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Pittman gets Coach of Year honors for Football Coaches’ region
Arkansas’ Sam Pittman, who has engineered one of the most remarkable turnarounds in all of college football, was named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region 2 Coach of the Year on Monday.
Three coaches with state connections were the winners in their regions.
Under the second-year coach, the Razorbacks have won eight games in 2021, the most regular-season wins for the program since 2011, after winning eight games total in the three seasons prior to Pittman’s tenure at the helm.
The Hogs started the year with an unblemished 4-0 mark and rose to No. 8 in the Associated Press poll, the team’s highest ranking since 2011, as Pittman became one of only 14 SEC coaches in history to take over a team with a losing record and lead it to the top 10 in the AP Poll in their first two seasons.
This year, Pittman’s squad won four non-conference games, going undefeated outside of league play for the first time since 2016, and posted a 4-4 mark in Southeastern Conference action, the most league wins since 2015.
For the first time in history, Arkansas captured all three of the program’s trophy games, beating No. 7 Texas A&M in the Southwest Classic, winning at LSU in the Battle for the Golden Boot and topping Missouri in the Battle Line Rivalry.
Pittman led the Hogs, who are one of an SEC-record 13 bowl eligible programs, to a third-place finish in the SEC West, the team’s best finish since 2015.
He is the fifth Arkansas head coach in history to lead the Razorbacks to a bowl game berth in each of their first two seasons, joining Houston Nutt (199899), Ken Hatfield (1984-85), Lou Holtz (1977-78) and John Barnhill (1946-47).
The AFCA recognizes five regional Coach of the Year winners in each of the Association’s five divisions: Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III and NAIA. The winners, who are selected by active members of the AFCA who vote for coaches in their respective regions and divisions, will be honored on Sunday, Jan. 9, during the 2022 AFCA Convention in San Antonio, Texas.
The AFCA will also announce the 2021 Werner Ladder AFCA FBS National Coach of the Year on Sunday, Jan. 9.
The regional winners, including Pittman, Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell (Region 1), Michigan State’s Mel Tucker (Region 3), UTSA’s Jeff Traylor (Region 4) and Utah State’s Blake Anderson (Region 5), are finalists for National Coach of the Year.
Traylor was an assistant coach on Chad Morris’ staff with the Hogs in 2018-19 and Anderson is the former coach at Arkansas State.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
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It’s Outback Bowl for Hogs against Penn State on New Year’s
Arkansas heads to Florida for a bowl game for the first time since 2007 when the Hogs play Penn State in the Outback Bowl at 11 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2022.
Under second-year coach Sam Pittman, the Razorbacks won eight games during the regular season, the most regular season wins for the program since 2011.
The Hogs’ four non-conference wins marked the first time to go undefeated outside of league play since 2016 while the team’s 4-4 mark in Southeastern Conference action were the most league wins since 2015.
Arkansas’ third place finish in the SEC West is also the best for the Razorbacks since 2015. The Hogs scored wins over four teams headed to bowl games in the postseason and are one of a record 13 SEC schools in the postseason.
When the Razorbacks take the field inside Raymond James Stadium (home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers) in Tampa, it will mark the first time since the Belk Bowl on Dec. 29, 2016 Arkansas has played in a bowl game.
The Hogs will be playing in their first New Year’s Day game since the 2008 Cotton Bowl. Pittman led Arkansas to a bowl berth last year during the COVID-19 pandemic before the team’s Texas Bowl matchup with TCU was canceled due to COVID issues within the Horned Frogs program.
The Razorbacks and Penn State will meet for the first time.
The Nittany Lions finished 7-5, including a 4-5 mark in Big Ten play.
Nittany Lions coach James Franklin is familiar with the SEC having coached at Vanderbilt 2011-13.
Arkansas beat Franklin’s Commodores, 31-28, in Nashville in the lone meeting between the Razorbacks and Franklin. Offensively, Penn State is led by wide receiver Jahan Dotson who caught 91 passes for 1,182 and 12 touchdowns.
Quarterback Sean Clifford passed for 2,912 yards and 20 touchdowns despite battling injuries throughout the season. On the defensive side of the ball, linebacker Ellis Brooks recorded 100 tackles to pace the squad and defensive end Arnold Ebiketie posted a team-best 9.5 sacks.
Arkansas is 0-4 against the Big Ten all time in bowl games dating back to the 1999 Citrus Bowl, one of seven previous Florida bowls to host the Hogs.
Haselwood commits to Razorbacks a week after entering portal
Less than a week after entering the transfer portal when Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma, wide receiver Jadon Haselwood is headed to Arkansas.
When his first official visit was scheduled for the Razorbacks this weekend, the speculation was he would re-join his high school coach, Jimmy Smith, who coaches wide receivers for Sam Pittman.
On a day when the Hogs being invited to play in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1, the commitment of an experienced wide receiver who was a five-star recruit out of high school in 2019 and the fourth player in the country was huge news.
But Pittman made it clear he couldn’t comment at.a press conference around the bowl selection.
Haselwood led Oklahoma in receiving this season with 39 catches for 399 yards and six touchdowns, which included a three-touchdown performance against TCU on Oct. 16.
As a freshman in 2019 on a Sooners team that advanced to the College Football Playoff, Haselwood caught 19 catches for 272 yards and a touchdown while also rushing three times for 14 yards.
As a sophomore in 2020, Haselwood had four catches for 65 yards in three games, missing the first six of the season recovering from an injury. Then he missed two other games later.
With wide receiver Treylon Burks expected to head to the NFL, Haselwood could provide some much-needed star power there. Other receivers that won’t be back (they are out of eligibility) are Tyson Morris, De’Vion Warren and tight end Blake Kern.
Daniels lights up Cal in Razorbacks’ 84-67 win on Sunday afternoon
Arkansas (7-2) bounced back Sunday from loss to Central Florida earlier in the week for an 84-67 win over California-Berkely.
The Razorbacks’ offense finally got going from deep, hitting seven of their 17 3’s (41). The Hogs also hit 29 of their 32 free throws, the most free throws made in a game since the Hogs made 30 against Baylor last season.
Makayla Daniels went for a career-high 32 points against the Golden Bears. Daniels 11 of her 15 shots, while also making four of her six long balls.
The junior guard put up the first 30 point game by a Hog since Amber Ramirez hung 35 on Alabama last season.
Turning point
The Golden Bears’ defense came out of the gates hot, forcing eight Razorback turnovers in the first 10 minutes and securing a three-point lead.
It was in the second quarter that Daniels made her move. The third-year guard scored 16 points in the second frame, going a perfect 5-5 shooting with two shots from deep and 4-4 on free throws.
The big second quarter gave Arkansas a seven-point advantage at halftime.
With Daniels picking apart Cal’s defense, the Razorbacks settled in, giving up just three turnovers in the second half as opposed to the 12 they committed in the first half.
Daniels poured in 14 more points in the final 20 minutes and got some help from Erynn Barnum and Sasha Goforth who combined for 16 points in the second half. Arkansas outscored Cal, 44-34, in the second half and got back in the win column.
Hogs highlights
• Goforth put together a solid stat line with 19 points, four rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
• Amber Ramirez was a beast on the glass, going for a career-best 11 rebounds.
• Erynn Barnum was a distributor in this one, dishing a career-best four assists in the game.
• Samara Spencer provided a punch again, going for nine points on 50 percent shooting.
Arkansas returns to Bud Walton Arena Thursday against Jackson State.
Tip-off is at 7 p.m. and that game can be streamed on the SEC Network+.
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Still fixing issues to get better, particularly on defense that didn’t play consistent over 40 minutes.
