Pittman back next year, Football beats FIU 44-20, Basketball loses first game of the season
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Getting assured publicly by athletics director Hunter Yurachek he’ll be back, more relaxed headed to holiday matchup in rivalry game.
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Pittman coming back next year, FB beats FIU 44-20, BKB loses first game
#Arkansas #ArkansasRazorbacks #Hogs #Hawgs #WPS #ArkansasRazorbacksPodcast #GoHogs #HitThatLine #WooPigSooie #RazorbackPodcast #ArkansasPodcast #HogPodcast
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas got off to a fast start, but at least early Florida International is playing better than most people expected. The Razorbacks discovered quickly the Panthers have speed.
1Q 12:22: The Hogswaste no time getting the offense untracked, going 32 yards in five plays with quarterback KJ Jefferson getting the all-time mark for touchdown passes on a 10-yarder to Jaedon Wilson. It almost looked too easy. Hogs 7, Panthers 0
1Q 10:42: After FIU quarterback Keyone Jenkins completed an 80-yard pass to Kris Mitchell and the Hogs somehow managed to get an angle on him and bring him down before he scored. Jenkins took care of that immediately, getting into the end zone from the 1. Hogs 7, Panthers 7
1Q 1:21: Hogs’ defense getting scorched by FIU, who has put up over 160 yards of offense in the first quarter to the Hogs’ 63. Jenkins completes a 12-yard scoring pass to Dean Patterson and they have a lead, but miss the extra point. Panthers 13, Hogs 7
2Q 11:58: KJ Jefferson gets second record of the night for yardage and passing touchdowns, hitting Tyrone Broden from 4 yards out. Hogs 14, Panthers 13
2Q 10:53: Hogs waste little time adding to it when Alfihym Walcott took the ball away from FIU’s Patterson and raced down the sidelines untouched for another score. Hogs 21, Panthers 13
2Q 4:50: After Hogs’ drive stalls at FIU 13, Cam Little comes in for another field goal, knocking down a 30-yarder to extend the lead. Hogs 24, Panthers 13
2Q 1:01: Where has he been? Dominique Johnson breaks a 31-yard scoring run right up the middle as Hogs starting to take complete control of game. Hogs 31, Panthers 13
3Q 10:11: After an uncharacteristic miss of a 34-yarder by Little, the Panthers answer with a seven-play drive covering 80 yards and Kejon Owens throwing a 12-yard touchdown to Kris Mitchell. Hogs 31, Panthers 20
3Q 3:12: Another miss by Little (from 48 yards) takes a little bit longer until Jefferson finds Isaiah Sategna on a 32-yard scoring play down the middle. Hogs clearly starting to assert themselves. Hogs 38, Panthers 20
4Q 14:55: Little finally gets a 39-yard field goal after a couple of misses that have been unusual this year. Florida International hasn’t given up, but this game is pretty much over. Hogs 41, Panthers 20
4Q 9:59 Little bangs another one through and now he has two in a row to make up for the pair of mises as Hogs just trying to get to end of game. Hogs 44, Panthers 20
JONESBORO, Ark. — Arkansas took care of business, defeating Arkansas State (1-2), 82-67, in its first road contest of the season.
Despite a slow start, the Hogs took a 10-0 run late in the second quarter to pull ahead for good. Freshman Taliah Scott paced the Hogs for the fourth straight game, notching 34 points, just three off from tying the freshman scoring record (37 points by Bettye Fiscus in 1981). The Razorbvacks finished the game 48 percent from the field with 10 3-pointers, while shooting a perfect 100 percent from the free throw line (12-for-12) for the fourth time in school history.
It took both teams some time to settle in, as the game was knotted up at 2-2 three minutes into action. The Red Wolves then went on a 5-0 run, while the Hogs were in a drought for 3.5 minutes. Scott broke the drought with a 3-point play by getting the basket, drawing the foul and knocking down the freebie.
Arkansas started out the game 0-for-11 from beyond the arc, and trailed A-State, 9-5 at the media timeout taken with 3:49 left in the first quarter. Scott broke another Arkansas scoring drought, which was two minutes, with another 3-point play, and then the freshman broke the Hogs’ drought from beyond the arc by nailing a triple.
The Hogs tied the game off a Scott jumper, but A-State responded. With the final shot, Carly Keats drained a 3-pointer, and the Hogs took their first lead of the night, 16-15, after one quarter.
The second quarter was a one-score game for the first three minutes, with the lead going back and forth. Samara Spencer then came up with a 3-point play, as the Hogs took a two-point lead, 25-23 with 6:24 remaining in the quarter. The Red Wolves knocked down a triple, but Maryam Dauda responded with one of her own.
Just before the media timeout, at 4:49, A-State scored a layup to tie the game at 28. Arkansas went on 7-0 run, highlighted by an Emrie Ellis 3-pointer. The Red Wolves then took a timeout, as the Hogs led, 35-28 with 2:40 left. Out of the timeout, Ellis knocked down another triple to extend the Hogs’ run to a 10-0 one.
After A-State’s three-minute scoring drought, the Red Wolves outscored the Hogs 5-4 in the remaining two minutes of the frame, but Arkansas took the 42-33 advantage going into halftime.
Makayla Daniels knocked down back-to-back triples on the Hogs’ first two possessions in the second half, extending Arkansas’ lead to 48-33. The Red Wolves took a timeout, with 8:54 left in the third. The Red Wolves came up with a score out of their regroup, but Dauda nailed a triple in response.
The Red Wolves then went on a 5-0 run, while the Hogs were in a scoring drought for over two minutes until Scott knocked down two freebies. Arkansas was held without a field goal for over three minutes until Poffenbarger logged a triple. With 3:53 left in the quarter, the Hogs were ahead, 56-42.
The Hogs had three turnovers in two minutes, but Scott sparked a 7-0 run with a 3-point play, her third of the game. Arkansas outscored A-State 25-13 in the third to take a 67-46 advantage into the final quarter.
The Red Wolves opened the fourth scoring eight straight points, including a banked 3-pointer. The Hogs broke that drought, as Sasha Goforth came up with a layup off a miss. A-State cut Arkansas’ lead to 10 off a jumper. Arkansas called a timeout, up 69-59 with 5:58 remaining in the game.
Dauda hit her third 3-pointer of the night out of the timeout, but A-State answered with one of their own. Arkansas had four turnovers in less than two minutes, which would allow A-State to come within 10 points again with 5:22 to play. The Hogs did not waver, as Scott made a driving layup and Spencer followed with one of her own to put the Hogs back up by 14. Arkansas finished strong to win, 82-67, and start out the season 4-0.
QUOTES FROM NABES
On team’s ability to withstand A-State’s fast start:
“I’m proud of them because it’s not easy to go on the road, period. You look around at what is going on around the country,” said coach Mike Neighbors. “I knew [A-State] had a long break between their last two games. We were probably expecting a couple of unexpected things, which we got. I knew the crowd would be honest from the last time we were here. It was a phenomenal atmosphere. There was no panic when things were going, not bad, but just not our way. [A-State] has a real solid group and I’m anxious to follow them through their year and see how they do in their league. We have now played two teams in their league, so it will be fun to follow them.”
On what he’s most proud of with the team tonight:
“It’s just that they embrace this whole thing,” said Neighbors. “Most of these kids didn’t grow up in Arkansas, so they don’t get the whole ‘Why are we playing all these in-state schools? What’s the big deal about it?’ The fact they have embraced it, and they have said it’s important to us to play these games. It’s good for our state. It’s good for every high school team. It’s good for every grassroots program and every boys and girls club. I’m glad that our non-Arkansas kids embrace that and accept it. They know it’s going to be hard… [A-State] has a good team, and I’m proud they don’t overlook anybody. Our kids probably have taught me a lot in that area. The job Makayla [Daniels] and Samara [Spencer] are doing with Taliah [Scott] is so behind-the-scenes stuff. Y’all will get a chance to see it maybe unravel as the year goes, but I’ve said to both of them that I’ve put the ball in Taliah’s hands a lot now, and I want them to be able to coach her through it. Then we moved Taliah off the ball. I’m really proud of Mak and Sam, and how they have taken that responsibility [with mentoring Taliah]. Our group really talked to each other. I was really proud of the talk they had going into the locker room. I went down the tunnel to go talk, and I stopped short and waited a second to let them keep talking because I could hear it. Their tone was good. Their energy was good. There were multiple voices talking and it wasn’t Mak talking at them. It was people talking back and forth. I have not had a team at Arkansas before that could talk to each other the way they do and the manner they do. I hope that means we are figuring some things out, I don’t know that for a fact, but I’m proud of where we are at after four games.
HOG HIGHLIGHTS
• Scott continues to impress, logging a new career-high 34 points off 12-of-21 shooting from the field, 9-of-9 from the charity stripe. She added five boards, two assists and one steal. Seventeen of her 34 points came in the first half. Scott also played all 40 minutes.
• Dauda is finding her stride, finishing the night just shy of a double-double with 11 points, off 3-of-6 from 3-point, which is a career-high, along with nine rebounds and two blocks
• Poffenbarger had 10 of her 14 rebounds in the first half. The redshirt sophomore finished shy of a double-double with nine points, while also adding four assists
• Ellis provided a big spark off the bench, knocking down two 3-pointers, her first multi-3-pointer game in her Arkansas career
Spencer was solid with nine points, three boards, three assists and two steals
• Daniels finished with eight points, four rebounds and one steal. She surpassed 1,500 points in her career
• Arkansas outscored A-State in fast breaks, 10-2
• The Hogs went 1.000 from the line, 12-for-12, for the first time since 2019 (vs. Missouri on Feb. 28, 2019), and fourth time in school history
• Arkansas has started the season 4-0 for the third time in the last five years
• The Hogs have elevated its record against in-state schools to 14-0 since the schools started to play one another again in the regular season in 2019
NEXT GAME
Arkansas hosts Central Arkansas on Monday, Nov. 20 for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The game serves as the team’s Native American Heritage Month Appreciation game.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — UNC-Greensboro took a 14-point halftime lead and held on to upset No. 14 Arkansas, 78-72, Friday night at Bud Walton Arena. It probably wasn’t as close as the final score looks.
The Razorbacks were down 11 (48-37) with 13:14 left and worked their deficit to four (50-46) with 10:50 left. Later, with Arkansas down six with 5:34 left, UNCG’s Joryam Saizonou hit a 3-pointer then, after a Razorback missed triple, Mikeal Brown-Jones made a layup with 4:49 left for an 11-point cushion.
Arkansas did get the lead down to five on two occasions down the stretch, but the Spartans made four free throws to seal the win.
Arkansas scored 48 second-half points and only committed one turnover in the period but could not overcome its 4-of-23 shooting from 3-point range for the game.
Keyshaurn Langley, who scored 18 first-half points, led all scorers with 23 points. Brown-Jones added 17 and Saizonou had 12. The Spartans also finished with 15 assists and eight steals.
Arkansas scored first to start the game but UNCG quickly took the advantage and led for 15:35 in the period. The Spartans drained six three pointers, compared to the Razorbacks making just 1-of-10. Also, Arkansas committed 12 turnovers in the period. Arkansas only committed 20 in the first three games combined.
Tramon Mark led the Razorbacks with 21 points while El Ellis had 19 points.
Up next for the Razorbacks in the Battle 4 Atlantis, played at Paradise Island, Bahamas, Nov. 22-24. Arkansas will face Stanford in the opening round on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPNU. The Hogs will play either Memphis or Michigan on Thursday at either 4 p.m. (if Arkansas wins) or 6:30 p.m. in the event of a loss.
Game Notes
• Arkansas starters were El Ellis, Davonte Davis, Tramon Mark, Jeremiah Davenport and Trevon Brazile.
• Arkansas controlled the tip to start the game.
• Travon Brazile scored the game’s first points at 19:42 on an offensive rebound and putback.
• Khalif Battle was the first Razorback sub.
• Arkansas is now 2-1 all-time versus UNC Greensboro.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — While most of the SEC is having a weekend of games that could cure insomnia, Arkansas’ game with Florida International does have some interesting intrigue to it. You shouldn’t need a refresher course to know the Razorbacks have fallen flat on their face in some of these games.
Remember Western Kentucky? How about Colorado State? Or even some wins that were considerably closer than they should have been. A narrow win over Coastal Carolina didn’t help bret Bielema at all back in 2017. Any doubters then sort of jumped off the wagon.
Now Sam Pittman has a team stumbling into a game most people expected to be a blowout with a 3-7 record, no bowl game possibility and more questions than answers. We’ll find out if they quit or did it just look like that in a 48-10 loss to Auburn last week.
Exactly why the Hogs are putting KJ Jefferson under center or Pittman hasn’t talked with him about next season at this point is a head-shaker. Ole Miss has already announced Jaxson Dart is coming back next year and that was from coach Lane Kiffin. The Rebels are only 8-2 this season, losing to the two teams that will be playing in the SEC Championship so why should anybody pay attention to that, right?
There were questions about this team back in spring practice and they haven’t been answered. You can spin numbers however you want, but this year’s defense everyone thinks is vastly improved has given up more yards than the offense has been able to cover. The excuse-makers will put that squarely on the offensive side of the ball, ignoring that wouldn’t be a big deal if the record was 7-3 and not 3-7.
While most of the folks this week have gone from expecting Pittman to be fired to accepting that he will be back for another year, everybody agrees if they lose this one, well, athletics director Hunter Yurachek has to pull the trigger and figure out a way to cover everything. Pittman is just trying to scramble to keep whatever fans are left by now kinda interested with a basketball team having a lot of promise for a big season with high expectations.
The Hogs are favored by 29 against the Panthers, who are probably the worst team in this complete train wreck of a season. When Arkansas lost at home to BYU, walking out of Razorback Stadium, you just had a feeling this wasn’t going to be a great season.
It was apparent back in spring practice something just wasn’t right about this team. I couldn’t put my finger directly on what the issue was and we don’t get to be around things enough to really find out. Too many questions and circle-type answers when asked those questions. Add in you’re never going to get a straight, honest answer anyway, so you just have to rely on other things to figure anything out.
Expect the Razorbacks to win the game. Even I think that’s going to happen, but Pittman needs a little more than that right now. With the Hogs favored by 29 points, this may be one of those times Pittman actually would run up the score on a fellow coach. Normally, he wouldn’t do that, but now he needs to cover that big number.
He may think winning by three touchdowns is still a win, but this is a game he can’t come out ahead with anything short of a completely ridiculous number. Is Pittman even willing to do that if he gets a chance? He may not have a choice this week.
Hogs 45, FIU 7
I’m not even going to beat up on poor Pete Morgan this week. Unlike Pittman, I don’t have to win by the ridiculous amount I’m leading our competition by this year. No point in picking on helpless folks.
Considering Texas A&M and Mississippi State played a game last week, then both head coaches got fired, it’s not a good week for drama. Next week will be interesting, though, with a lot of rivalry games. For those who like watching sports, this is a complete week. Starting Friday night, there will be football and basketball games from early in the day to late at night to watch.
Just don’t expect a lot of really good matchups across the SEC, though.
Chattanooga at Alabama (NL): Prime exhibit No. 1 is this one. Nick Saban scheduled it before the Auburn game because he’s preparing the Crimson Tide for the game with Georgia and trying to squeeze into the playoffs. This is a game he’ll be watching the focus and attention to detail. Bama 61, Chattanooga 3
UL-Monroe at Ole Miss (-37.5): With a morning game in The Grove, people may have cots set up and still sleeping. This is probably a bigger spread than when the Hogs got shocked in 2012. The Rebels are wanting to put up some impressive numbers for a New Year’s Six bowl game and they’ll probably get there. Rebels 54, Warhawks 13
Southern Miss at Mississippi State (-17.5): When the Bulldogs are favored by this much with an interim coach, how bad are the Eagles this year? Whew, this one will be like watching two mules fight over a turnip in an empty field. Can State score 30 points in a game? Probably not. Bulldogs 29, Eagles 10
Abilene Christian at Texas A&M (NL): Okay, if you think this is getting ridiculous, hang on because we’re nowhere near finished with this list of clunkers in the league this week. All Aggies in this week, all the time. Aggies 69, Others 11
Georgia (-10) at Tennessee: The Bulldogs get their breather game next week against Georgia Tech. The Vols may be No. 18 in the rankings this week, but they probably won’t be anywhere near that by Sunday night when the new polls come out. Bulldogs 31, Vols 17
New Mexico State at Auburn (-25): We have another team named Aggies, so don’t accuse me of having a senior moment and getting them confused with Texas A&M. It’s just easier to type that than the entire name again. Tigers move up a notch in bowl game with this one. Tigers 34, Aggies 10
Florida at Missouri(-11): Hogs better hope the Gators don’t suddenly find a burst of energy this week and do something stupid. The last thing they need are the Tigers coming to town next Friday with some motivation from a bad game. Tigers 24, Gators 14
Kentucky at South Carolina (-2): Apparently the Wildcats are still who they’ve always been and the fans are looking ahead to basketball starting. The Gamecocks still have a remote shot at a bowl game, but have to get a win here and against Clemson next week to make it. Believe it or not, they may have a better chance than anyone thought in August. Gamecocks 27, Wildcats 21
Georgia State at LSU (-32): Thank goodness, this is the end. Like I said, it’s not a good week for big matchups in the league, although a couple more looked in the summer to be interesting, it didn’t play out that way. This one won’t be close, like so many of the others. Tigers 48, Panthers 17
He goes out on a limb in the second round of high school playoffs, picking a surprising upset in NWA.
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