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HawgBeat – Arkansas QB KJ Jefferson enters transfer portal

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HawgBeat  –  Arkansas QB KJ Jefferson enters transfer portal


A former four-star prospect in the class of 2019 according to Rivals, Jefferson has played a huge role in Arkansas’ success after a 4-20 mark from 2018-19 under former head coach Chad Morris. This season, Jefferson racked up 190 completions for 2,107 yards and 19 touchdowns along with 447 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Throughout his career, Jefferson has thrown the ball for 7,923 yards and 67 touchdowns off of 626 completions. He’s also rushed for 1,876 yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground.

Jefferson now holds six records at Arkansas, including pass completions, passing yards, passing touchdowns, total plays, total yards and touchdown responsibility.

According to Pro Football Focus, Jefferson finished the 2023-24 season with an overall grade of 79.4, a pass grade of 72.0 and a run grade of 76.6.

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2023 Manning Award Watch List

2023 Davey O’Brien Award Watch List

2023 Maxwell Award Watch List

2023 Preseason First-Team All-SEC (Athlon)

2023 Preseason Second-Team All-SEC (Coaches, Media, Phil Steele)

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2022 AutoZone Liberty Bowl MVP

2022 Outback Bowl MVP

Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 (Sept. 27 & Oct. 11, 2021)

2020 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll

2022 (REDSHIRT JUNIOR): Posted another career year despite missing a pair of games due to injury as he continues his ascent up numerous all-time lists at Arkansas, starting 11 of the team’s 13 games to enter the season with 26 career starts … Passed for 2,648 yards and 24 touchdowns with five interceptions, completing 204-of-300 passes to go with 640 yards rushing and nine touchdowns on 158 carries … Completed 68.0% of his passes, surpassing his 2021 percentage (67.3%) for second all-time at Arkansas … Passed for at least one touchdown in each of his 11 starts, including multiple TDs in eight games with a career-high five at BYU (Oct. 16) … Ran for a touchdown in each of the first games of the season and added a pair of two TD games on the ground against Auburn (Oct. 29) and Kansas (Dec. 28) … Sits inside Arkansas’ all-time Top 10 in completions (436 – 7th), yards (5,816 – 7th), touchdown passes (48 – 6th), 300-yard passing games (5 – 3rd), total plays (1,028 – 6th), total yards (7,245 – 5th) and touchdown responsibility (67 – 4th) … Led team to season-opening win over Cincinnati (Sept. 3) going 18-for-26 for 223 yards and three scores to go with 62 yards rushing and another score … Went an efficient 18-for-21 for 162 yards and a score through the air in victory vs. South Carolina (Sept. 10) with an additional score on the ground with 67 yards rushing … Passed for a career-high 385 yards on 19-of-31 passing in win over Missouri State (Sept. 17) with a touchdown pass and one rushing TD with 40 yards on nine carries … Topped 100 yards rushing for the first time with 105 on 18 carries vs. Texas A&M (Sept. 24), passing for two touchdowns and 171 yards on 12-of-19 … Tossed one TD on 13-of-24 for 155 yards vs. Alabama (Oct. 1) … Set career-bests with five touchdown passes, 29 completions and 40 attempts with his fifth career 300-yard game going for 367 yards … Five TD passes equaled third-most in a single game in school history and most since Brandon Allen’s school record seven in 2015 … Ran for a pair of scores and passed for a third in victory at Auburn going 16-for-24 with 234 yards passing and 45 yards rushing on 10 carries … Played hurt vs. Liberty (Nov. 5) going 23-for-37 for 234 yards with one touchdown and a career-high two interceptions … Threw three touchdown passes in win over Ole Miss (Nov. 19) and ran for 47 yards, passed for 168 yards on 17-of-22 … Recorded his third straight game with 2+ touchdown passes with two at Missouri (Nov. 25), going 20-for-27 for 212 yards with 38 yards rushing and a touchdown … Named AutoZone Liberty Bowl MVP after accounting for four total touchdowns (two rushing, two passing) and 417 total yards, including a career-high 130 yards rushing … Passed for 287 yards on 19-of-29 on his way to earning his second straight bowl game MVP and leading Arkansas to their second consecutive bowl victory.

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2021 (REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE): Started all 13 games at quarterback, completing 198-of-294 (67.3%) passes for 2,676 yards and 21 touchdowns … Rushed for a team-leading 664 yards on 146 carries (4.5 ypc) with six scores on the ground … His 2,676 passing yards rank ninth most in a single season in program history … Wrote his name in the Arkansas record book in numerous places: season completions (198 – 8th), game completion percentage minimum 20 passes (.826 – 3rd), season completion percentage (.673 – 2nd), season passing yards (2,676 – 7th), game touchdown passes (4 – T8th), season TD passes (21 – 7th) … Finished the year third in the SEC in average yards per completion (13.5) and in yards per pass attempt (9.1), ranking fourth in the league and 10th among all FBS quarterbacks in passing efficiency (164.7) … Also ranked fourth in the league in completion percentage (67.3%), the second-best mark in a single season in Arkansas history … Owns the highest single-season completion percentage in school history when attempting at least 250 passes … Finished sixth in the SEC in total offense, generating 256.9 total yards of offense per game … Finished the season as one of five FBS quarterbacks to total 20 or more touchdown passes with four or fewer interceptions … One of eight FBS quarterbacks with 2,500+ passing yards, 20+ passing touchdowns, 500+ rushing yards and 5+ rushing scores on the season … Totaled three games with 300+ passing yards and at least three touchdown passes, becoming the first Arkansas signal-caller to do so since Brandon Allen in 2015 … His three 300+ yard passing games were the most for an Arkansas QB since Austin Allen produced four in 2016 … First Razorback quarterback to have multiple games with at least two rushing touchdowns in the same season since 1997 … Threw only four interceptions on the year and completed 171 consecutive passes without an interception, the second-longest streak in program history … Totaled 89 yards on the ground with two rushing touchdowns in the season opener against Rice (Sept. 4), also threw for 128 yards and a touchdown on 12-of-21 (57.1%) passing … First Arkansas player to run for at least two touchdowns and throw for a touchdown in a game since Rawleigh Williams did so against Mississippi State in 2014 … Broke out for a career-high 366 passing yards and three touchdowns on 13 completions against Georgia Southern (Sept. 18), becoming only the fifth FBS quarterback since 2000 to throw for over 365 yards on 13 or fewer completions … Hooked up with WR Treylon Burks for a 91-yard touchdown against Georgia Southern, the second longest touchdown pass in school history … Completed 25-of-35 (71.4%) passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 85 yards and three scores in an epic performance at Ole Miss (Oct. 9) accounting for six touchdowns (3 passing, 3 rushing), the second most in program history … Became one of only six SEC signal-callers since 2000 to have thrown for 3+ touchdowns and rushed for 3+ scores in a game, joining Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel, Mississippi State QB Dak Prescott, Ole Miss QB Chad Kelly, LSU QB Joe Burrow and Ole Miss QB Matt Corral … Threw for a career-best four touchdowns against UAPB (Oct. 23), completing a career-high 82.6% of his passes (19-of-23), the third-highest single-game completion percentage in school history (minimum of 20 attempts), for 191 yards and a touchdown against Mississippi State (Nov. 6) … Connected on 14-of-19 (73.7%) passes for 98 yards against Penn State (Jan. 1) in the Outback Bowl with a career-best 110 yards rushing and a touchdown on 20 carries, becoming the first Arkansas quarterback to rush for over 100 yards in a game since Matt Jones totaled 126 yards on the ground against Ole Miss in 2004 … Earned Outback Bowl MVP honors for his performance, leading Arkansas to its first bowl game win since the 2016 Liberty Bowl and its first New Year’s Day bowl game win since the 2000 Cotton Bowl … Helped power the Razorbacks to a nine-win season, their most wins in a year since 2011 (10 wins).

2020 (REDSHIRT FRESHMAN): Played in five games, making one start … Completed 20-of-41 (48.8%) passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns … Rushed 28 times for 67 yards (2.4 ypc) and scored two touchdowns … Saw first action of the season in the second half of the season opener against Georgia (Sept. 26), playing nine snaps and completing 1-of-2 passes for three yards and rushing for 16 yards … Played two snaps at Mississippi State (Oct. 3) rushing twice … Scored first rushing touchdown of the season on a 12-yard run in the fourth quarter at Florida (Nov. 14), seeing action in nine snaps … Made his first start of the year and set multiple career marks, completing 18-of-33 passes for 274 yards with three touchdowns and also ran 13 times for 32 yards and a touchdown at Missouri (Dec. 5) … Completed his first career touchdown pass in the first quarter, a 2-yard completion to tight end Blake Kern … Hooked up with wide receiver Treylon Burks for a 68-yard touchdown pass, the longest throw of his career … Registered the most passing yards by a Razorback freshman quarterback since 2008 … Became the first Arkansas quarterback since 2010 to throw for at least 270 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for a score … First Razorback quarterback to throw for two or more touchdowns and rush for a score in SEC play since 2017 … Engineered an offense that posted 566 total yards, Arkansas’ highest total since 2016 … Played a career-high 87 snaps … Played 21 snaps coming off the bench in the season finale against Alabama (Dec. 12), completing 1-of-6 passes for 18 yards and rushing six times for 11 yards … According to Pro Football Focus, played 128 snaps and received a 57.1 passing grade.

2019 (FRESHMAN): Played in three games, starting one, as a true freshman for the Razorbacks in 2019 … Appeared in games against Mississippi State (Nov. 2) and Western Kentucky (Nov. 9), before making his first collegiate start at LSU on Nov. 23 … Made his debut against the Bulldogs and immediately made his presence known, rushing for 21 yards on his first snap … After a 32-yard pass to Treylon Burks, Jefferson completed his first collegiate drive (four plays, 75 yards) with a five-yard touchdown run … Saw 40 snaps against WKU, throwing for 60 yards on 6-of-15 passing, while rushing for 32 yards on 16 carries, scoring on a two-yard run … Started against the top-ranked Tigers, going 7-of-14 for 105 yards passing in Baton Rouge … First 100-yard passing game by an Arkansas QB since Oct. 19 against Auburn.

HIGH SCHOOL: Four-star prospect by Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN … Rated as the fourth-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the country by 247Sports … Slotted as the 12th overall player in the state of Mississippi by Rivals … Placed in the Rivals Top 250 at No. 248 … Four-year varsity letterwinner in football and basketball at North Panola High School in Sardis, Mississippi … Helped the Cougars to the Mississippi state 3A semifinals, finishing the 2018 campaign with a 12-2 overall record … Racked up 3,180 yards through the air on 166 of 275 passing in 14 games for a .604 completion percentage … Averaged 227.1 yards per game, 19.2 per reception, with 37 passing touchdowns … Second on the team in rushing by 40 yards, carrying the ball 115 times for 916 yards and seven touchdowns … Played in the 2018 Alabama vs. Mississippi All-Star Game on Dec. 17 and set to play for USA Football in the 2019 International Bowl … Back-to-back years throwing for 3,000+ yards, also doing so in 2017 … Totaled 3,028 yards on 150 of 236 passing as the starting QB for the Cougars as a junior … Tossed 36 touchdowns and three interceptions for a .636 completion percentage, averaging 216.3 yards per game … Had a career year on the ground, rushing for 1,325 yards on 139 carries, scoring eight times with six games over 100 yards rushing … Dropped the state semifinal game, completing 2017 with a 13-1 mark … Completed his high school career with 40 wins, 9,582 passing yards, 2,922 rushing yards and 143 total touchdowns, including 119 passing … CHOSE ARKANSAS OVER: Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Baylor and others.

PERSONAL: Kenneth Dewayne Jefferson Jr. … Has two dogs: Apollo and GiGi … Enjoys shopping, shoes and cars … Born May 20, 2001 … Son of Katorie and James Moore … Has one sibling, Jakaelyn.

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Arkansas

Topping out ceremony for new $33.9 million Arkansas Tech University Ferguson Student Union set for Tuesday in Russellville | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

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Topping out ceremony for new .9 million Arkansas Tech University Ferguson Student Union set for Tuesday in Russellville | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette


RUSSELLVILLE — Arkansas Tech University and Kinco Constructors will host a topping out ceremony for the $33.9 million Ferguson Student Union at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Attendance will be open to the public. Those in attendance will have an opportunity to sign the final steel beam before it is put in place atop the facility. Refreshments will be served in Chambers Cafeteria West Dining Room following the ceremony.

Construction on Ferguson Student Union on its Russellville campus began last year after the ATU Board of Trustees accepted the guaranteed maximum price for building the facility during its meeting on June 20.

Kinco Constructors submitted a final price of $33,946,865 for the project. That figure includes the cost of demolishing the Administration Building and Tomlinson Hall, constructing Ferguson Student Union and parking lot development on the south side of the new building

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Parking for the event will be in the lot between Rothwell Hall and Doc Bryan Student Services Center with overflow in the Tucker Coliseum parking lot. Golf cart shuttles to and from the ceremony site will be available.

Those unable to attend the ceremony who wish to sign the steel beam may do so from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday and beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday through the ceremony at 2 p.m. that afternoon. The beam will be located on the east side of the construction site near Rothwell Hall and Dr. Robert Charles Brown and Jill Lestage Brown Hall.

Construction of Ferguson Student Union began in July 2024 and is scheduled to be complete in early 2026.

Located on the parcel of land between Chambers Cafeteria and the Hull Physical Education Building, Ferguson Student Union is named for ATU benefactors Cindi and Jimmy Ferguson.

Ferguson Student Union will provide student meeting spaces, lounge spaces for students to enjoy during their free time, fast casual dining, an e-sports gaming lab, basketball courts, a location to check out outdoor recreation gear and workout areas for cardiovascular and strength fitness training.

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Get to know: Arkansas O-line signee Bubba Craig | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

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Get to know: Arkansas O-line signee Bubba Craig | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette


Arkansas offensive line signee Bubba Craig is expected to report Fayetteville this weekend for the spring semester. 

Craig, 6-6 and 315 pounds, of Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College picked the Hogs over Temple, Liberty, Texas -San Antonio and others. 

On3.com industry ranking list him the No. 1 interior offensive lineman and No. 23 overall junior college prospect. 

Nickname: Bubba 

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Favorite thing about playing on the O-line: Moving people 

Football has taught me: Patience 

My parents stay on me to: Be great at whatever I do 

My favorite childhood memory: Building a fort in my yard. It fell over because I was like 10 years old and my siblings and I didn’t know we were doing but ut was still cool.



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How Arkansas addressed receiver position in transfer portal

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How Arkansas addressed receiver position in transfer portal


How Arkansas addressed receiver position in transfer portal

Arkansas offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino lost plenty of production in the passing game to the transfer portal and NFL Draft following the 2024 season.

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With starting quarterback Taylen Green set to return for a second season in Fayetteville, the Hogs had to find the 6-foot-6 passer some new weapons. Star receiver Andrew Armstrong is on his way to the NFL, veterans Isaac TeSlaa and Tyrone Broden are out of eligibility, and speedster Isaiah Sategna transferred to Oklahoma.

Along with those departures, younger prospects Dazmin James and Davion Dozier also elected to hit the portal, which left plenty of recruiting for Petrino, receivers coach Ronnie Fouch and head coach Sam Pittman.

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Armstrong led all Southeastern Conference players with 78 receptions for 1,140 receiving yards in the regular season, but it was really a one-man show with him all season.

TeSlaa added 545 receiving yards and Sategna was second on the team with 37 catches. At 6-foot-7, Broden could never break through as a true difference maker, as he caught just 15 passes for 197 yards and barely played late in the year.

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Of the players the Hogs are set to return at wide receiver — Jordan Anthony, CJ Brown, Krosse Johnson, Bryce Stephens, Monte Harrison and Shamar Easter (moved from tight end to receiver for Liberty Bowl) — the production from 2024 only combined for a total 18 receptions, 243 yards and one touchdown.

Incoming freshmen such as Warren (Ark.) product Antonio Jordan and Missouri City (Tx.) four-star Ja’Kayden Ferguson are intriguing prospects, but it was clear the Hogs needed to add talent in the transfer portal.

So far, the Razorbacks have signed five transfer portal wide receivers. Three of them put together very solid seasons in 2024 for their respective programs, while one — former four-star and Pine Bluff native Courtney Crutchfield — redshirted and the fifth, Ismael Cisse, was a contributor at Stanford.

Arkansas Wide Receiver Production

Note: Courtney Crutchfield is not part of the table, as he did not record any statistics in 2024.

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O’Mega Blake (6-foot-2, 180 lbs) began his career at South Carolina, where he spent three seasons and caught 20 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns. At Charlotte in 2024, Blake caught five passes for 205 yards and three scores in the Nov. 23 win over Florida Atlantic.

Hailing from Fresno State, Raylen Sharpe (5-foot-9, 165 lbs) is very familiar with Petrino. Sharpe spent 2022-23 at Missouri State, where Petrino was head coach from 2020-22. Sharpe caught 73 passes for 991 yards and seven touchdowns at Missouri State in 2023.

Kam Shanks (5-foot-8, 180 lbs) will more-than-likely be the favorite to return punts after leading the nation with 329 punt return yards and two punt return touchdowns this season. Shanks caught five passes for 31 yards and one score in the Sept. 14 loss at Arkansas.

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After being committed to Arkansas for nearly seven months out of high school, Courtney Crutchfield signed with Missouri and redshirted after appearing in just two games in 2024. He was rated by Rivals as the No. 2 overall recruit and No. 1 wide receiver in the state of Arkansas in the 2024 recruiting class.

The latest addition to the class, Cisse signed with the Razorbacks on Monday evening following a visit over the weekend. He logged 381 snaps as a freshman in 2024, per Pro Football Focus. Cisse is a former three-star recruit out of Cherry Creek High School in Englewood, Colorado.

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