Yeah Coach! Travis Williams on Leading Arkansas, Being Himself | Interview with Andy Staples | 08.16.24

Arkansas stormed to a 14-0 first quarter lead over No. 16 State of Oklahomawhich creates attacking space behind a balanced attack.

Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman broke down what was going well offensively, which was pretty much everything in the opening stanza.

CLICK HERE to go to PrizePicks and use the code ON3 to get a guaranteed $50 when you play $5 in lineups!

“We can run the ball,” Pittman said on the ABC broadcast. “And any time we can run the ball, we can run play-action. We protect it pretty well. They had an all-out blitz that got us there on our first drive.”

The Razorbacks finished the first quarter with 172 yards of total offense, moving the ball at will through the first 15 minutes. Of that total, 114 yards came on the ground.

Watch College Football Games Live – Try Fubo for Free! Click HERE NOW

The attack opened up big holes for the backs, with Ja’Quinden Jackson and completed 10 carries for 64 yards and two touchdowns.

Arkansas, on the other hand, defended very strongly against Oklahoma State’s offense.

“We’ve got to keep playing hard,” Pittman said. “We’re doing a good job on defense. We’re knocking down contested balls on defense. We’ve got to put more pressure on the quarterback. Otherwise, he’s going to pick us apart. So we’ve got to get a little better on the pass rush, but we’re doing a good job against the run.”

Oklahoma State Strikes Back

Shortly after Pittman’s interview with the ABC broadcast crew after the first quarter, disaster struck for Arkansas.

Quarterback Taylen Groen had been operating at an extremely high level as a dual-threat option, but he eventually got some pressure from the Cowboys. A pass rusher came up to him on the edge and hit him as he was throwing.

The ball fluttered out of bounds and Kale Smith intercepted the ball for Oklahoma State and ran it back 73 yards for a touchdown.

That made it 14-7 Arkansas with 8:50 left in the first half, but the Razorbacks’ momentum was suddenly disrupted.