FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas’ trimmed-down SEC-only schedule just got a lot tougher with two additional games against top-10 teams.
In fact, Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek described the Razorbacks’ 10-game schedule this fall as the “most challenging schedule in the history of college football.”
The SEC announced Friday that the Razorbacks would add a home game against Georgia and a road date at Florida this fall. The dates of those games and the rest of the schedule are expected to be announced next week.
The Bulldogs and Gators are expected to be the top two contenders in the SEC East, and both were ranked in the USA Today coaches poll, released earlier this week. Georgia is No. 4 and Florida is No. 8 in that poll.
“We’re excited to play this schedule,” first-year Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said in a statement. “The SEC is the best and that’s where Arkansas belongs, with the best.
“We’ve got an incredible opportunity ahead of us as a program. Our staff can’t wait to get on the field with our team and prepare to take on the toughest schedule in the country.”
The Razorbacks, coming off back-to-back 2-10 seasons and riding a 19-game SEC losing streak, got the toughest two additions possible. They will play all six SEC teams ranked in the top 13 of the coaches poll.
“We already owned the nation’s strongest 2020 football schedule and with these additions to our SEC only schedule, we now own the most challenging schedule in the history of college football,” Yurachek said in a statement. “As Razorbacks, we have never backed down from a challenge, this year will be no different. Our focus remains on the growth of our program and supporting Coach Sam Pittman and our football student-athletes as they embrace this extraordinary opportunity.”
Winding up with a game against Georgia made sense, as a road game against the Bulldogs was next in the SEC rotation in 2021 for the Razorbacks. After that, the SEC broke the rotation, as Arkansas was slated for a home game against South Carolina in 2022.
“We made every effort to create a schedule that is as competitive as possible and builds on the existing eight Conference games that had already been scheduled for 2020,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “This schedule is a one-year anomaly that we have developed under unique circumstances presented by the impact of COVID-19.”
There will be strong connections to both additional opponents for Arkansas.
Pittman was a four-year assistant coach at Georgia from 2016-19. Pittman, special-teams coordinator Scott Fountain, and strength and conditioning coaches Jamil Walker and Ed Ellis were all coaching at Georgia last season.
The road game at Florida will pit new Arkansas quarterback Feleipe Franks against his former teammates. Franks transferred to Arkansas this winter as a graduate student.
Pittman was asked earlier this week by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette about possibly adding the Bulldogs to the schedule.
“Well, depends on where we played them,” Pittman said on a video conference. “If we went to Georgia, it would be nice to go back and see all the people there. They have an incredible fan base.
“If they came here and if they’re allowed, they’re going to travel [well], and I’m going to be telling the Arkansas fans to sell that thing out. Because if not, it’ll be loaded with Georgia fans.”
As an Arkansas assistant coach from 2013-15, Pittman and the Razorbacks faced Georgia just once. The Bulldogs notched a 45-32 win in Little Rock on Oct. 18, 2014, four weeks before the Razorbacks snapped a 17-game losing streak in conference games with a 17-0 victory over LSU.
Pittman, joining first-year Georgia Coach Kirby Smart’s staff, helped the Bulldogs quickly evolve into a championship-caliber program. Georgia won the SEC championship in 2017 before falling 26-23 to Alabama in overtime in the College Football Playoff championship game.
The Bulldogs went 36-7 in Pittman’s last three seasons in Athens,.
“I have fond memories of Georgia,” Pittman said. “They were good to me, the entire state, and of course Kirby Smart. If we play them a year earlier than what I thought, we would look forward to playing them.”
The Razorbacks have a 4-10 record against Georgia, including a 2-2 mark in bowl games before Arkansas joined the SEC in 1992.
Arkansas is 2-9 against the Gators, including one bowl victory. The Razorbacks notched their only regular-season win against Florida in their last meeting, a 31-10 rout of the No. 11 Gators in 2016.
In a lighter moment earlier this summer, Yurachek said this when asked about potential changes to the schedule.
“I personally think If we go to an SEC-only schedule, I think it would be great for Georgia, Florida, Alabama, LSU to all play a home-and-home series to accommodate the majority of their schedules,” Yurachek said, referencing the top two contenders from each SEC division. “And the rest of us will figure it out from there.
“I say that tongue in cheek somewhat. I don’t know that Coach Pittman relishes the idea of an SEC-only schedule, but it does provide you some more flexibility as far as scheduling games.
“I just want to play football this year. And I think [so does] our football team, our football staff. If that’s eight SEC games and one non-conference game or 10 SEC games, we’ll play whatever we’re able to play this year.”
SEC add-ons
Each SEC football team picked up two additional games Friday to add to eight previously scheduled conference games this season. The SEC announced on July 30 it was going to a 10-game conference-only schedule.
SCHOOL HOME GAME ROAD GAME
Alabama Kentucky Missouri
Arkansas Georgia Florida
Auburn Tennessee S. Carolina
Florida Arkansas Texas A&M
Georgia Miss. State Arkansas
Kentucky Ole Miss Alabama
LSU Missouri Vanderbilt
Miss. State Vanderbilt Georgia
Missouri Alabama LSU
Ole Miss S. Carolina Kentucky
S. Carolina Auburn Ole Miss
Tennessee Texas A&M Auburn
Texas A&M Florida Tennessee
Vanderbilt LSU Miss. State