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FAYETTEVILLE — It was a rough week for the SEC on the COVID-19 front.
A pair of games - Vanderbilt at Missouri and LSU at Florida - were postponed because of outbreaks and Alabama head coach Nick Saban tested positive, putting his status for Saturday’s showdown with Georgia up in the air.
The pandemic has mostly been kept in check at Arkansas, but Saturday’s game against Ole Miss appeared to be in jeopardy when Lane Kiffin revealed Wednesday that the Rebels were having “issues” with positive tests.
It seems like Ole Miss’ final round of tests went okay, though. The 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff is still on and head coach Sam Pittman said he’s been pleased with how his team has remained diligent during the season.
“It’s hard to say why somebody gets COVID,” Pittman said. “I know you have to be in contact and all those things, but I’ve known some guys that have been really, really careful that unfortunately got COVID.
“I watched Coach Saban’s media talk and obviously he felt like he’d been very careful, wearing his mask and distancing and all those things. I don’t know. I guess sometimes it just happens. I’ve been really, really proud of our football team.”
When he first heard the news of Saban’s positive test, Pittman said his immediate thought was with his health. At 58 years old, the Razorbacks’ first-year coach said he knows he and Saban - who is 68, almost 69 - are among the older coaches in the SEC.
“The first reaction was I hope that he’s medically going to be fine,” Pittman said. “I mean, Coach Saban’s, if not the best coach ever in college football, then he’s one or two, so you obviously want his health to be fine.”
In addition worrying about his own health, Pittman said he has a “COVID countdown” in his calendar with how many more tests they have to get through because he knows it could take out his players at any time.
“Certainly no one wants to not be able to play a game - our kids work too hard, fans want to see us play,” Pittman said. “So to have to miss a game for COVID, man, it wouldn't be good. It just wouldn't. Nobody wants that.
“I don't want COVID, you know what I mean? So it's stressful. I'd be lying to you if I told you it wasn't. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday it's a stressful deal just hoping that you personally don’t have COVID and obviously your team."
Here are a few other notes, tidbits and stats from the week leading up to Saturday’s game, which will be televised on the SEC Network…
OC Connection
The most obvious connection between the coaching staffs at Arkansas and Ole Miss is that Kendal Briles, the Razorbacks’ offensive coordinator, worked for Kiffin at Florida Atlantic in 2017.
However, the Rebels’ offensive coordinator is Jeff Lebby, who worked with Briles for several years at Baylor and actually married his sister.
“They should be close,” Pittman said. “I think Coach Lebby married Kendal’s sister, so unless there’s a family feud, they should be good friends.”
Because they both came up the ranks learning Art Briles’ system, Pittman said he sees some similarities between the Rebels’ offense and his own. A few route concepts are different, but the two teams’ run games are very similar, which could help both defenses considering they’ve seen it in camp and at practices.
As for the family connection, Kiffin said he doesn’t think it’s too big of a deal because it happens frequently in college football.
“They are not just brothers in law, they are best friends,” Kiffin said. “They grew up best friends and he ended up marrying Kendal’s sister. So I joke with him that he was just trying to get a job with Art. So they are very close.”
Noticeable Difference
Through three weeks, there’s no doubt Arkansas has already shown significant improvement from its previous two seasons, particularly on defense.
It’s evident in the statistics, but Kiffin has also noticed it on film, as he said in his opening remarks on the weekly SEC coaches teleconference Wednesday.
