Sam Pittman and the Arkansas Razorbacks looked like they were going to run away with the Liberty Bowl trophy over Kansas on Wednesday night in Memphis.

But the Jayhawks wouldn’t go away. Eventually, the score was tied and overtime was needed. In fact, 3 overtimes were needed before Arkansas ultimately won 55-53.

After the game, Pittman gave credit to the Jayhawks, but added that he’s very proud of his Hogs:

“You know, we did what we had to do at the end of the game,” Pittman said. “We should have put it away 30 minutes ago left in the game. … Give Kansas a lot of credit. They fought their tales off.

“I’ll say this, it ain’t about who we don’t have here. It’s about who we had. This football team said they wanted to play. I know they did. We did too. We’re Autozone Liberty Bowl champs, and I’m damn proud of our football team.”

He went on to say what he told his team ahead of Kansas’s final 2-point conversion attempt:

“I told him to go after him,” Pittman said. “I wanted to go after him. We weren’t being able to man them up. I waned to go put some pressure on them. We got lucky there at the end. We’re Liberty Bowl champs. I’m just excited as I could be.”

Arkansas finished the season with a 7-6 record, while Kansas fell to 6-7 for 2022.