Arkansas, bowl-eligible for the fourth time in five seasons under head coach Sam Pittman, will rekindle an old Southwest Conference rivalry when it faces Simmons in the 2024 AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Friday, Dec. 27, at 6 p.m. on ESPN Texas Tech enters Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee

1 – The Razorbacks will be making their seventh appearance in the Liberty Bowl. dating back to 1971 against Tennessee. The Hogs have played against Auburn (1984), Georgia (1987), East Carolina (2010) and Kansas State (2016). And Kansas (2022) in the team’s six previous appearances. Arkansas has a 3-3 record in its last six Liberty Bowl games.

2 – Friday’s matchup will be the 38th meeting with Texas Tech and the first between the programs in a bowl game. The last time the two teams met on the field was 2015, but the two programs competed every year as members of the Southwest Conference from 1957 to 1991. Arkansas is 29-8 all-time against Texas Tech. It will be the fourth time this season that the Razorbacks will face a former member of the Southwest Conference: Oklahoma State (1915-1925), Texas A&M (1915-1995), Texas (1915-1995), Texas Tech (1956-1995). ).

3 – Head coach Sam Pittman has the Hogs playing in a bowl game for the fourth time in five years and in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl for the second time in his tenure. Arkansas won a three-overtime thriller against Kansas to end the 2022 season. Pittman joins Frank Broyles, Lou Holtz and Ken Hatfield And Houston Nutt was the only Arkansas coach to lead his teams to bowl games in four of his first five seasons.

4 – Arkansas is 5-1 in its last six bowl games and 2-0 under head coach Sam Pittman, with wins in the 2022 Liberty Bowl over Kansas (53-50, 3 OT) and in the 2022 Outback Bowl over Penn State (24- 10). .

5 – Arkansas has completed 231 plays of more than 10 yards this season, ranking second nationally and first in the SEC. The 231 plays of 10 yards are the most in a single season since at least 2015. The Hogs registered 168 plays of 10 yards through He finished 13th in the SEC last season.

6 – QB Taylen Green put up impressive numbers in his first year as a Razorback, finishing in the Arkansas single-season top 10 in pass attempts (7th, 360), pass completions (7th, 219), pass yards (7th, 2,813) and total offensive plays (1st). , 501) and total offense (7th, 3,334 yards).

7 – Arkansas has never lost a bowl game in the Sam Pittman era (2-0), winning the 2022 Outback Bowl against Penn State (24-10) on January 1, 2022 before winning the 2022 Liberty Bowl against Kansas (55th). -53) won (3 AT)). With a win over Texas Tech on Friday, Pittman would become the first Arkansas head coach in program history to win each of his first three bowl games.

8 – The Razorbacks’ streak of 175 consecutive extra points, which began on December 5, 2020, is the third-longest such streak nationally by date, behind Northwestern (October 24, 2020) and Texas A&M (November 7, 2020). ).

9 – Arkansas is 19-8 when rushing for over 200 yards in a game during the Sam Pittman era.

10 – WR Isaac TeSlaa is the Razorbacks’ leading active receiver entering the Autozone Liberty Bowl. In 12 games in 2024, TeSlaa has 25 catches for 438 yards (team-leading 17.5 YPC) and three touchdowns. His 438 yards accounted for 70.9% of the Hogs’ total production.