FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Two quarterbacks currently on the opposite ends of the spectrum will face off at Razorback Stadium Saturday night with Tennessee’s undefeated season on the line.

Volunteers’ star quarterback Nico Iamaleava has been on a tear for much of the season as a redshirt freshman completing 61-of-88 passes for 892 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. The 6-foot-6, 215 pound passer has benefited from a dominant run game that averages 290 yards per game which leads the SEC and is No. 4 nationally.

Since starting off white hot against FCS Chattanooga when he passed for 314 yards in the first half, Iamaleava hasn’t been nearly as efficient. He hasn’t passed for more than 211 yards in a game while facing a Razorbacks pass defense ranks No. 9 in league play giving up 224 yards per game.

“[Nico Iamaleava] is really good, mature,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said Monday. “It’s just like Marcel Reed. Reed did what he needed to do. He didn’t turn the football over. I’m not comparing them, I’m saying Nico is that — he does what he needs to do. He’s got a lot of opportunity to shine in his offense, he doesn’t make mistakes and then he does it at a high, high, high level. He’s scary because he’s not going to make mistakes and he’s going to run the offense to a perfection. For a young guy like that, he’s just really impressive.”

Pittman mentioned that Oklahoma coach Brent Venables implemented an impressive game plan that slowed down the Volunteers humming offensive attack. The Sooners’ defense limited Tennessee to 25 points and two touchdowns in Norman two weeks ago after averaging nearly 64 points per game prior.

“I thought it was a great game plan, but as I say, once Tennessee got ahead there, they went primarily to running the football,” Pittman said. “They were ahead. They thought their defense was playing well. I think Oklahoma was struggling a little bit offensively and a lot of that was because Tennessee is really good on defense. Yes, there’s certainly things that we looked at that Coach Venables and his staff that he did there that are intriguing.”

Much of Oklahoma’s game plan was to keep Iamaleava uncomfortable and out of rhythm in the passing game. In 25 pressured dropbacks this season, he has completed only 4-of-11 passes for 37 yards and interception along with five sacks.

The Razorbacks are a disruptive bunch when able to get into the backfield with 10 sacks and 26 tackles for loss. The plan against the Aggies’ Marcel Reed was to keep pressure on him to moderate success finishing with three sacks, but only one hurry.

Arkansas’ quarterback situation isn’t in too good of a spot with Taylen Green’s lack of confidence. Pittman and offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino need to figure out exactly what Green needs or it could be another long night at home.

“I think we’ve had so many pressures that we’ve got a lot of problems, we’ve got a confidence problem,” Pittman said. “We have a quarterback that’s not confident. There’s times when he can stand in the pocket that there is one there. There’s times when he stays in the pocket and he gets hit. So probably in between. And we tried a lot of quick passing game as well.”

There may be an opportunity for Green to have a little more time in the pocket compared to recent weeks as Tennessee doesn’t get to the quarterback as often. The Volunteers front has only recorded seven sacks on the season (No. 15 SEC), but have been active in tackles for loss with 31 (No. 7 SEC).

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The Division of Arkansas Heritage announced the winners of the 2024 Arkansas Food Hall of Fame on Sept. 30 which include two restaurants in Northwest Arkansas.

Finalists announced for 2024 Arkansas Food Hall of Fame

According to a press release, Arkansas residents nominated their favorite restaurants in five categories:

Tusk & Trotter American Brasserie in Bentonville was deemed Proprietor of the Year. Herman’s Ribhouse in Fayetteville won in the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame category.

The full list of winners can be seen below:

Gone But Not Forgotten

Food-Themed Event

Proprietor of the Year

Arkansas Food Hall of Fame

• The Faded Rose (Pulaski County)

• Herman’s Ribhouse (Washington County)

• Doe’s Eat Place (Pulaski County)

People’s Choice

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Arkansas has filed a lawsuit against YouTube and parent company Alphabet, alleging the platform has contributed to a mental health crisis facing the state’s youth.

The lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Tim Griffin in Arkansas state court, accuses YouTube of violating state laws on deceptive trade practices and public nuisance. The state argues that the platform’s addictive nature has forced Arkansas to spend millions of dollars on mental health services for its youth.

The lawsuit also asserts that YouTube exploits children’s dopamine responses by feeding them harmful content. “YouTube amplifies harmful material, doses users with dopamine hits, and drives youth engagement and advertising revenue,” the lawsuit says. “As a result, youth mental health problems have advanced in lockstep with the growth of social media, and in particular, YouTube.”

While the lawsuit does not specify the amount of damages sought, Arkansas is asking the court to require YouTube to fund prevention, education and treatment programs aimed at curbing excessive social media use among children.

In response, Alphabet’s Google denied the lawsuit’s claims, with spokesperson Jose Castaneda saying: “Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work. In collaboration with youth, mental health and parenting experts, we built services and policies to provide young people with age-appropriate experiences, and parents with robust controls. The allegations in this complaint are simply not true.”

The Arkansas lawsuit claims YouTube’s algorithm steers children toward harmful adult content and that the platform facilitates the spread of child sexual abuse material.

According to YouTube, it requires users younger than age 17 to get their parents’ permission before using the site, while accounts for users younger than 13 must be linked to a parental account. However, it is possible to watch YouTube without an account, and kids can easily lie about their age.

Newsweek reached out to YouTube via email for comment on Monday.

Monday’s lawsuit comes after Arkansas also enacted a law requiring parental consent for minors to create new social media accounts, though that measure has been blocked by a federal judge.

The suit is part of a broader movement by state and federal lawmakers to hold social media platforms accountable for their impact on young users. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy this year called for warnings on social media platforms similar to those required on cigarette packaging, highlighting the potential harm to children’s mental health.

Alongside TikTok, YouTube is among the most popular platforms for children and teens, but it has faced criticism for hosting content that promotes gun violence, self-harm and eating disorders.

In response to these ongoing concerns and criticisms, YouTube in June updated its policies to restrict videos showing firearm modifications and homemade weapons, with these videos now limited to users age 18 and older.

This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.