Quotes of Note: Arkansas HC Sam Pittman on Auburn football matchup
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman talks about the upcoming face-off with the Auburn football team in Jordan-Hare Stadium
The Auburn Tigers have faced their first three opponents, and this Saturday they will kick off SEC play by hosting the Arkansas Razorbacks on the Plains. The Tigers are coming off a solid win over New Mexico, a game in which redshirt freshman Hank Brown got his first start at quarterback.
Brown had a strong performance against the Lobos on Saturday, but Auburn football head coach Hugh Freeze said the next few games will truly determine if Brown at QB1 is a permanent fix and if Payton Thorne will remain on the bench. The Tigers will also continue to adjust in various positions based on injuries and availability.
The Razorbacks struggled in last week's game at home against UAB, and head coach Sam Pittman hopes it was enough to wake his team up ahead of their matchup with the Tigers.
On the Auburn offense, per Auburn Undercover:
"Auburn has a really good team. Very physical on the offensive line. Obviously, (Jarquez) Hunter is a great running back. Their quarterback they brought in, (Hank) Brown, had an exceptional game. Four touchdowns and can really sling the ball. They protected him well. They got good wideouts, tight end is a transfer from FIU and they have extra. But, Coach Freeze always uses tight ends well. Very physical guys. (Rivaldo) Fairweather can really run routes and catch, good player. Really good offensively."
On the Auburn defense, per Auburn Undercover:
"Defensively, a little different than what (Durkin) was at A&M. A lot of odd, three-down, a lot of blitzing. Over half their snaps are that way. They're using (Jalen) McLeod, their "jack" linebacker, really well. He makes a lot of plays. I like (Keldric) Faulk, the defensive end, number 15. Already has three sacks on the year. Long, good player. Great corner in (Keionte) Scott and safety and nickel and (Sylvester) Smith. Will run to the ball like an SEC team."
On Hank Brown's film, per Auburn Undercover:
"He was very impressive. And the thing is anytime you get a new quarterback, you want him to not be pressured. They did such a good job of protecting for him. He looked really comfortable running in the game running the offense and was very very accurate, If you didn't know he was a redshirt freshman, you wouldn't have known it watching the game, He did a wonderful job. They did what he does well and they protected him."
On hoping to bounce back against Auburn, per Whole Hog Sports:
“I think usually you play a little bit better when you didn’t play well (the week before),” Pittman said Monday. “Hopefully you won the game, you know? You look at Kentucky, same thing. They were mad. They got focused and played a great game against Georgia.
“These games are about us versus us. The one Saturday was us versus us. We had better players. Hopefully we had as good a coaching staff as they did. The fire that you play with is something that’s expected. … Obviously I think all of us coaches would like to figure that out. They were embarrassed the week before, Kentucky. That’s a little bit how we feel right now going into the Auburn game. So hopefully that’s a good thing for us.”
Auburn and Arkansas will kick off from Jordan-Hare Stadium this Saturday at 2:30 p.m.