Even though Arkansas and Texas haven’t played each other since 2021, the storied rivalry is fresh on head coach Sam Pittman’s mind.
In a press conference on Nov. 11, Pittman said he showed his team film from previous Razorback versus Longhorn matchups, going all the way back to the famous 1969 game that was a part of Texas’ national title season. The two teams have met 79 times since 1894 and Pittman said it was important to fill his players in on the history between the two schools.
“I think you have to educate the kids on how big the game is to the fans, to the university,” Pittman said. “Rivalry games matter.”
But the teams haven’t stepped foot on the same field since Arkansas defeated Texas 40-21 in Fayetteville during Steve Sarkisian’s first season as the Longhorns’ head coach.
The Texas team has transformed since then. Sarkisian’s squad, led by quarterback Quinn Ewers, went 12–2 last year and clinched the Big 12 conference title. This season, the Longhorns entered the SEC, have gone 4–1 in the conference, 8–1 overall and rekindled a few of their former rivalries – Arkansas being one of them.
Before his coaching days, Pittman played as a defensive end at Pittsburg State University in Kansas. He coached high school football for four years before moving on to Hutchinson Community College, where he was named head coach after a year as offensive line coach. He was offensive line coach at Northern Illinois before he became the tight ends coach for the University of Cincinnati and moved around to eight other universities, including Tennessee and Georgia, before being hired by Arkansas in 2020.
Under Pittman, the Razorbacks have bounced between good and just okay, going 3–7 in 2020, 9–4 in 2021, 7–6 in 2022 and 4–8 in 2023. This year, Arkansas has been up and down, sitting at a 5–4 record. The team pulled off an impressive 19-14 win over Tennessee back in October but has struggled with consistency since then. LSU triumphed over the Razorbacks 34-10, Arkansas beat Mississippi State 58-25 but then got trampled 63-31 by Ole Miss.
Pittman told reporters Monday that he knows this Longhorn team is way different than the one he faced three years ago.
“Texas (is) really, really good,” Pittman said. “Very talented upfront, offensively, skill-wise, quarterback … Basically, they’re saying, ‘we’re better than you, we’re going to line up and whip your butt,’ type mentality.”
The Razorbacks have home-field advantage on Saturday, with a stadium full of fans eager to see No. 3 Texas go down. But Arkansas will have its work cut out for it as a Longhorn team with a lot of depth looks to keep their win streak alive.
“You can play better in a rivalry game if you believe it’s a rivalry,” Pittman said. “We’re going to have to play our best to be able to win the game.”
