Sam Pittman on 'Respect' for Highly-Ranked Aggies, Previews Game

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman doesn't want to say Jimbo Fisher tried to hire him, though

Sam Pittman said Monday at his press conference he has a lot of respect for Texas A&M, this week's opponent at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

Apparently it wasn't enough to leave Georgia to go to work for Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher, who reportedly tried to hire Pittman when he got the job.

"If I wanted you to know I'd tell you," Pittman told reporters, which is more of a confirmation than a denial.

Not that it particularly matters now. Pittman knows what he's facing against A&M, which is ranked either fifth (coaches) or seventh (media) in the polls, depending on which one you believe.

He had all the usual praise for the Aggies, repeating how much respect he has for them.

"I have for a long time," he said. "They have a lot of talent and we're excited to go down to Dallas to play this game. Hopefully we can get healthy and be able to go down there and put on a good showing."

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The Razorbacks will be doing it with an offensive line that is starting to resemble a good round of musical chairs.

Offensive tackle Dalton Wagner left the win over Georgia Southern in the first quarter and didn't return. Center Ricky Stromberg had his leg rolled up early in the second half and didn't come back.

"Neither one of them will practice today," Pittman said. "We’ll kind of go on with Tuesday, Wednesday. I told Coach (Cody) Kennedy we’d better get ready as if neither of them will be able to play and that’s what we’re going to do."

Arkansas moved folks all over the place with Wagner and Stromberg out in the second half.

Beaux Limmer earned the start at right guard, which meant Ty Clary took over at right tackle for Wagner until moving to center when Stromberg went down.

At that point, Brady Latham shifted from left guard to right tackle and Luke Jones came on at left guard. That's a lot of moving parts.

"We’re going to go back to that mentality of, ‘All we’ve got is all we need,’" Pittman said. "If they can play, we sure as heck want them to, but we’re going to be prepared if they’re not able to."

Kickoff for the game Saturday is 2:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on CBS.

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