Following their first bye week of the season, the Arkansas Razorbacks will travel to Knoxville for a Southeastern Conference (SEC) matchup against 12th-ranked Tennessee. The game is set to take place at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, October 11, with kickoff scheduled for 3:15 p.m. CT.
Defensive lineman Quincy Rhodes Jr., from North Little Rock, Arkansas, currently leads the team in tackles for loss and sacks. Through five games this season, he has recorded seven tackles for loss and five sacks. Rhodes Jr. is also notable for having two multi-sack games this year, making him the first Arkansas defender since linebacker Drew Sanders in 2022 to achieve multiple multi-sack games in a single season. Nationally, Rhodes ranks seventh in sacks per game.
Quarterback Taylen Green is among three active Football Bowl Subdivision quarterbacks who have surpassed 2,000 career rushing yards. The other two are Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia and Colorado’s Kaidon Salter.
Wide receiver O’Mega Blake has emerged as the leading receiver for Arkansas over five games. Blake leads in receptions (30), receiving yards (399), receiving touchdowns (3), and average receiving yards per game (79.8). The transfer from Charlotte caught a touchdown pass in each of the first three games this season—the first Arkansas player to do so since Matt Landers in 2022.
Arkansas enters the contest with a four-game winning streak against Tennessee, including victories in 2011, 2015, 2020, and 2024. This is their longest active winning streak against any SEC opponent.
Defensive back Julian Neal has led the secondary with two interceptions and five pass breakups through five games. He is ranked seventeenth nationally in interceptions per game and ninth nationally in passes defended per game.
Bobby Petrino was named interim head coach on September 28, following his role as offensive coordinator since last year. Petrino previously served as head coach at Arkansas from 2008 to 2011. “In his first stint as head coach, Petrino led Arkansas to a 34-17 record with a 17-15 SEC mark, back-to-back double-digit win seasons in 2010-11 and trips to the 2010 Liberty Bowl, 2011 Sugar Bowl and 2012 Cotton Bowl.”
Quarterback Taylen Green currently leads all players nationally in total offense yardage (1,839) and average total offense per game (367.8). His twelve passing touchdowns rank eighth nationally.
The Razorbacks have made 204 consecutive extra points since December 5, 2020—the second-longest active streak nationally behind Northwestern’s streak that began on October 24, 2020. Freshman kicker Scott Starzyk remains perfect on extra points this season with twenty-five successful attempts.
Arkansas also ranks fifth nationwide and second within the SEC for third-down conversion percentage at nearly fifty-eight percent success over their attempts so far this season.
Petrino is now the fourth interim head coach in program history; previous interim coaches include Joe Kines (1992), Reggie Herring (2007), and Barry Lunney Jr. (2019). “Named interim head coach after the first game of the 1992 season, Kines’ ten-game tenure included Arkansas’ first SEC win and first win at Tennessee. The Hogs went 3-6-1 overall under Kines, including a 3-4-1 record in conference play. Herring, who went 0-1 as interim head coach, served as interim head coach for the 2008 Cotton Bowl, in which Arkansas was handed a 38-7 loss at Missouri. Lunney Jr., who went 0-2 as interim head coach, was named interim head coach for the final two games of 2019, losing to a pair of SEC foes in LSU and Missouri.”
