Arkansas Razorbacks will begin their 132nd football season on Saturday, August 30, facing Alabama A&M at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. The game is set to start at 3:15 p.m. and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
The Razorbacks have a strong history in season openers, holding a record of 103-24-4. Their home opener record stands at 106-21-4. Head Coach Sam Pittman has led the team to four consecutive home opener wins and has a 4-1 record in season openers during his time with Arkansas.
Last season, Arkansas ranked third nationally for scrimmage plays of 10 or more yards and eighth for scrimmage plays over 70 yards. In passing gains of at least 10 yards, they were ranked twelfth nationally.
Offensive Coordinator Bobby Petrino is entering his second year overseeing the offense. According to the program, “Results in Petrino’s second year at a program as an offensive coordinator, head coach, or quarterbacks coach at the FBS and FCS levels have been very favorable. During his seven multi-year stints, his team’s offenses have seen an increase of 54.24 yards per game in total offense, 6.84 points per game in scoring offense, and 46.63 yards per game in passing offense.”
The team holds an all-time record of 107-22-2 in home openers played in Fayetteville and is 71-16 at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium since it opened in 1938. Under Coach Pittman, Arkansas has won its last four home openers in Fayetteville and has a record of 20-5 in stadium home openers since the year 2000.
Running back Mike Washington Jr., who transferred from New Mexico State after previously playing for Buffalo, is one of twelve FBS running backs entering this season with at least 469 all-purpose plays from scrimmage and over 420 career rushes. He has accumulated a total of 1,844 rushing yards with eighteen touchdowns and added two receiving touchdowns during his college career.
Quarterback Taylen Green is one of only two returning quarterbacks nationwide—alongside Oklahoma’s John Mateer—to pass for more than three thousand yards and rush for over six hundred yards last season.
This year’s August 30 kickoff marks the second-earliest start to a season in Arkansas football history; only last year’s opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff started earlier on August 29. The Razorbacks are currently 6-2 all-time in games played during August and hold a record of 6-1 when those games are designated as home contests.
Arkansas enters the new season with a streak of making one hundred seventy-nine consecutive extra points since December 5, 2020—the third-longest active streak nationally behind Northwestern and Texas A&M.
Wide receiver Raylen Sharpe starts this year with a twenty-nine-game reception streak that ties him for fifth-longest among active players nationwide.
O’Mega Blake joins Arkansas after ranking third among FBS wide receivers last year with eight plays from scrimmage exceeding forty yards while playing for Charlotte. Only he and Jeremiah Smith from Ohio State return this season having caught eight or more passes of forty-plus yards last year.
