What coach Sam Pittman said about Arkansas football's tough 2022 schedule
Arkansas football's 2022 schedule is one of the hardest in the country. Between the perennially challenging SEC West and a non-conference gauntlet, the Razorbacks' path to another 9-4 season or better is full of potential pitfalls.
Coach Sam Pittman knows it. At his 2022 SEC Media Days appearance in Atlanta on Wednesday, Pittman acknowledged that all 12 of Arkansas' opponents played in the postseason last year.
After winning nine games for the first time since 2011, Arkansas is looking to match or improve upon last year's success. That's never an easy task, and it's especially hard given the Razorbacks' slate of games.
"Each win you go up is harder, and it's harder to maintain," Pittman said. "I'm not complaining one bit about it. We're the University of Arkansas, and we'll go compete, but it's tough."
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The Razorbacks open with Cincinnati on Sept. 3. It's a game that, when it was scheduled years ago, wouldn't have looked too daunting for a Week 1 matchup. But that was before the Bearcats made the College Football Playoff after a perfect regular season.
After that, Arkansas takes on its first SEC foe in South Carolina. The Gamecocks, like Arkansas, had their best season in years in 2021 with a 7-6 record and are a dangerous early-season opponent.
Missouri State, an FCS playoff team in each of the last two seasons, comes to Fayetteville in Week 3.
Stringing wins together in those first three challenges will be key before the Razorbacks' conference schedule takes off.
"I think momentum early on is really big," linebacker Bumper Pool said. "Being able to get some wins under your belt, especially at home, get the fanbase into it, and then you propel your season from there."
If Arkansas can get that early season boost, it can take momentum into a tough Week 4 matchup with Texas A&M at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Then the Razorbacks have Alabama at home before going on the road to Mississippi State and BYU.
It's a four-game stretch before the bye week that's incredibly difficult. After a week off, Arkansas visits Auburn looking to avenge a tough home loss last season. The Razorbacks then host Liberty, LSU and Ole Miss before going to Missouri.
Pittman said the key to making it through such a challenging schedule starts in practice.
"You have to have (the players) ready when they run out there on Saturday," Pittman said. "We adjust practices (based on) my feel of the team ... You want to win every single day, and you sure as hell want to win on Saturday. You have to figure it out as best you can."
Christina Long covers the Arkansas Razorbacks. You can email her at clong@swtimes.com or follow her on Twitter @christinalong00.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Coach Sam Pittman on tough Arkansas football schedule in 2022
