FAYETTEVILLE -- Some coaches shy away from touting their teams for rankings.
Second-year University of Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman not only embraced the discussion, he lobbied for the Razorbacks' inclusion in this week's College Football Playoff rankings. The second set of rankings as compiled by the CFP selection committee will be revealed Tuesday night.
Mississippi State (5-4) was No. 17 in the initial CFP rankings, largely on the strength of having three wins over other teams -- Texas A&M, Kentucky and North Carolina State -- included in the rankings.
Arkansas (6-3) has also beaten Texas A&M, took down Texas when the Longhorns were No. 15 in The Associated Press Top 25 and now a 31-28 win over the Bulldogs.
"Absolutely. There's no question in my mind we deserve to be in the Top 25," Pittman said. "Now it's hard to stay there and all those things, but we've beaten 7, 15 and 17 at the time.
[The Bulldogs] were basically looked at as the best three-loss team in the country. I know we played them here. I know we had a bye week, but I know we won the game. Absolutely I think we're a Top 25 team in the country and deserve it."
The Razorbacks were not included in the AP Top 25 on Sunday, falling just behind Purdue among the other teams receiving votes.
On target
Mississippi State's Will Rogers had another high-percentage day the week after breaking the SEC record with 92% completions (36 of 39) in a 31-17 win over No. 12 Kentucky. Rogers completed 36 of 48 passes (75%) for 417 yards, with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception in the Bulldogs' 31-28 loss at Arkansas.
Razorbacks' quarterback KJ Jefferson did Rogers one better on the accuracy front, hitting 19 of 23 passes for 191 yards and one score with no interceptions. Jefferson's 82.6% completions brought his season total to 64.2% (129 of 201), just shy of the lofty 65% rate offensive coordinator Kendal Briles set as an intended benchmark for the sophomore. Senior Feleipe Franks broke Kevin Scanlon's 41-year-old single-season Arkansas record of 66.2% completions with a 68.5% rate last year.
Jefferson's 82.6% completion rate on Saturday ranked third in school history in games with 20-plus passes behind Ryan Mallett's 87.5% (21 of 24) against Tennessee Tech in 2010 and Mallett's 85.2% (23 of 27) versus South Carolina in 2009.
Pittman pay
Coach Sam Pittman has locked in a salary increase of $250,000 next season based on the Razorbacks notching their sixth win on Saturday, per the terms of his contract. That would take his salary to $3.25 million, which ranks 12th among the 13 SEC coaches working at public institutions, ahead of South Carolina's Shane Beamer.
Pittman could trigger two more raises of $250,000 each this season if the Razorbacks can get a seventh and eighth win in the regular season. In addition, Pittman will receive a one-time bonus of at least $100,000 for leading the Razorbacks to bowl eligibility. That bonus would be $150,000 if Arkansas plays in one of the SEC's "group of six" bowls: the Outback, Gator, Music City, Las Vegas, Texas or Liberty bowls.
The raise will be the first for Pittman, whose contract was extended by one year, through 2025, by UA Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek after the covid-19 issues of 2020 while going 3-7 in his debut season.
Pittman, who will take a 9-10 record at Arkansas into this Saturday's game at LSU, has led the Razorbacks to bowl berths in each of his two seasons. Arkansas accepted an invitation to the Texas Bowl last season but the game was canceled in late December due to covid-19 concerns in the TCU football program.
Fatal first
Mississippi State Coach Mike Leach attributed the loss to his team's lackluster first half, which featured two three-and-outs, followed by drives that ended on an interception and a missed 22-yard field goal before the Bulldogs finally got on the board on Will Rogers' 3-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Walley with 7 seconds left in the half.
"We weren't in sync that first half," Leach said. "We squandered too many plays the first half. That's the biggest negative to this game.
"We got back on track, but we squandered too many plays and opportunities in the first half on all sides of the ball. We allowed this thing to be closer than we had to and we lost."
Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman had this take on the half, which ended with Arkansas leading 13-7.
"We rallied around the ball and we didn't miss as many tackles," Pittman said. "If you look in the second half, we overran some things and we missed tackles.
"I thought our pressure on them was a little better in the first half than it was the second half even though we got a sack there late. Basically, they adjusted some and went a little more towards the middle of the field."
Lectern ladies
Jamie Pittman, the wife of Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman, and his agent Judy Henry had some fun in the euphoric moments after the Razorbacks' tight win on Saturday.
The two were sitting in the back of the media interview room at Reynolds Razorback Stadium, waiting for the coach to make his entrance when they decided to have a little fun. The two women sat down at the long table at the front of the room for their "interview."
A reporter asked Henry and Pittman about the impact of the crowd and whether "there was ever any doubt in your mind" the Razorbacks would win.
"There wasn't," Henry said. "The crowd had seven points for us."
Pittman agreed, saying, "Yeah, the crowd was unbelievable and we knew we had it the whole time. Go Hogs! Woo Pig!"
Field goal history
The Arkansas vs. Mississippi State series has featured all kinds of tight finishes with kicking hijinks, dating back to the Razorbacks early days in the SEC.
The latest such game came on Saturday, when backup Mississippi State kicker Nolan McCord's 40-yard field goal spiraled immediately left and short at the final horn to preserve Arkansas' 31-28 victory.
In 1993, Arkansas kicker David Boulware missed the PAT after the Razorbacks took a 13-10 lead with 5:36 remaining. Mississippi State's Tom Burke nailed a 43-yard field goal with 1:03 left to tie the game. That 13-13 result was the last game for either team to end in a tie.
In Arkansas' first overtime game in 1996, Todd Latourette made a 30-yard field goal to give the Razorbacks a 16-13 win in the extra period after the Bulldogs' Brian Hazelwood missed a 37-yard try moments earlier.
Hazelwood got some revenge two years later, when he made his fourth field goal of the day, a 27-yarder with 7 seconds remaining to cap a 22-21 win over the Razorbacks. The win sent Mississippi State to the SEC Championship Game due to its head-to-head tiebreaker over Arkansas.
In the 2004 meeting in Starkville, Miss., the Bulldogs were lined up for a potential game-tying field goal late in the third quarter. However, Elliott Harris blocked Keith Andrews' field goal try and Pierre Brown returned it 76 yards for a touchdown for the decisive score in a 24-21 Arkansas victory.
In 2008, Arkansas recovered an onside kick after Nathan Dick's 1-yard touchdown pass to Ben Cleveland with 25 seconds remaining pulled the Hogs within 31-28. Dick completed passes of 21 and 10 yards to London Crawford to reach the Bulldogs' 29, but Alex Tejada's 46-yard field goal try at the final horn missed wide right.
The Razorbacks turned conservative in the final minute of the 2015 game while trailing 51-50 after driving from their 11 to the Mississippi State 19 in the closing moments. After three run plays that forced Mississippi State to burn all three of their timeouts, Beniquez Brown blocked Cole Hedlund's would-be game-winning 29-yard field goal with 39 seconds remaining.
Little concern
Arkansas kicker Cam Little might only be a freshman, but he showed the maturity of a veteran in the moments after the Razorbacks survived a 31-28 win on Nolan McCord's missed 40-yard field goal at the final buzzer.
Immediately after the game, Little rushed over to offer condolences to the distraught McCord, who took the final try after teammate Brandon Ruiz had gone 0 for 2 on field goals of 22 and 46 yards.
Conversely, Little had a big day, making field goals of 46, 48 and 51 yards, all equal to or longer than his previous career long. He missed his shortest try, from 42 yards, and is now 14 of 18 on the season.
Players of the week
Offense
RB Dominique Johnson
In his second start, Johnson rushed 17 times for 107 yards against the nation's No. 5 rush defense. The 6-1, 240-pounder from Crowley, Texas, scored 2 TDs, including the game-winning 4-yard run with 21 seconds left.
Defense
LB Grant Morgan
The sixth-year senior had 7 tackles, 1 solo, and added an interception and a key pass breakup. The Greenwood native grabbed his second career interception with the Bulldogs on the move in the second quarter.
