FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — There’s little doubt Jerry Jones and his family have had a close relationship with the University of Arkansas and its athletics program.

The Dallas Cowboys owner has routinely appeared at games, including this past weekend against Texas, contributed to facilities and provided a home in the DFW Metroplex for the annual Southwest Classic game against Texas A&M. However, the relationship may not be as involved as Razorbacks fans imagine and isn’t necessarily one that will continue with the family into perpetuity.

Cowboys executive Stephen Jones, son of the infamous former Razorback, closed out his regulariinterview with 105.3 The Fan in Dallas with the K&C Masterpiece by answering a question many Arkansas fans have pondered, and in many cases, assumed was possible.

“Have you ever thought about tipping the scales on that rivalry and pumping all the NIL money into Arkansas and really just making this a no contest?” the host asked in regard to the renewed series against Texas in the SEC.

It’s an argument made on many message boards that is sometimes used as a reason against keeping Arkansas coach Sam Pittman. Certain fans just assume if a more high profile coach were brought in, then it would persuade the elder Jones to dip into his ever growing bank account and toss his spare millions into the Razorbacks’ NIL pot to purchase a dream season or two.

Unfortunately, according to Stephen Jones, that’s not going to happen. As in, never, ever going to happen.

“Well, we’ve got our own payroll, as you know, keeps us busy, and I don’t know that we need to add an NIL to it,” Jones said. “The other thing is, the NFL certainly has rules on the football side of things that really keep a finger on what an NFL owner can do in terms of NIL, which, of course, as you know, would make sense. You’ve got to come through college to the NFL. They keep a close eye on that and it’s really difficult to get involved in in that aspect of it as an NFL owner.”

As far as the idea the Jones family is strictly a Razorbacks family, it may have once been, but it’s now a divided home, which was on display this past weekend. As the years have gone by, the percentage of Texas fans in the household has increased.

“I think [Arkansas] had some opportunities late and some momentum, but didn’t quite work out for my Hogs this time,” Jones said. “But I’ve got a lot of family members, including three of my daughters, who are Longhorns, and so we’ve got a little split family going on here. But hats off to the Longhorns and wish them nothing but the best as they move forward and have a shot to pursue a national championship.”

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The No. 20 Arkansas Razorbacks (3-1, 0-0 SEC) took care of business down the stretch in a 91-72 win over the Pacific Tigers (3-3, 0-0 WCC) on Monday night.

The final score doesn’t necessarily indicate how close the game was. With just under 13 minutes to go in the game, the Razorbacks were in the middle of a dogfight and only up 59-57 after Pacific had scored five straight points.

Arkansas’ defense was able to suffocate the Tigers down the stretch though, as Pacific only made two of its last 16 field goals in the game and the Hogs were able to pull away with the win.

Here’s some of HawgBeat’s takeaways from what ended up being a much tighter contest than expected on Monday night…

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas is in the same position it was last year. Sam Pittman opted not to bring in anyone of note to supplement the existing receivers on the roster. Monte Harrison and Jordan Anthony, the two biggest offseason acquisitions have a combined 140 yards on the season.

Despite Arkansas ranking fifth in the SEC in passing yards (2,780), it is part of a larger mirage for the offense running up the score against subpar FBS defenses.

Perhaps even more concerning, Arkansas has left one of the best receivers in the country on an island to fend for himself. Andrew Armstrong ranks second in the SEC in both yards (931) and catches (61). Both also rank top-25 nationally.

Armstrong accounts for 33.5% of Arkansas’ receiving yards, the most of any SEC schools for a single receiver other than Dane Key of the Kentucky Wildcats. The Wildcats have just 1,834 passing yards as a team.

Isaiah Sategna, currently second on the Hogs in receiving, falls short of half of Armstrong’s production at 431 yards. Isaac TeSlaa just reached exactly half of his catch total from last year (17) with his lone catch for 7 yards against the Texas Longhorns.

Even tight end Luke Hasz has been held to just 278 yards through 10 games after putting up 253 yards as a true freshman in four games plus a drive before suffering a season-ending injury. Only one other tight end on the team has 25 yards receiving and he’s not even on the team anymore (Ty Washington).

Tyrone Broden, a breakout star in camp, lags even further behind at just 15 catches for 197 yards.

Pittman believes the poor wide receiver play is starting to have spillover effects for Taylen Green and his decision making with the football.

“We had a couple of missed routes that Taylen had to hold the football because we weren’t running the right route,” Pittman said. “Then we got whipped on the edge a couple times.”

Arkansas will look for just its second 100-yard performance from a receiver not named Armstrong of the season against Louisiana Tech. TeSlaa had 120 yards against Texas A&M, 75 of which came on one catch early in the game.

Kickoff between the Razorbacks and Louisiana Tech is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday. The game will be streamed on SEC+.

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• Razorbacks can see against CFP contenders where they stand

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