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.

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.

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.

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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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.

The No. 21 Missouri Tigers enter their final regular season game with the least injury questions than they have had for most other games since the beginning of November.

But, there was a few new additions to the team’s availability report ahead of the Week 14 game against Arkansas. Below is the full availability report for the Tigers and the Arkansas Razorbacks.

This post will be updated throughout the week with new availability reports posted Thursday, Friday and 90 minutes before the 3:15 p.m. kick off.

Missouri Initial Availability Report:

Note: Missouri players with injuries previously reported to be season-ending are not listed on this post.

• DB Shamar McNeil – OUT
• LS Brett Le Blanc – OUT
• OL Logan Reichert – OUT
• RB Kewan Lacy – QUESTIONABLE

True freshman running back Kewan Lacy took one carry against Mississippi State in Week 13 before exiting the game with injury. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz said in the week leading up to that game that he would expect Lacy to see more opportunities going forward.

Le Blanc handles punting long snapping duties for Missouri, while Trey Flint takes care of field goals and extra points. Expect Flint to slide in for Le Blanc Saturday.

Arkansas Initial Availability Report:

• DL Nico Dalliver – OUT
• DB Jaylon Braxton – OUT
• K Kyle Ramsey – OUT
• DL Anton Juncaj – DOUBTFUL
• RB Braylen Russel – QUESTIONABLE
• DB Anthony Switzer – QUESTIONABLE

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