The Arkansas Razorbacks will look to push their record to 3-0 as a familiar face will be on the opposite sideline this Saturday at Donald W. Reynolds Stadium.
Former Razorbacks head coach Bobby Petrino will lead his Missouri State Bears (2-0) into Fayetville with hopes of knocking off his former team.
The Bears will not be a pushover as they are ranked seventh in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) division rankings, and Coach Sam Pittman knows that his guys must be focused and ready to win the ballgame.
“They have a good team and went to the playoffs last year, and almost beat Oklahoma State at the beginning of the year, and Oklahoma State beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, so we know we have to be ready for a fine team coming in here,” said Pittman.
The Razorback’s ground has been the focal point so far this year, led by Rahiem “Rocket” Sanders, who had 20 rushes for 122 yards in Week 1 and 24 rushes for 160 yards in Week 2 and leads the Southeastern Conference in rushing and Pittman is pleased with his star running back.
“He’s making decisions faster this year with finding the right holes and attacking the line of scrimmage as well as running through arm tackles,” Pittman said. “I think he’s playing with a lot of confidence, good player big back, but in a nutshell, he’s seeing holes better than he did a year ago.”
The offense has been moving the ball well this season, and Pittman credits offensive coordinator Kendall Briles with taking charge and executing great game plans.
“I think Kendall has called two really good games he; had South Carolina last week a little on edge with some of the plays we were running and the personnel we used,” said Pittman. “Our offensive line is playing well, and our wideouts are blocking well on the outside and using the short throw game almost as a run, and he’s been calling good games.”
Tight end Trey Knox is dealing with an ankle injury suffered from the South Carolina game, but Pittman is optimistic that the talented wideout will be available Saturday.
“We have to watch him and see how he comes along in practice this week which will help us figure out where he is injury-wise,” said Pittman.
The Razorbacks’ defense is on a mission so far this season as they had six sacks last week, which they are also averaging the third most sacks in college football. Pittman hopes the play will continue from his defense as the secondary looks to heal from injuries.
“We have to get to the quarterback, and our secondary is continuing to get better; we’ve had a couple of injuries that hurt us last week, but we have to create pressure,” said Pittman. “Another thing, we’re not playing much of a 3 -man front as we did last year, and we are allowing our guys to get to the quarterback, and it’s working for us.”
Pittman is adamant that the penalties must be addressed this week in practice, and he takes the blame for not having his team disciplined enough through the first two weeks.
“We had 10 penalties in Saturday’s game; that number should be anywhere from two to six; of course, they will call a couple holds, but not 10,” said Pittman. “That’s on me. I’ve let it go in practice thinking we were good enough, and I’m disappointed in myself, and we’ve got to clean it up.”
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, at DWR stadium.