Arkansas' upset of No. 4 Tennessee a signature moment for coach Sam Pittman: Will it curb the in-fighting?

Pittman did not seem to care if Saturday's win changed the way Arkansas fans felt about him, instead deflecting their praise to his staff and players

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas -- Their voices reverberated beyond the hills of the Boston Mountains, echoing with a distinctive Arkansas twang. For the first time in a long time, a close call transformed into a Hog Call.

Two years of pain and anguish -- and close losses -- compounded a proud program's in-fighting among the fan base, and on Saturday night they finally let out their frustrations with cheers of jubilation. The scoreboard said it all: Arkansas 19, No. 4 Tennessee 14. 

"When it was over, I was thinking about how proud the state of Arkansas is for their football team," Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. "It's not the reason I took the job, but it's one of the top reasons I came here. I wanted to make the state proud of the team."

In a state where the result of a college football game is the primary topic of conversation the entire work week, Razorback fans had grown tired of cheering for toughness and grit in the wake of the inevitable follies -- untimely penalties and multiple turnovers -- leading to another heartbreaking loss. 

Embattled head coach Sam Pittman entered Week 6 with a 2-11 record in one-score games since 2022, and fans outwardly wondered on call-in shows and message boards whether he should be fired before the end of his fifth season leading the program. Setbacks to nationally-ranked Oklahoma State and Texas A&M (both one-score games they led late) pushed the fandom to their breaking point, and late on Saturday night in Fayetteville, they grew restless again as an early lead flipped into a double-digit deficit. They booed. There was indignation.

This time, however, the Razorbacks (4-2, 2-1 SEC) stormed back, and over, the Volunteers (4-1, 1-1). Starting quarterback Taylen Green, who helped produce nearly 300 yards of offense through three quarters, injured his knee and left the field in pain. As he walked to the locker room with the Hogs trailing 14-10, he yelled to teammates: "Finish it!" 

"We just want to make this state proud," Green said as he mingled with fans on the field after the win.

The Hogs' defense did just that, as they had all night, setting up the Hogs' offense for a last call with a pair of backups in the backfield.

Backup quarterback Malachi Singleton hit Isaiah Sategna on a flare screen for a 13-yard gain. Braylen Russell, replacing Ja'Quinden Jackson because of cramps, then ran for 24 and 11 yards. Singleton finished it off with an 11-yard touchdown run with 77 seconds remaining, the Vols saying they let him score to give their erstwhile high-powered offense an opportunity. The Arkansas defense did the rest, forcing quarterback Nico Iamaleava to run for his life several times, including as time expired on fourth down at the Hogs' 25-yard line.

"I love Sam Pittman," Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek told CBS Sports as Razorback fans stormed the field at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. "He gets a lot of crap but that guy is a hell of a football coach. He needs to get some credit for tonight's win."

Pittman's "aww shucks" attitude after wins and losses shines through the muck each week. A beer drinker and a blue-collar offensive line coach by trade, his downhome act soured some in the state as the losses piled up. He heard their calls, too. The Natural State, he said, was "veering" off course.

"Hey, are they going to fire the coach?" Pittman said, recounting likely conversations. "You going to do this?  When the hell are we getting this guy out of here? All that stuff. I think, maybe, it'll unite the state a little bit in saying, 'Hey, these are our guys. Let's go back them like they did tonight.'"

The Hogs have shown flashes of brilliance this season, whether it was exploding to a double-digit lead at Oklahoma State or leading Texas A&M. Turnovers, however, had reversed those advantages. The Hogs seemed good enough to win, but ranking 109th with nine turnovers was their death knell in September. 

They again looked the part of a competent team offensively and defensively Saturday night, out-gaining the nation's No. 1 offense with 434 yards compared to the Vols' 332. The key: no turnovers, a first this season.

The performance was much like their previous showings, which ended in losses, but with a new twist. Arkansas defensive coordinator Travis WIlliams, a rising star in the industry, studied film of the Vols' 25-15 win at Oklahoma with intent and noticed a wrinkle that stymied the Vols' passing attack. He gathered his unit Monday and told them they had four days to learn a new package: a 3-2-6 alignment that they had never practiced. The staff installed four plays in that package, and the Hogs ran it on 60% of their snaps against Tennessee, Williams told CBS Sports.

The defense stood tall, limiting the highest-scoring offense in the country (54) to two touchdowns. It wasn't that Tennessee was just a monster, the Vols had bludgeoned everybody, out-scoring opponents 216-28. Arkansas held them scoreless in the first half for the first time in five years as the Vols were held to only 76 yards, the lowest output of Tennessee coach Josh Heupel's tenure.

The big key Saturday? Arkansas' offense was able to rally against the nation's No. 1 defense, and they did so without committing a turnover for the first time this fall.

"These guys are happy, they're not surprised," Pittman said. "If we have the same amount of turnovers, we can play with anybody. The two games we lost to this point we had more turnovers than what we got."

The Hogs had lost 10 of their last 11 one-score games against top-10 teams. They hadn't beaten a top five team here since 1999, when the Hogs avenged a gut-wrenching loss to Tennessee in 1998. That game, known in Fayetteville  as the "Stoernover" for a late fumble by Arkansas quarterback Clint Stoerner, derailed an undefeated record for the Hogs and set the Vols on course for a national title.

Fitting, perhaps, that 25 years later the Razorbacks dented the Vols' title hopes even as the noise within Arkansas' own borders grew louder around Pittman. Outside Razorback Stadium before the game, a fan donned a red sweatshirt. The message wasn't supportive of the Hogs, but it reflected the fan base's uneasiness and growing cynicism after so many close calls over the years.

"We almost always almost win," the message read. "Arkansas football."

"Our team is something I've never seen as a team: together," Arkansas receiver Andrew Armstrong said. "Even after the close losses that we had previous to this game, the team never just put their head down. They never said, 'Oh, the season is over.'"

For now, Pittman has his respect -- and a big win -- to help set his program back on course. Alerted that his boss had called for fans immediately after the win to support the Head Hog, Pittman again deflected the attention and flashed his "aww shucks" attitude.

"Well, I hope they'll give our staff and our players respect. That's all I give a shit about, to be honest with you," he told CBS Sports. "I'm gonna be fine, one way or the other, but I just want respect for our coaches and our team -- and they got it. They earned it."