Sam Pittman expresses frustration in locker room with 'lot of emotion' after first half vs. Notre Dame

Following a rough first half on defense against Notre Dame, there was plenty of emotion in the Arkansas locker room, Sam Pittman told ESPN’s Taylor McGregor. The Razorbacks trailed 42-13 at the break after allowing 420 total yards of offense.

McGregor relayed her conversation with Pittman after the break as Arkansas’ defense held strong on the opening drive. The Razorbacks headman said there would be changes on defense, including more man coverage after the Notre Dame offense broke out through two quarters.

Additionally, there was plenty of frustration in the locker room, Pittman told McGregor. There was hope to turn things around in the second half to try and turn things around.

“Sam Pittman told me there was a lot of emotion in the locker room at halftime and he said, ‘We have to play better,’ and the frustration really boiling over when it comes to the defense,” McGregor said on the ABC broadcast. “He said, ‘It’s been the same story now for three weeks. We have not been able to stop the run.’

“He said, ‘We’ve tried everything.’ So they’re going to try a little bit of man-to-man coverage. He said, ‘We can’t stop the run unless we add an extra man in the box.’ So we’ll see if that happens. But it is frustrating down here for the Arkansas Razorbacks.”

Through the first half, it was all Notre Dame as the offense shined. Jeremiyah Love had four total touchdowns – two rushing and two receiving – while CJ Carr threw for four touchdowns as the Fighting Irish took a commanding 42-13 lead into the break.

Arkansas fans also made their voices heard in a big way amid the struggles. Boos rang out at one point as the Razorback faithful expressed their frustration with Sam Pittman and the defense’s performance, which comes after back-to-back close losses to Ole Miss and Memphis.

On the Arkansas side, the Razorbacks had 207 yards of offense in the first half, though Taylen Green threw for just 85. They also lost a fumble, which helped set up a late Notre Dame touchdown to add onto the lead just before halftime.

Notre Dame went into the matchup shorthanded, though. Starting cornerback Leonard Moore went through warmups, but did not suit up in Saturday’s game, meaning the Fighting Irish were down a key part of their secondary.