FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas’ offensive line was among the smallest in the country last season, but that won’t be the case in 2020 and going forward under new head football coach Sam Pittman.

Pittman participated in a Zoom call with beat writers on Tuesday and talked about the offensive line and it’s additional size compared to 2019.

“Well, we’re big right now, You won’t believe it, but we’ve got a pretty good-sized line,” Pittman said. “I mean, they came back, I can say this, their mamas must be pretty good at cooking, because when they left and then came back. And it was quality weight. But right now I’m very pleased with the size of our offensive line.

“Obviously, you know I like big, and we’re certainly going to continue to try to get bigger. The kids that we have certainly have done that. Coach (Jamil) Walker’s put an emphasis on that. Maybe not quite tuning the bigs as much as we normally would at this point. To me, bigger’s better as long as we can move, and that’s what we’re trying to get done right now. But I’ve been really pleased with the size and the way the guys came back.”

He used senior left tackle Myron Cunningham as an example of the added size.

“Well, well Myron Cunningham was about 285-287, and he’s about 319 now, so,” Pittman said. “He needed it. It’s hard to set the bull when you don’t have enough butt to set it with. So, he needed it. I had a nice conversation with him, and I’m thinking he’s going to have a nice season. But he worked hard at gaining that weight and staying in shape.”

Senior running back Rakeem Boyd returns after rushing for 1,133 yards and eight touchdowns on 184 attempts. He also caught 19 passes for 160 yards. Boyd also likes what he has seen from the offensive line.

“Like I said those are my guys up front,” Boyd said. “I’ve been here for two years and it switches every year. This year is the best they’ve ever looked. Look in shape and they’ve communicated. We’ve got workouts the whole group is together game planning, you know what I mean. So as a running back when you see something like that you can’t do nothing but smile because you know what is gonna happen during the season. Those guys are in shape. I’m very proud of them. That’s probably the most impressive group right now. Myron (Cunningham), I would say the O-line and DBs have been the hard working groups.”

Arkansas will open the season on Saturday, Sept. 5, against Nevada.