The Arkansas Razorbacks kickoff their 2023 college football season in 38 days when Western Carolina visits War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock on Saturday, September 2.
Here at HawgBeat, we will count down the days until Sam Pittman and his team run through the “A” for the first time.
With 38 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 38.
Anton Pierce committed to Arkansas as a preferred walk-on by way of Little Rock. The 6-foot-2 safety prospect was rated as a 5.3 two-star by Rivals. With offers from Army, Air Force, Navy, North Alabama and Memphis, Pierce decided to stay home.
As a senior at Wilbur D. Mills High School, Pierce recorded 50 catches for 1,007 yards and 13 touchdowns on offense. Defensively, he totaled 67 tackles, 10 pass breakups, six interceptions and five tackles for loss. He is listed as a defensive back on the Arkansas roster.
“Smacking Joe Black” is a nickname earned from his hometown of Smackover, Arkansas, and due to his ferocious tackling ability. Black was a member of the 1964 Razorback football team — the only one to win a national championship.
After his playing days were over, Black became the head coach at Smackover, and he led the Bucks to a 9-4 record in 2008.
Sadly, Black passed away at the age of 71 in 2015, but his memory lives on through his time with Razorback football and the lives he touched as a high school coach and mentor.
The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors hosted the Razorbacks for the first and only meeting between the two teams in program history. Going into the game, Arkansas was 8-3 and Hawaii was 5-6.
Razorback running back James Rouse had a good performance, gaining 96 rushing yards on 24 carries to push himself over the 1,000-yard mark for the season.
Legendary safety Steve Atwater made two interceptions in the game, including one in the first half to stall the Rainbow Warriors’ offense.
In the fourth quarter, Arkansas scored three touchdowns in quick succession to put the game away. Razorback freshman fullback Barry Foster drove in a touchdown as did Rouse and quarterback John Bland.
Arkansas had just lost to Alabama and was looking to avoid a third straight loss to Tennessee during the 2022 season. In a thrilling six-overtime game, the Razorbacks came up just short against the No. 10 Volunteers.
Entering the fourth quarter, Tennessee led 10-3. After a long Tennessee touchdown run put the Vols up 17-3, the Houston Nutt-led Razorbacks tied the game on a Matt Jones’ 92-yard touchdown to Richard Smith.
In overtime, both teams went back and forth in front of an electric Neyland Stadium crowd. With the Razorbacks leading 38-35 in the sixth overtime, all Tennessee needed was a touchdown to end it.
A pass from quarterback Casey Clausen to tight-end Jason Witten resulted in a game-winning 25-yard touchdown and the Volunteers narrowly escaped defeat.
Following this game, Arkansas beat No. 24 Auburn and finished the 2002 season with a 9-5 record after losses to Georgia in the SEC Championship and Minnesota in the Music City Bowl.
Miller was an unranked running back prospect from Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. He transferred to IMG Academy for his senior year of high school before enrolling with the Razorbacks.
As a freshman in 2015, the 5-foot-9 two-way player appeared in 12 games, mostly on special teams. He made two tackles.
In 2016, Miller played in all 13 games, totaling nine tackles, including five on kickoffs. He earned a scholarship prior to the season.
In his final season as a Razorback, Miller was relegated to special teams play where he made nine tackles and recovered one fumble.
With a lack of playing time, Miller chose to take his talents to the Montana Grizzlies for his final season of eligiblity.
In a legendary performance from Arkansas running back Darren McFadden during the 2007 season, the Razorbacks outlasted the Gamecocks, 48-36.
In 38 total plays, McFadden carried the ball 34 times for a whopping 321 yards and one touchdown, including a run of 80 yards.
The 6-foot-1 running back also threw a touchdown pass to Robert Johnson for McFadden’s fifth passing touchdown of the season.
McFadden finished the 2007 season with 1,830 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns.
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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.
“Talon Green” pic.twitter.com/iIO8EhjG4i
— Tyler Cass (@TVTylerCass) November 26, 2024
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.
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.
Lol remember how Les Miles pronounced Arkansas? pic.twitter.com/GstRPjMSpP
— KB (@KBKnowzBest) November 24, 2019
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.
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!”
“I GOT THAT WOOD!”
In 2007, Darren McFadden ran for 206 yards and 4 total TD in @RazorbackFB‘s 3OT upset of No. 1 LSU in Death Valley 💪 pic.twitter.com/tbDakDRWft
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 23, 2020
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
— College Football Report (@CFBRep) December 27, 2023
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.”
Associated Press
Arkansas Razorbacks (5-1) vs. Illinois Fighting Illini (5-1)
Kansas City, Missouri; Thursday, 4 p.m. EST
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.
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.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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