Pittman's Razorbacks Redemption Act Helped by Lighter Schedule

No brutal road stretch, extra off week should help Arkansas this season

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman speaking at SEC Football Kickoff at the Omni Dallas Hotel / Brett Patzke-USA TODAY Sports

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Sam Pittman can be forgiven for letting go of the rope somewhat in a disastrous 4-8 season.

Maybe not to the extent that Christmas movies were shown in the locker room. However, a four-game road trip in college football, although not a death sentence, can dampen the mood so much that a bit of Christmas cheer is required prior to Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Christmas, the SEC gave all the teams an early present – a second bye week to deal with the mental fatigue of football. There is no road stretch of death.

Technically, by way of Olympic-level mental gymnastics, it might be possible to become convinced the UAPB is something more than a glorified home game in a stadium with a smaller capacity, but that is a stretch. The rest of the schedule falls out quite nicely to comfortably make a bowl.

Regardless of what happens to Arkansas in the Week 2 game against Oklahoma State, there is plenty of runway to scratch and claw to six wins. Simply put the excuse is gone.

The first three SEC opponents are all picked to finish seventh or lower in the preseason poll. If Pittman and the players' comments are right about the mental shift within the team, the broken culture that has been strongly hinted as the cause of problems last year should be gone.

All the ingredients are there for a David versus Goliath story. The schedule gods are on the Hogs' side this year to build early momentum regardless of what happens in non-conference play.

" I really like this team," Pittman said. "I think with the culture and the tightness of the team, I think you can win those games a little bit easier than if it's the other way."

Fayetteville is waiting with bated breath to find out just how much they will like this team. Will this year's Week 3 demons reappear in the form of another three-letter acronym school, UAB instead of BYU? Not if team chemistry counts for anything.

"I know you see the chemistry," quarterback Taylen Green said. "You see the chemistry? That's what we've been building.".

Football season is just now just over five weeks away with the season opener set to kick off against UAPB on Aug. 29.

HOGS FEED:

• Hogs' Quarterback Ready for Renewed Rivalry Against Longhorns

• Best, worst case scenarios for Razorbacks with difficult schedule

• Petrino getting Green like overcoming objection for second date

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