FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas — Their voices reverberated beyond the hills of the Boston Mountains, echoing with a distinctive Arkansas twang. For the first time in a long time, a close call transformed into a Hog Call.
Two years of pain and anguish — and close losses — compounded a proud program’s in-fighting among the fan base, and on Saturday night they finally let out their frustrations with cheers of jubilation. The scoreboard said it all: Arkansas 19, No. 4 Tennessee 14.
“When it was over, I was thinking about how proud the state of Arkansas is for their football team,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. “It’s not the reason I took the job, but it’s one of the top reasons I came here. I wanted to make the state proud of the team.”
In a state where the result of a college football game is the primary topic of conversation the entire work week, Razorback fans had grown tired of cheering for toughness and grit in the wake of the inevitable follies — untimely penalties and multiple turnovers — leading to another heartbreaking loss.
Embattled head coach Sam Pittman entered Week 6 with a 2-11 record in one-score games since 2022, and fans outwardly wondered on call-in shows and message boards whether he should be fired before the end of his fifth season leading the program. Setbacks to nationally-ranked Oklahoma State and Texas A&M (both one-score games they led late) pushed the fandom to their breaking point, and late on Saturday night in Fayetteville, they grew restless again as an early lead flipped into a double-digit deficit. They booed. There was indignation.
This time, however, the Razorbacks (4-2, 2-1 SEC) stormed back, and over, the Volunteers (4-1, 1-1). Starting quarterback Taylen Green, who helped produce nearly 300 yards of…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/arkansas-upset-of-no-4-tennessee-a-signature-moment-for-coach-sam-pittman-will-it-curb-the-in-fighting/
Author : Brandon Marcello
Publish date : 2024-10-06 06:29:53
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