No external pressure for Hogs against Notre Dame, Pittman says
The Arkansas Razorbacks (2-2, 0-1 SEC) are in a two-game losing skid heading into their matchup with the No. 22 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1-2), but head coach Sam Pittman said they’re not feeling any outside pressure to win.
“I don’t really think there’s extra pressure,” Pittman said on the SEC Teleconference on Wednesday. “You know, pressure comes from either internally or from the outside. I don’t think there’s outside pressure for us. I think we’re pretty tight knit team, and our pressure is that we want to win. So I don’t think it’s been too much that way.”
The Head Hog may say there’s no external pressure, but it sure feels that way from the outside looking in. Arkansas’ last two games have been lost in excruciating fashion, with fourth-quarter fumbles near the redzone in one-possession games in back-to-back weeks against Ole Miss and Memphis keeping the Hogs from a 4-0 record.
Still, this weekend is an opportunity for the Hogs to prove they’re capable of more than what they’ve shown the last two weeks.
“The only way we can win people (over) that don’t believe in us, or win some more positive thoughts about our program is to win ball games, and that’s really the bottom line,” Pittman said. “You can say whatever you want. You can do whatever you want, but what’s the score? That really is what changes people’s perception or perspective of you. We have a great opportunity here.”
Pittman not feeling the personal pressure, either
Look at nearly every hot seat list in the country, and Pittman is likely on it. It’s been that way for several years, but he’s survived every time.
Pittman was asked on Monday at his weekly press conference if he’s feeling the heat under his seat, and he said he doesn’t feel it any more now than he has in recent years.
“It’d be kind of hard to have more pressure,” Pittman said. “I mean, I think the pressure you put on yourself is obviously a lot because you want to do well for a lot of reasons. But I’ve kind of had this same type pressure for, I don’t know, three years now. It seems like 40, but I think it’s been about three.”
The opportunity to win fans back over is this Saturday. The Razorbacks will host the Fighting Irish for the first time in the two schools’ history with kickoff set for 11 a.m. and will air on ABC.
