Arkansas, Penn State Looking for 'Way In, Not a Way Out' of Bowl Game

Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman made it clear he didn't think his team or the Nittany Lions were looking to get out of Outback Bowl

Some schools may be using a pandemic to get out of playing a bowl game, but not Arkansas or Penn State.

Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman was pretty clear on that Wednesday afternoon.

"I don't think either one of us (nodding to Penn State coach James Franklin) are looking for a way out ... we're looking for a way in," he said at the Outback Bowl press conference.

"I know that's what (Franklin) did. I know that's what we did as well."

The Nittany Lions have had a rash of players decide not to show up in Tampa. Other bowl have been cancelled, using COVID as an excuse.

The guess here is it had more to do with coaches not wanting to play a game. They had what they wanted becoming bowl eligible being able to hold evaluations for spring practice.

Not the Hogs or Penn State.

"We've never seen this in college football, right?" Franklin said. "We've never seen people not playing. It happened a little bit last year.

"We thought we were done with it. It's happening again this year."

Neither of these coaches have done anything but deal with who they have in Tampa. They aren't spending a lot of time talking about who's not there.

"We have 120 on our team," Pittman said, obviously counting the players that have opted out and aren't playing. "The 110 or 115 that are left deserve the opportunity to play."

But it does mean don't waste your time trying to handicap this game because there's not a whole lot to base it on.

"Once you wrap your mind around the teams are different," Pittman said, "you're probably going to find some surprises both ways."

Kickoff for the Outback Bowl will be 11 a.m. Saturday morning and will be televised on ESPN2 and FuboTV.

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