What Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said about Missouri football ahead of the game

On December 1, 2024By Littum

Real rivalry or not, the recent record is pretty one-sided.

Missouri football will face Arkansas in its regular season finale Saturday afternoon in Columbia, with the potential for snowfall at Faurot Field during the game. The Tigers have never lost to the Razorbacks on their home court. Since Eli Drinkwitz took over the program, MU is 3-1 against the team from Fayetteville.

As it does nearly every year, the topic of the validity of the MU-UA rivalry has taken center stage in Arkansas circles.

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman fielded some questions about that and more in Fayetteville this week. Here’s what Razorbacks coach said of Mizzou:

On Missouri football’s latest series dominance: ‘They beat the hell out of us’

Missouri is 8-2 since the Battle Line Rivalry was formed in 2014. The Tigers ran the Hogs from their own field last season in Fayetteville.

Recent struggles have not escaped Pittman.

“On Monday you have a presentation of their football team and I think (the recent record) is definitely part of that. Anything you think can be a little bit more of a motivator that they shouldn’t need second,” Pittman said. “We’re playing for a trophy. We’re playing Missouri. They are a rival game for us. They beat the hell out of us last year. That should motivate us.”

Much of the discussion leading into the game has revolved around whether the rivalry between the neighboring states is growing; whether there is more reason for the two teams to really dislike each other.

Pittman, eschewing bulletin board material perhaps being serious, said he puts Mizzou right at the top of Arkansas’ rivalry totem pole with LSU and Texas.

True or not, they are paired with each other for the foreseeable future. And recent history has not favored the Hogs.

“We’ve played them four years and won one of them — out here. So that makes us 1-3. So, you know, the first year we were out there, I think I went for 2 and we messed around and made it, and then there’s 30 or 40 seconds left, they went down and kicked a field goal and beat us,” Pittman said. “And we’ve had some good games. Of course it wasn’t last year and it was for them. So it’s hard to win. You see other teams go in and play in Missouri, I think they’re undefeated at home this year and it’s a tough place to play.”

About Eli Drinkwitz: ‘He has moved a lot’

Is there anyone left in the league who hasn’t been in the crosshairs of MU coach Eli Drinkwitz’s pot-stirring?

Well, Arkansas fans apparently rank near the top of the aggrieved list.

Pittman has been hearing about it for a while.

“I have respect for (Eli). He’s stirred up a lot of things, not just with Arkansas,” Pittman said. “So I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a hell of a coach now and you don’t want him to have the ball on the last drive. I mean you don’t because he’s excellent and has won a lot of games that way. You know, it’s a rivalry. He told me he was going to try to stir it up too when we first got here.

“I respect the guy. He’s obviously done a really good job there. So, you know, we’re rivals and they’ve got the trophy and they’ve had it for the last two years and we want it back.”

On Brady Cook: ‘He’s a winner’

Saturday’s game will be Brady Cook’s last game at Faurot Field. The third-year Missouri football starting quarterback will run out of eligibility at the end of this season.

The Arkansas coach, who is 0-2 against Cook, was asked what makes Cook difficult to contain.

“Athletic; can throw; knows the offense probably as well as his coach does,” Pittman said. “He’s a winner and those guys are scary. I mean, he’s a winner. And like I said, you could just tell it through the TV when he came back for the Auburn game — definitely made a big difference in that game.”

On recruiting Missouri; Mizzou recruits Arkansas

One of the reasons Drinkwitz isn’t the most popular man in his home country right now has been recent recruiting wins. Arkansas native wide receiver Courtney Crutchfield and running back Austyn Dendy got Missouri Tiger emblazoned billboards in their hometowns after committing to the team in CoMo.

Pittman was asked somewhat bluntly why there aren’t as many players from the Show-Me State on the Arkansas roster. Here is what he said:

“Well, I look at their two-deep, and I don’t think there’s a lot of Arkansas kids in the two-deep. But to answer your question about (recruiting) Missouri, we tried,” Pittman said. They’ve got really good players, especially Kansas City. Missouri’s got a lot of those kids. … We’ve been trying to increase our staff in those areas, and especially with (I-49) coming all the way through now, it’s even faster to get there.”

Cornerback Dreyden Norwood of Fort Smith, Arkansas, has played the most snaps on defense for the Tigers this season. Jordan Harris, from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, has played 331 snaps at tight end as a sophomore.

Crutchfield and Dendy, both from Pine Bluff, were four- and three-star commits this season in the Class of 2024 and were ranked among the top 10 players in Arkansas in that cycle.