Arkansas and Texas A&M are trending in opposite directions | College Football Enquirer
Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel and Pete Thamel, and Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde discuss the Arkansas Razoerbacks’ 20-10 win over the Texas A&M Aggies, Jimbo Fisher’s contract extension, and the Razorbacks huge meeting with Georgia this weekend.
Video transcript
[CROWD CHEERING]
DAN WETZEL: Well, we might as well start with Arkansas--
PAT FORDE: Yeah
DAN WETZEL: --because this is getting serious now.
PETE THAMEL: Yeah.
DAN WETZEL: Texas is vanquished. Sam Pittman, second year, takes over a team that did not win an SEC game for two seasons is 4-0. They're going into Georgia. You know, he was funny after because they're like, you know, what does this mean? He's like, we got Georgia next week. We got whole thing. Let's slow our roll, but this feels good. I really liked how he was-- there's not a lot of coach talk with him, which is funny because he spent 36 years as an assistant coach.
PAT FORDE: Right.
DAN WETZEL: But thoughts on these Razorbacks. My goodness.
PAT FORDE: Hey, very impressive. Now, I did think that they could absolutely win that game straight up, you know? I thought that they've been really, really good this season and good in the key areas that help you win games.
PETE THAMEL: My takeaway sitting there watching Arkansas just straight up beat Texas A&M-- there's nothing flukey about it, nothing weird. They just absolutely ran over them, through them, by them every which way.
DAN WETZEL: Now, and the flip side of this Arkansas win is A&M which had this big season planned and got mauled by Arkansas. And you know what? You know what the first hint I should have known was when Jimbo renegotiated his deal before the season. That was the tip.
PAT FORDE: [LAUGHS]
DAN WETZEL: We weren't paying attention.
PAT FORDE: Yeah.
DAN WETZEL: If you think you're going to beat Bama this year, if you think this is the year you're going to the playoff, you do not renegotiate your deal at the beginning for a measly $1.5 million raise. Jimbo Fisher knows two things-- really good football teams and how to cash in on these ADs, and that was the tip we all missed.
If he thought he was beating Bama, he beats Bama then renegotiates, and he's getting $12 million. He's not getting any $9 million.
PAT FORDE: Well, that's true.
DAN WETZEL: He willingly-- he knew. He knew they weren't that good.
PAT FORDE: Well, I'll tell you what. You know, they were replacing a four-year starting quarterback, and this is another one of those places where you just think, oh, well, you know, it's A&M. They'll have somebody else good and they're highly recruited guys. Then Haynes King gets hurt and Zach Calzada has stepped in and they're struggling. Struggling throwing the ball. They threw for 151 yards against Arkansas. 4.2 yards per attempt which means they could not go downfield at all. And yeah, Jimbo Fisher today, congratulations. You're the most overpaid coach in America.
PETE THAMEL: Give Sam Pittman a lot of credit. He's been around that league for a long time. He's a crafty old warhorse and he knew exactly what buttons to push on his staff and exactly-- I really think that's a case study in energizing a program, right? Like taking a program that was just left lifeless and listless by Chad Morris and Sam Pittman just went in and hit it with a lightning bolt and captured the hearts and minds of those kids and they're rolling. And look, like, who would have thought before the season that Arkansas-Georgia would be one of the five biggest games in the SEC this year?
PAT FORDE: Yeah. Now, let's circle it for next week between the hedges.
PETE THAMEL: Yeah.
