December 8, 2024 at 8:20 p.m.
by Matt Jones
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas football team will play Texas Tech at the Liberty Bowl at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis on Dec. 27.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the game will be televised by ESPN.
It will be the Razorbacks’ seventh time to play at the Liberty Bowl and second time in three seasons. Arkansas defeated Kansas 55-53 in triple overtime at the Liberty Bowl in 2022.
Arkansas has an all-time Liberty Bowl record of 3-3. Texas Tech won its only game at the Liberty Bowl in 2021, a 34-7 victory over Mississippi State.
“This is one we pushed for,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said of playing at the Liberty Bowl. “We wanted to go there.
“We had a great experience the last time we were there.”
The Razorbacks (6-6, 3-5 SEC) and the Red Raiders (8-4, 6-3 Big 12), former Southwest Conference members, will meet at a bowl game for the first time. Arkansas leads the all-time series 29-8.
The teams last played in 2015 when Texas Tech, led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, won 35-24 in Fayetteville. Arkansas won 49-28 in Lubbock, Texas, in 2014.
Arkansas also is scheduled to play Texas Tech in future seasons — in Lubbock in 2030 and in Fayetteville in 2031.
“We were together, teammates in the Southwest Conference and played every year from 1957 to 1991,” Texas Tech athletics director Kirby Hocutt said.
The Red Raiders and the Razorbacks share one common opponent, Oklahoma State, which defeated Arkansas 39-31 in double overtime on Sept. 7 and lost 56-48 to Texas Tech on Nov. 23. Both games were played in Stillwater, Okla.
Arkansas will play in a bowl game for the third time in five seasons under Pittman. The Razorbacks defeated Penn State 24-10 at the Outback Bowl to end the 2021 season and won the Liberty Bowl the following year.
Pittman’s first team also qualified for the 2020 Texas Bowl with a 3-7 record, but the game was canceled.
Texas Tech is in its third season under coach Joey McGuire, who led the Red Raiders to bowl wins the previous two seasons. McGuire has a 23-15 record at Texas Tech.
Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium is home to the Memphis football team, and the Razorbacks are scheduled to play the Tigers there next season.
Arkansas has played 26 games in the city of Memphis, dating to 1907. The Razorbacks have a 13-13 record in the city, with five consecutive wins dating 1995.
Pittman said his team will bus to the bowl game, which will be played approximately 320 miles from campus.
“College athletics is still about moms and dads being able to get to the games, being able to see their sons play,” Pittman said. “and we think [the bowl in Memphis] will allow that to happen.”
Correction: This is the Razorbacks’ seventh time to play at the Liberty Bowl. A previous version was incorrect.
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