FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — This Saturday there will be a party on the football field at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, just not exactly the kind of party most are used to.
Razorback head coach Sam Pittman talked Monday about what he and his team are expecting to see when Cincinnati rolls into town this weekend.
The head Hog said with the Bearcats having so many new players and a new offensive coordinator, the Razorbacks don't know what Cincinnati will bring to the table just yet.
"I think the first couple of series are going to be really important to figure out kind of what they’re bringing to the party," Pittman said. "Some guys bring ice tea, and some guys bring liquor. You’ve just got to figure out what they’re bringing. Hey, go into two-minute offense, and you’ll figure out what kind of party you’re going to on the first play."
The Bearcats lost a lot from last year's College Football Playoff squad, but they still have plenty of experience. With all of its offensive line back and a talented group of transfers, Cincinnati is not being taken lightly by Pittman and his team.
"I know people say they lost a lot of players," Pittman said. "Well they played a whole bunch of them last year because they were so far ahead in a lot of their games that they got experience with their other guys. And then they brought in some nice transfers as well."
Pittman said there are plenty of things he wants to see from his team this Saturday — how good they can run the ball, third down offensive success, first down defense, successful pass rush, etc. It won't be a cupcake first game, so the kinks will need to be worked out quickly.
When talking about what Cincinnati brings to the party, Pittman said that making adjustments quickly — in the first two series — will be vital.
"The first two series on both sides of the ball will be a big, big thing on Saturday, in my opinion," Pittman said. "And how fast our coaches make adjustments and how fast their’s does. Can’t wait until half. Game’s halfway over at that point, so we’ve got to really get good communication from up top and see what we need to see to figure all this stuff out."
This week, the Hogs will work on fine-tuning things in practice and making sure they can execute the game plan the way the staff wants them to.
Pittman said the little mistakes are what will cost Arkansas the game, but his veteran coaching staff paired with a strong group of veteran players give him confidence.
"If you look at Cincinnati, when they break games, it’s because they get turnovers," Pittman said. "It’s on special teams, it’s on everything. For us, we should be okay because we’ve got all our coordinators back. We should be okay. We should be able to go out there in the first game and function and do well. Until we do it, it’s kind of scary. You don’t know until you do it."
Arkansas and Cincinnati will get things started at 2:30 p.m. CT inside Reynolds Razorback Stadium this Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
