Everything Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman Said After Alabama Loss

Right here’s what the Arkansas Razorbacks’ official web site considered the loss to Alabama on Saturday afternoon:

The story on the prime of the web page was sights and sounds from the autumn baseball sport.

Right here’s what soccer coach Sam Pittman mentioned throughout his press convention:

Alabama is a very good soccer group, and a bodily group. I believed going within the sport was actually good on protection they usually actually are. I do not know if Bryce Younger received harm or if coach elected to go along with Milroe, but when did [get hurt] I hope that he is fantastic. He is a very good participant, robust competitor. Too many, method too many huge performs for them. Not sufficient for us. Turnover battle was about the identical. For no matter cause we did not begin properly, after which tried to lastly rating there proper earlier than the half, however we simply we did not begin properly, and a part of that I am certain is as a result of its Alabama. However now we have to do higher. We’ve to play higher. And we have to regroup. Final yr we misplaced three-in-a-row and circled and gained 4 of the final 5, or 5 of the final six, no matter it could be. We gotta discover a solution to flip it round. And I do know we have performed two actually good groups the final two weeks, however we have gotta play higher no matter what the rating is, what it turns into. We gotta play extra constant, deal with higher, convert third downs, issues of that nature on offense.

On Alabama being 9 of 13 on third downs, and the way huge was the Milroe 77-yard run?

It was big. I imply they had been down inside their 20, [close] sport and went 77. After which they scored a pair performs later, and received it again as much as a 12-point sport and we did not reply on offense. That was a giant, huge play. I am happy with the group for the way in which we got here out and fought again into the sport. I imply we had been in it, and that play proper there appeared to take a bit of little bit of the wind out of our sail. And we could not convert to subsequent time we had the ball. However that was a giant, huge play, after which clearly Gibbs operating, I do not suppose we touched him. So we gotta get higher. We gotta deal with higher, we appear to say it each week. We gotta eat up house higher. On offense we gotta throw the ball higher, too. We’re not we’re proper now. We’re one-dimensional and we have gotta have the ability to throw and catch, and defend, all these issues. It is all gotta be higher ‘trigger we won’t simply flip round and hand the ball off and beat actually good groups. We gotta do higher.

On Alabama’s third downs …

It’s huge. I imply, they convert 9 they usually keep on the sphere or they convert half of them in they’re off the sphere half of the time. It’s an enormous deal, ? And that when Bryce was in there they had been taking us to empty and sort of choosing us aside, and operating down the center some submit routes had been principally vast open. We have gotta get higher in protection. They had been huge

On robust third quarter after it was a degree of emphasis in apply:

We emphasize so many issues, , a coach units up right here and if it really works he says ‘Nicely I did this and I did that …’ We have been emphasizing tackling and overlaying and blocking and, , stuff too, and generally it really works and generally it does not. However the third down, or the third quarter, excuse me, we simply stayed in right here and stretched and I talked to them, the captains talked to them, it is the identical factor that we did at apply, and we simply modified it up. We hadn’t actually gained a 3rd quarter all yr, and so we modified it up, and I do not know if it labored or not or as a result of we had been down 21. I do not know however I do know the children answered the problem and that was that was good to see.

On the onside kick, was that from one thing you noticed in learning Alabama?

That’s what we had been seeing it on the tape and we felt prefer it was there. [Jake] Bates was actually good at it and he had carried out it at his earlier faculty [Texas State]. It simply appeared like the precise time to make use of it. It labored and we went down and scored, in order that was a superb deal.

On the Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson getting harm:

He hit his head. I do not I do not know. I do not know the place he is at to be trustworthy with you. Clearly we did not convey it again in, so I do not know any greater than that.

On the offensive sport plan:

Nicely, I wished to run some go balls lengthy on them, and we tried that a bit of bit, however we tried it later. However we’re all the time gonna attempt to set up the run, to throw play-action off of it, however we simply we both weren’t getting open or we weren’t throwing it precisely and got here off the sphere. We could not keep on the sphere and in opposition to Alabama you are most likely not gonna have the ability to flip round in hand it thrice in a row and get a primary down on a regular basis, ? So I used to be dissatisfied once I simply did not really feel like we threw the ball properly — threw it, caught it, protected it, and all these issues go collectively properly, received open, all these issues. It simply wasn’t there.

On Arkansas receivers:

For those who’re speaking about immediately, I simply mentioned we did not throw and catch it excellent, .

You recognize you play higher defenses than others, and Alabama will probably be top-of-the-line we performed, finest corners, cowl corners, issues of that nature. However I believe we have good receivers. I do. Clearly Thompson did not play immediately, he was harm. However I believe now we have good receivers. We gotta return to work and perhaps do one thing a bit completely different within the faster sport. You recognize we did attempt to throw a cease and stuff at a time or two, however perhaps one thing a bit of faster the place we are able to make the most of some slants and a few issues of that nature.

On not stopping Alabama’s huge performs:

It is unhealthy. I imply you sit there and also you suppose you do not get off [the field] after which they make a play, yeah it’s extremely deflating. However that is a part of the sport, and all that. It is taking place too usually to us. We gotta determine the right way to get off the sphere after we’ve had an benefit with the sticks. And it isn’t that we’re not working, it is simply that we’re not doing it. And a part of that has to do with tightness of protection. A part of it has to do with space in tackling. And tackling nonetheless drawback for us that we have got to proceed to enhance on. However certain, it’s very deflating.

Replace on vast receiver Warren Thompson:

No. I do not. I imply we thought there was an opportunity that he may play. [Myles] Slusher was the identical method. We thought that he would have the ability to play and he went on the market a bit of bit however his calf was all tight, and all this type of stuff. However Warren, he’d hardly apply properly in any respect this week, so we simply felt like we would be higher with Ketron [Jackson], Matt [Landers] and Jadon [Haselwood] as an alternative of chancing him on the market as a result of he simply wasn’t prepared.

On the choice on which backup quarterback got here in:

That choices been made for some time. He’s our No. 2 quarterback, so we put him in there.

How robust is it to play from behind in opposition to Alabama?

Nicely, it’s exhausting. We did all of it on the complete sport final yr that over there it was perhaps getting nearer like immediately besides we did not that, did not find yourself having a giant performs within the fourth quarter. Nicely, we answered them for many half final yr.

On the punt returns, did Max outkick protection a few occasions?

A pair occasions we kicked out of the zone and one time we had a gunner on the incorrect aspect of the sphere. So we did not have a boundary gunner. Mockingly, he returned it to the sphere, and we had a man over there, however we could not make the play. However I imagine the boundary gunner most likely would have been down there and had a good catch. However we did not have it, went incorrect aspect.

On the message to the group at halftime:

Yeah, I felt like we would get again within the sport so long as we imagine we may get again within the sport. You recognize, what occurs is – we gained quite a lot of video games, twelve of our final no matter it’s, I assume 12 hour final 18 or no matter, however what occurs is you gotta watch it as a result of we won’t revert again to getting our batt kicked each week. You gotta watch it as a result of it is exhausting. We have got to have management. That is what the halftime was concerning the older guys that want to steer, and discuss. I believe the captains did a pleasant job at halftime of speaking after I received by means of. However to be trustworthy with you it was only a problem to go play exhausting. Play exhausting, present our character, who we’re, what received us right here. And we needed to make changes as a training workers, however they needed to needed to go on the market and play exhausting and I believed they did.

On the timing of the onside kick:

Nicely, we had been down two scores, and I simply thought it was good timing. I believed it was there. We had been going to the faux area purpose too. I known as a faux down there after we kicked it to make it to 12 I imagine what it ended up attending to, I would known as a faux. That was a faux and we known as it off. However I used to be planning on faking the sphere purpose down there on fourth and 5. I like what we what we had deliberate as a lot as I just like the onside, however the look wasn’t there so we simply went forward and kicked it.

On decision-making course of on fourth down:

It was fourth and fewer than three and I believed if we do not take it that he was gonna go for it. They put him in on third-and-13 and scored on us. I do not know, I imply, to be completely trustworthy with you I believed he was going to go for it on 4th and three and I believed we may maintain him for lower than 10 yards on third down. Who is aware of, perhaps get a turnover, , or no matter it might be. I all the time discus that. Everybody says ‘Hey that is what I am gonna do,’ and all of us agreed that was the perfect factor to do is throw a tunnel display on the subsequent play for a landing.

Did this allow you to choose a No. 2 operating again?

No. I do not suppose so. I believe Rocket’s the man, after which the opposite guys are … I don’t know if any of them separated from the opposite man. I believe they’re all good runners however Jimmy could really feel completely different or and I’d after I watched the tape, however not proper now. I do not suppose so.