Murphy feels Pittman has Hogs ahead of Pruitt’s rebuild with Vols

In half of a season, Sam Pittman has moved Arkansas ahead of what Tennessee’s Jeremy Pruitt has managed to accomplish in his third year.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette writer Tom Murphy pointed that out Monday morning to Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft (The Morning Rush) on ESPN Arkansas.

After spotting the Vols a 13-0 lead through the first half Saturday night where the Razorbacks didn’t appear to be able stop a running back in a timely fashion or manage to score, they put up 24 points in the third quarter and pitched a shutout the rest of the way for a 24-13 win.

“It just comes from who Sam Pittman is and the type of coaches he hires,” Murphy said on the statewide morning show. “Jeremy Pruitt is in year three of a rebuild, they’ve recruited very well, but Arkansas is ahead of them.”

Tennessee fans won’t like hearing that. The success at the end of last season had them expecting bigger and better things this year and if there were any questions left among the faithful, they faded away in the third quarter Saturday night.

“Arkansas in year one of Sam Pittman is ahead of the Tennessee rebuild,” Murphy said. “These are very similar programs, so it was an amazing statement the Razorbacks made (Saturday night).”