FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas is back home at Razorback Stadium with No. 4 Tennessee the opponent this Saturday.
Arkansas (3-2, 1-1) and Tennessee (4-0, 1-0) will only be the second time in six games the Hogs have played in Razorback Stadium. Sam Pittman knows Tennessee is a great team.
"Yes, excited to play Tennessee a really great team," Pittman said. "There’s no place that you’re going, ‘Oh, well, we’re going to attack this guy. We’re going to attack that guy.’ Just a well-rounded team, very talented, well, well coached. But we’re excited to get back home. We’ve been gone four of the five weeks and excited to get back home, night game. Excited to play in front of our fans. Certainly know we have a huge, huge challenge and a very, very fine football team. We’re excited about it though."
This will be the second night game for Arkansas and the first since the UAPB opener.
"Excited to be back home," Pittman stated again. "Somehow our schedule has been that way the last couple of years, but now we have five of the next seven at home, so we’re excited about that. Especially for a night game. I think we have two in a row coming up.
"Tennessee is a really good team. Top of the nation in a lot of categories. Both offensively and defensively. I think defensively they’re very, very stout up front. Have a really good secondary, linebackers. I think kind of a common theme over the last couple of weeks that their defensive line is probably the strength of their defense as well as what A&M’s was, what Auburn’s was. So that’ll be a big challenge for us. Offensively, they do so much. Of course, we have to get ready for as fast as they go. Which we have some ideas for that, and we’re going to use that today in practice.
"It starts with their quarterback. Very good skill-wise. I really like Dylan Sampson their running back. They play more than one. They’ve got (DeSean) Bishop in there too. I really like him. He breaks a lot of tackles. Their tight ends are good. Their offensive line can do it all, pass, run. I have to obviously talk about Cooper Mays. I love Cooper Mays. He’s done such a nice job at center. I love his brother, his family. They’re really good people. But Cooper is playing exceptionally well this year and he’s healthy. Looking forward to seeing him as well. Really well rounded team. Squirrel (White) is a great punt returner. Cameron (Sheldon) is a good kickoff returner, and then they’ve got a kicker that can kick with either leg, rugby."
The Vols received a bye this past weekend while the Hogs were losing to Texas A&M 21-17.
"Yeah, it is a concern," Pittman said. "We’re going to have to do a good job with some of our key players mentally because we’re not probably going to have them for at least a couple of days, some. And maybe get them back on Wednesday, hopefully. But it is a big concern. Most of our injuries are offensively, which … the ones we’re most concerned about is offensively. The big, physical D-lines I think have taken a toll on our tight end position. That’s the one right now I’m most concerned about. But yeah, I think it gives an advantage. We’re undefeated coming off our bye weeks and a lot of that is because we get our players back.
"I remember the last time we played Tennessee here they were coming off a bye week and they started out like gangbusters on us and then we were able to come back in the second half. But this is a totally different team than what came in here now going on five years ago. But yeah, that’s a big concern. We’re going to try to take a little bit off of them today. Not the mental part of it. Not the speed part of it as far as how fast Tennessee goes. But we’ve got to … for us to compete like we need to and how we want to we’re going to have to be smart this week."
Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava is a freshman. He has completed 61 of 88 passes for 892 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. He also has rushed 25 times for 117 yards and one touchdown.
"Really good," Pittman said. "Mature. It’s just like Marcel Reed. Reed did what he needed to do. He didn’t turn the football over. I’m not comparing them, I’m saying Nico is that — he does what he needs to do, he’s got a lot of opportunity to shine in his offense, he doesn’t make mistakes and then he does it at a high, high, high level. He’s scary because he’s not going to make mistakes and he’s going to run the offense to a perfection. For a young guy like that, he’s just really impressive."
Despite Iamaleava being a freshman, Pittman praised him for his maturity.
"That he plays within the offense so well," Pittman said. "That he doesn’t make mistakes. He’s just, he’s so talented. He can make every throw, but the thing that you see about him is just the way that he carries himself and how he handles the team as a young redshirt freshman. I was going back to the bowl, really shocked with how mature he is. I think that’s the thing that sticks out. He’s very, very, very talented, but his leadership skills seem to be off the chart."
Pittman also said the fact that Iamaleava is a dual-threat quarterback makes it that much harder to defend him.
"Very, because at times the same guys that are looking for him to come running out of the backfield are the same ones trying to cover that slant route, and the stop route, whatever it may be," Pittman said. "Anytime you have a running, athletic quarterback that can throw — look at Alabama with (Jalen) Milroe and you can go on-and-on, our kid, Taylen Green — those guys are very difficult to plan for. If you let them out of the pocket, they’re going to hurt you. If you keep him in the pocket, he’s going to make some really good throws as well, so that dual-threat is very concerning for us this week."
Vols running back Dylan Simpson has rushed 69 times for 449 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also caught seven passes for 70. Pittman thinks he's very good running back.
"He’s bad," Pittman said. "He’s bad to the bone. He's a good player. I mean, he's really good. To make you miss, can run over you. I mean, he's a good player. Can catch. I like him a lot. He's a really good player. And then, you know, they use the other one, [DeSean] Bishop, too, but he's a really good player."
Josh Heupel feels Arkansas has a very good football team.
"I just think they're playing extremely well in all three phases of the game," Heupel said. "They play smart football, don't give up a ton of big plays defensively., they've been really good against the run. They're big, strong, physical. I think on the offensive side of the football, the quarterback’s a difference-maker for them. As a complete team, they're playing extremely well together. And like I said, they're a couple plays away from from being undefeated.I have a ton of respect for Coach. I think he does a great job. He's one of the good guys in the business. You can tell that his team believes in him, and that they play extremely hard for him."
Arkansas and Tennessee will kickoff at 6:30 p.m. Saturday night and game televised on ABC.
Photos Courtesy of Craven Whitlow CW3 Sports Action
