Photos: Crant Osborne
Video: Carlos Chicas
Sam Pittman, Arkansas Head Coach
Opening statement:
“First of all, I thought our coaching staff did a really good job of preparing our kids. We had a lot to play for, you know we had our seniors. We had a dedication game; we talked all week about dedicating the game to somebody else and bringing them into our family. They had a shirt on underneath that they wrote on with a marker who they wanted to bring into our family, our football family. Obviously, it was a top-15 team in the country and it would put us bowl eligible for our first three years here. There was a lot of motivation for us, a lot to play for and certainly we were fortunate to have our home crowd. Ole Miss is a really good football team; they turned it over three times and we didn’t. I’m really proud of our kids and really proud to be bowl eligible. Obviously, we’ve got another game next week against a fine Missouri team.
“Man, it’s nice to have KJ [Jefferson] back. We weren’t real clean on the first two scoring drives but he made us clean because of his athleticism. You could say a lot of different things about a lot of different guys, Rocket [Sanders] obviously. Our defense bent a lot, they [Ole Miss] had a lot of yards after we were up 42-6 but they didn’t break and the defense has played really well. I’m just really happy and so I’ll be quiet and let y’all ask me some questions.”
On Raheim “Rocket” Sanders’ play:
“I just think any running back who carries the ball 100-150 yards, they’ve got to have a break. They’ve got to have one or two [runs] that will be a 30- or 40-yard pop and certainly that’s what he got tonight. It’s like anything confidence wise, if you break one or two it can help break a tackle, it might help your vision, you’re excited. I thought our line did a nice job blocking for him up there until they knew we weren’t going to throw the football in the fourth quarter and we had a hard time because they [Ole Miss] had more in the box.”
On Larry the Bowling Ball:
“We did [bring him out]. We got a new carrying case for him, I think it’s an ‘80s vintage. Pat Doherty brought him in in the carrying case, we put him out and shined him up a little bit. By the way, we’ve had him available for a couple weeks. He looked hungry when he got out of there. But he was shined up, looked good, we brought him out.”
On being bowl eligible before Missouri:
“I think it’s big. You know, I’ve got caught some heck because one of our goals was to go bowling, but one of our goals is to go to a bowl. You can go to the Fiesta, the Liberty, the Cotton, I mean, there’s a lot of bowls. I didn’t say what bowl, just want to go to a bowl. Obviously want to go to the best possible bowl we can go to, and the more wins, the better the possibility of bowls you get. Obviously, Missouri is a rival for us, and they’re playing really good ball, but so are we. So, I’m sure it’ll be a great game.”
On the first half:
“It was great. What’d we score, 14, right there at the four-minute mark of the second quarter, left in the second quarter? And Drew [Sanders] picked a pass and then we went down and scored with five seconds to put it up 35-6, and then we go out and have two plays and go up 42-6, and that was pretty much ballgame at that point.”
“To come in here 35-6, the only time we’ve ever done that since I’ve been here, I think we were up 42 or 45 to nothing over in Little Rock against Pine Bluff, but we haven’t done anything like that against an SEC opponent.”
“Give them credit too, they came back and all that stuff, but yeah, it felt great. As a coach, you worry about everything. You worry about, ‘Well are we gonna come out and play in the next half,’ … but those two right before half.”Razo
KJ Jefferson, Arkansas QB
On how it feels to be back on the field and his health:
“Right now, I am close to being back a hundred percent. I mean, nobody’s one hundred percent. I mean we are playing SEC ball. I don’t feel like anyone will be 100%, but it felt good just being back out there with my teammates and just being able to a actually encourage them and actually see what’s going on. So, its being around those guys and being able to just be out there.”
“Oh, it was, I mean I took it as a challenge. Just knowing that I didn’t play last week, so I mean I had to come in and make a statement tonight. Also, just it being Ole Miss, I mean I’m from Mississippi. So last year, they kind of got me last year, so this year was just a huge challenge for me, just being able to go out there and play for my teammates and myself as well. Just being able to be back, I mean it was extremely fun to just play for the seniors, just knowing that it was the last game in that stadium when they’ve been through a whole lot, ups and downs and just to send those guys out the right way. So, that was the main thing on my part.”
On Raheim “Rocket” Sanders’ performance:
“I was proud of him. Just early on, I just told him to trust yourself. It’s going to happen. And so, it just happened. I mean he trusted himself. The offensive line created holes for him, and he just hit the hole and he played ball from that point. So just extremely proud of his patience. Just running the ball, also just believing in himself, and just keep building his confidence throughout the whole game.”
