The Arkansas Razorbacks will take the field for the 2023 college football season in 37 days, when Western Carolina will visit War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock on Saturday, September 2 for a 3 p.m. CT kickoff.
Here at HawgBeat, we will count down the days until head coach Sam Pittman and his team run through the “A” for the first time.
With 37 days remaining, we will take a look at a current player, former player, some interesting scores, highlights and other miscellaneous things in Razorback history tied to the number 37.
Arkansas punter Devin Bale traveled a long way to get to Fayetteville. After attending La Jolla High School in California, the 6-foot-3 punter enrolled into Northern Colorado. His freshman season, he averaged 41.3 yards per punt — good for 27th nationally. Bale’s best punt that season was against Sacramento State, which he booted an 84-yarder against.
As a sophomore in 2022, Bale added kickoff duties to his role. On 41 kickoffs, 32 were touchbacks. Bale averaged 41.1 yards per punt with a long of 56 against Montana State and Northern Arizona.
Now a junior, Bale will compete for the starting punter job alongside returning sophomore Max Fletcher. He could also challenge junior kicker Cam Little for kickoff duties.
Wayne Martin: 37 career tackles for loss
Gerald Wayne Martin played football for the Razorbacks from 1985-88. A native of Forrest City, Martin attended Cross Country High School in Cherry Valley. As a senior, he led his team to an undefeated record.
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In four seasons in Fayetteville, Martin totaled 37 tackles for loss — tied for fourth best in a career in Arkansas football history. The 6-foot-5 defensive end also recorded 25.5 sacks in his collegiate career, which ranks No. 1 all-time in Razorback history.
The First Team All-Southwest Conference and All-American was apart of a 1988 Arkansas team that won the Southwest Conference championship.
Martin was drafted No. 19 overall in the first round by the New Orleans Saints in the 1989 NFL Draft. In 11 seasons with the Saints, he only missed one game and accumulated 596 tackles, 82.5 sacks and 12 forced fumbles.
In 2003, Martin was inducted into the New Orleans Saint Hall of Fame.
1978: Arkansas 37 – Rice 7
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The No. 17 Arkansas Razorbacks took on the Rice Owls on Nov. 4, 1978 in Fayetteville. Heading into the game, Arkansas sat at 4-2 overall and Rice was 1-6 overall.
Head coach Lou Holtz was in his second season at Arkansas and he was coming off a 1977 season that saw the Razorbacks finish 11-1 overall.
On the opening drive, quarterback Ron Calcagni drove in a rushing touchdown on fourth down from the 1-yard line. On Rice’s opening possession, Razorback defensive lineman Jimmy Walker sacked the opposing quarterback in Arkansas territory.
After taking a 15-0 halftime lead, Arkansas running back Ben Cowins took a read option pitch 19 yards for a first down to set up running back Michael Forrest for a walk-in touchdown.
The Razorbacks blew the game open with another touchdown and a safety, and eventually won the game, 37-7.
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Former Player: #37 Lamar McHan
Clarence Lamar McHan remains the highest draft pick in Arkansas football history, as he was selected No. 2 overall in the 1954 NFL Draft by the Chicago Cardinals.
A native of Lake Village, McHan graduated from Lakeside High School and enrolled at Arkansas in 1951. The 6-foot-1 quarterback earned All-Southwest Conference honors in all three seasons he played at Arkansas.
Following his collegiate career, McHan moved around multiple NFL teams, including the Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Colts and San Francisco 49ers. After retiring from football, McHan became an assistant coach at Northern Arizona. He worked his way back into the NFL as part of the coaching staff for the New Orleans Saints, who he coached until 1984.
2018: Ole Miss 37 – Arkansas 33
Ah, the Chad Morris era — something that Razorback fans would love to forget. While it may not be enjoyable, it’s important to revisit these games to remember where the program stands now under Sam Pittman.
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The 1-5 overall Razorbacks took on the 4-2 overall Rebels at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock during the 2018 season.
After Arkansas took an early 27-10 lead, Ole Miss continued to work its way back in the game. Down 33-24 in the fourth quarter, the Rebels scored a touchdown to bring it within two.
After forcing an Arkansas punt, Ole Miss had to start within its own 5-yard line with under two minutes to go. Fortunately for the Rebels, Arkansas’ defense was non-existent. With 42 seconds left, Ole Miss running back Scottie Phillips drove in a touchdown to take a 37-33 lead.
On its final possession, Arkansas finished the game with a Cole Kelley interception to move the Razorbacks further into the depths of the SEC West.
1980: 37 first downs against TCU
In 1980, the Arkansas football team had an average offense (50th in the country) and was mediocre overall. But against TCU early in the season, the floodgates opened.
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Sitting at 2-1 overall and No. 14 in the nation, the Razorbacks beat their Southwest Conference foe 44-7, accumulating 37 first downs in the process — the most in a single game in school history.
**JOIN THE CONVERSATION WITH ARKANSAS FANS ON THE TROUGH, HAWGBEAT’S PREMIUM MESSAGE BOARD**
On a bitter afternoon in Kansas City, Missouri, the No. 19 Arkansas Razorbacks (5-2) were defeated by the Illinois Fighting Illini (6-1), 90-77, inside the T-Mobile Center.
Right out of the gates, Arkansas’ lack of physicality and focus was noticable. Not only did that result in 11 total turnovers throughout the contest, but the Razorbacks couldn’t stop the Illini from finishing white-hot from distance (15-of-31 from three), either.
Leading the Hogs was forward Adou Thiero, who racked up 26 points, six rebounds, an assist and a steal. 12 of his points came from the charity stripe, where he shot 21 attempts in total.
Below are social media reactions from fans and media throughout the Hoop Hogs’ non-conference loss:
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -— If Taylen Green and Luke Hasz needed more motivation going into his first Battle Line Rivalry game this Saturday, then being ticked off at Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz for blatantly butchering their names should do it.
Green’s name isn’t hard to pronounce given it sounds just like it looks Tay-Len, not Tal-On as Drinkwitz said. It’s obvious that Missouri’s coach knows exactly what he’s doing given his antics over the previous four seasons that get under other SEC fanbase’s and coaches skin.
The Boise State transfer has shown himself to be a playmaker when he can take care of the ball. Green has recorded 3,052 yards of total offense and 20 touchdowns this season and could make a statement with a clean performance and victory at Missouri.
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Not seen in the short clip is a few seconds later Drinkwitz saying Luke Hasz’ name as “Halls” which is totally off and a pronunciation most haven’t heard. It’s the small things like this which Missouri’s coach is allowed to get away with by most conference members.
Nearly 20 years ago, former LSU coach Les Miles had an infamous press conference as he was being courted by Michigan to be its next coach in 2007. The Tigers were No. 1 in the nation with a 10-1 record overall going up against 7-4 Arkansas.
As he was being asked about the Michigan noise, Miles assured media and fans that he was focused as LSU’s head coach and playing its rival “Ar-Kansas” that Black Friday.
Arkansas coach Houston Nutt used the soundbite above as motivation for his team that day as the Razorbacks pulled out a memorable 50-48 triple overtime victory which was thought to end LSU’s title hopes. Two-time Heisman runner up Darren McFadden had one of his finest performances in one of the Hogs’ greatest wins in program history with 206 yards rushing and four total touchdowns.
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Immediately after the game, Nutt and McFadden met with CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson to celebrate their monumental upset. The Razorbacks’ coach embraced his star running back and proclaimed him as the best player in the country. The proud Little Rock native responded with a correction of Miles stating “It ain’t Ar-Kansas, it’s Arkansas, baby!”
For the sake of talking about one of the most memorable Arkansas games of all-time, it would be shameful to not at least include highlights of McFadden’s epic performance. That game ended an era as Nutt resigned and moved onto Ole Miss where he spent his next four seasons before becoming an analyst for CBS Sports.
Darren McFadden’s Heisman like performance vs #1 LSU in Death Valley 🐐 (2007) pic.twitter.com/ON2IP0ech5
The Tigers ended up winning the SEC Championship with several other teams ranked ahead losing to regain a spot in the national title game, ultimately winning it. On that fateful day, it was all about the Razorbacks who brought the wood and beat LSU without doubt similar to what Green could do in response to Drinkwitz.
“That’s how you pronounce it. It ain’t Ta-Lon or Halls, it’s Taylen and Hasz, baby.”
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Arkansas Razorbacks (5-1) vs. Illinois Fighting Illini (5-1)
Kansas City, Missouri; Thursday, 4 p.m. EST
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BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Fighting Illini -2.5; over/under is 154
BOTTOM LINE: Illinois plays No. 19 Arkansas in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Fighting Illini are 5-1 in non-conference play. Illinois leads the Big Ten in rebounding, averaging 46.3 boards. Tomislav Ivisic leads the Fighting Illini with 8.7 rebounds.
The Razorbacks are 5-1 in non-conference play. Arkansas averages 12.5 turnovers per game and is 4-0 when turning the ball over less than opponents.
Illinois scores 89.0 points, 29.8 more per game than the 59.2 Arkansas allows. Arkansas averages 8.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.8 more made shots on average than the 5.5 per game Illinois gives up.
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TOP PERFORMERS: Will Riley is scoring 17.2 points per game and averaging 5.3 rebounds for the Fighting Illini.
Boogie Fland is shooting 48.1% from beyond the arc with 2.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Razorbacks, while averaging 17.2 points, 5.5 assists and 2.2 steals.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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