about everybody at some point, including in here, got their opportunity, they did. They can remember the day when something worked. They’ve been trying this, trying this, trying this, and they can remember the day when something works.”
RELATED: Arkansas Football 2025 Roster Tracker
Pittman referenced a former player and a current player to his team as examples of putting together a strong performance to become a household name among Razorback fans.
“I used Greg Brooks — when we beat Mississippi State (in 2020) — he was known, but not well-known, picked a pass and took it back for a touchdown and we won the game. I used Hudson Clark with the three picks against Ole Miss. Nobody really knew about Hudson Clark. Boy, after the three picks they did.
“Somebody is going to step up. With that, your veterans have to play well around them and then somebody will step up. I’m really excited to see these guys play. We are thin. In 12 personnel, we’re thin. But we have enough out there, I believe. We have our quarterback, and I think that’s a big deal for us. I think we have enough out there offensively that we can move the football and score. Last time, I believe we came here and we had nine starters out and then Rocket (Sanders) got hurt early, Ty’Kieast Crawford got hurt early and we were sitting at 11, about a half a side of starters out and we found a way to win. But we found a way to win because we got early turnovers and we started really fast. That probably needs to happen, as well.”
ALSO READ: Arkansas vs. Texas Tech - Star comparison, PFF grades, season stats
Texas Tech is a team that will be without its starting quarterback, star wide receiver, both starting offensive tackles and both coordinators. Trying to predict how Friday’s game will go is a tough thing to do.
“The bottom line is, it's going to be how do we play and if we can play well, we'll have an opportunity to win the game, and that's kind of how we went into this with all the different things going around the game and around the roster,” Pittman said. “Because it wasn't only losing some guys into the portal, it was bringing guys in from the portal. There was a lot going on, but it seems like we're here, aren't we? And we're going to play a great football game tomorrow night that we're blessed to be a part of.”
Friday’s games will mark the difference between a winning record and a losing record for the Razorbacks this season. After a 4-8 campaign in 2023, it would be nice to go out on top this time around.
“You know, I’ve thought about that a lot,” Pittman said. “That's part of a coach’s worries or concerns, and all that. I just want to win. Having another winning season would be a lot better than not. I don't know that it's going to change the total outlook of what we can get accomplished next year, but the bottom line is we have a game tomorrow night and we want to win. And if we do, I think it’d feel really, really good.”
The Razorbacks and Red Raiders will kickoff at 6 p.m. CT Friday in the Liberty Bowl on ESPN.
Pittman's squad features plenty of new faces, especially on offense, in the two-deep depth chart following a mass exodus of 20-plus scholarship players to the transfer portal following a regular season that resulted in a 6-6 overall record and a 3-5 mark in Southeastern Conference play.
ALSO READ: Arkansas' official depth chart for Texas Tech game
“We’re thin,” Pittman said Thursday. “I think everybody knows that we’re thin. That doesn't mean we can’t play, but we are thin. I’ll tell you what, I’ll be honest with you, I’m so excited to see some of these guys that we haven’t seen necessarily on a Saturday, that the state of Arkansas — and to be honest with you, a lot of them, the ones that are popping on my mind right now on offense, are from the state of Arkansas that we haven’t seen.
“Kobe Branham, Brooks Edmonson, CJ Brown, Maddox Lassiter who is going to take a different role as a tight-end a little bit more. Those guys love the University of Arkansas, they love the state of Arkansas. I’m just really excited to see them. This entire 10, 12, 15 days, we’ve been talking about everybody at some point, including in here, got their opportunity, they did. They can remember the day when something worked. They’ve been trying this, trying this, trying this, and they can remember the day when something works.”
RELATED: Arkansas Football 2025 Roster Tracker
Pittman referenced a former player and a current player to his team as examples of putting together a strong performance to become a household name among Razorback fans.
“I used Greg Brooks — when we beat Mississippi State (in 2020) — he was known, but not well-known, picked a pass and took it back for a touchdown and we won the game. I used Hudson Clark with the three picks against Ole Miss. Nobody really knew about Hudson Clark. Boy, after the three picks they did.
“Somebody is going to step up. With that, your veterans have to play well around them and then somebody will step up. I’m really excited to see these guys play. We are thin. In 12 personnel, we’re thin. But we have enough out there, I believe. We have our quarterback, and I think that’s a big deal for us. I think we have enough out there offensively that we can move the football and score. Last time, I believe we came here and we had nine starters out and then Rocket (Sanders) got hurt early, Ty’Kieast Crawford got hurt early and we were sitting at 11, about a half a side of starters out and we found a way to win. But we found a way to win because we got early turnovers and we started really fast. That probably needs to happen, as well.”
ALSO READ: Arkansas vs. Texas Tech - Star comparison, PFF grades, season stats
Texas Tech is a team that will be without its starting quarterback, star wide receiver, both starting offensive tackles and both coordinators. Trying to predict how Friday’s game will go is a tough thing to do.
“The bottom line is, it's going to be how do we play and if we can play well, we'll have an opportunity to win the game, and that's kind of how we went into this with all the different things going around the game and around the roster,” Pittman said. “Because it wasn't only losing some guys into the portal, it was bringing guys in from the portal. There was a lot going on, but it seems like we're here, aren't we? And we're going to play a great football game tomorrow night that we're blessed to be a part of.”
Friday’s games will mark the difference between a winning record and a losing record for the Razorbacks this season. After a 4-8 campaign in 2023, it would be nice to go out on top this time around.
“You know, I’ve thought about that a lot,” Pittman said. “That's part of a coach’s worries or concerns, and all that. I just want to win. Having another winning season would be a lot better than not. I don't know that it's going to change the total outlook of what we can get accomplished next year, but the bottom line is we have a game tomorrow night and we want to win. And if we do, I think it’d feel really, really good.”
The Razorbacks and Red Raiders will kickoff at 6 p.m. CT Friday in the Liberty Bowl on ESPN.
