10 Things To Know – Autozone Liberty Bowl

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

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

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 in 2015, but the two programs faced off annually from 1957 to 1991 as members of the Southwest Conference. Arkansas is 29-8 all-time vs. Texas Tech. It marks the fourth time this season the Razorbacks have faced a former Southwest Conference member: Oklahoma State (1915-1925), Texas A&M (1915-1995), Texas (1915-1995), Texas Tech (1956-1995).

3 – Head Coach Sam Pittman has the Hogs 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 triple-overtime thriller over Kansas to end the 2022 season. Pittman joins Frank Broyles, Lou Holtz, Ken Hatfield and Houston Nutt as the only Arkansas coaches to lead their teams to bowl games in four of their first five seasons.

4 – Arkansas is 5-1 in their 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 the 2022 Outback Bowl against Penn State (24-10).

5 – Arkansas has had 231 plays of 10+ yards from scrimmage 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 throughout last season, ranking 13th in the SEC.

6 – QB Taylen Green has put up impressive numbers during his first year as a Razorback, ranking in the Arkansas Single-Season Top 10 in passing attempts (7th, 360), passing completions (7th, 219), passing yards (7th, 2,813), 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 Jan. 1, 2022, before winning the 2022 Liberty Bowl against Kansas (55-53 [3 OT]). 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’ 175 consecutive extra-points made streak, which began on Dec. 5, 2020, is the third-longest such streak nationally based on date, behind Northwestern (Oct. 24, 2020) and Texas A&M (Nov. 7, 2020).

9 – Arkansas is 19-8 when rushing for 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. Through 12 games in 2024, TeSlaa has 25 catches for 438 yards (team-leading 17.5 ypc) and three touchdowns. His 438 yards make up 70.9% of the Hogs’ total production.