1 week Ago By By Adam D. Busack
For the fourth consecutive season, Missouri will close out its regular season against Southeastern Conference rival Arkansas. The Tigers have won back-to-back meetings against their rival to the south and seven of their past eight meetings overall against the Razorbacks. Anthony Kristensen, a Missouri alum who previously who wrote for the Columbia Missourian, covers Razorbacks athletics for WholeHogSports.
com . He spoke to the Missourian about what to expect from Arkansas in the Battle Line Rivalry showdown. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Between attending MU and covering Arkansas, you’ve seen this rivalry from both sides. Do Mizzou and Arkansas fans approach this game the same way? It’s kind of a weird deal because when the rivalry first started, it seemed like on both sides of it, it was like, “Oh, we don’t care about you more than you don’t care about us,” and everybody was just kind of trying to downplay it. With that being said, I think the athletic departments of both schools have kind of done a good job of tuning it up and actually making it feel like a legitimate rivalry.
Obviously, you don’t have the history of a Mizzou-Kansas or an Arkansas-LSU, right, but it’s getting up there, I think. I don’t think it’s ever going to be Alabama-Auburn or anything like that, but I do think there is a genuine rivalry that has started, and if not, (one) is brewing. Entering the season, it was a make-or-break year for Arkansas coach Sam Pittman.
How are the feelings around Pittman with the Razorbacks now that the team has outperformed expectations? A: It’s interesting. Everything is kind of pointed to, “If they make a bowl game, then he should be safe,” so you would think he’s probably off the hot seat. At least from what everyone seems to understand, it seems like Sam Pittman will be back next year.
As for overperforming the initial expectations, I think you kind of have to look at that Tennessee upset really as the moment. When they beat (then-No. 4) Tennessee, when you get the field-storming, all that, I think that’s when people kind of started to realize, “OK, maybe this team has something.
” Then you also get rocked at home against Ole Miss, so it’s just been kind of a mixed bag of seasons. When you look at it on paper heading into the season, especially with the schedule on paper that Arkansas had, I think most people would have told you that if you go 6-6 or 7-5 and make a bowl game, I think most people are probably going to take that. But as they got into the season, you take Oklahoma State to overtime and lose narrowly against a team that was ranked, but obviously now we know isn’t good.
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They’re a few plays here and there from being 8-4, so maybe that’s where some people are still disappointed. But to answer the question, I still don’t think Sam Pittman is on the hot seat at this point. What are some things that went right in that Tennessee game that Missouri is going to have to look out for this weekend? The big thing was the defensive adjustments that (defensive coordinator) Travis Williams and the Arkansas defense made were key in that game.
That’s been one of the stories of the season — it’s been Arkansas’ defense kind of keeping them in some of these games. Especially that Tennessee game. And obviously, Mizzou and Tennessee, not the most comparable teams in the world.
But I would say that if an upset is to happen, you would need to see a big game from the Arkansas defense. They don’t force a ton of turnovers, but they can get three-and-outs, and those pile up. If they can get some turnovers on top of that, obviously that would help them out a lot.
If they’re going to have a Tennessee-esque performance, it’s going to come down to their defense and how they handle that. Obviously with Mizzou, with (wideouts) Luther Burden and Theo Wease, there’s a lot of explosive play potential there, and (the Razorbacks) have struggled against teams that can have those big-time plays. You look at the Ole Miss game, they really struggled in that department.
The defense in general is the short answer. On offense, who are some players that Missouri fans are going to need to look out for? Obviously, you’re going to talk about Taylen Green, the starting quarterback. He’s been pretty inconsistent throughout the season, which I think was maybe the expectation with him coming up from Boise State, where he kind of struggled a little bit, even lost the starting job for a time.
There’s been moments this year where he’s looked spectacular and other moments where I’m like, “I don’t know what this guy’s trying to do.” He’s a dual-threat quarterback; he’s very good at scrambling. If the pocket collapses, he can get himself out of trouble quite a bit.
That being said, he can also run himself into trouble. He gets sacked for big-yardage losses from time to time, and he’s prone to an interception here or there, too. Another one to watch is Ja’Quinden Jackson, their first-choice running back.
He started the season remarkably well. He’s had some injury concerns throughout the season, which has kind of hampered his progress, so that’s something to watch. But if Mizzou struggles against the run, as it has in the past this season, I think you could see Ja’Quinden have a really big game.
In terms of the receiving corps, Andrew Armstrong is going to be the primary target, which is kind of weird because he only has one TD. But if they’re going to be looking for somebody downfield, he’s probably gonna be the guy they’re gonna try to find. He’s a big-yardage threat.
What is your score prediction for Saturday’s game? Wow, you’re making me pick between my readership and my alma mater. I think it’ll be a close game, I think Arkansas’ defense will step up, I just think in the end Mizzou’s offense probably has too many big-play threats. Give me 34-24 Missouri.
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