Football
Here’s 10 things you need to know before Arkansas GameDay starts at 1:30
Listen online HERE and ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
Arkansas hits the road for the first time in 2020 when they travel to face No. 16 Mississippi State on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
The game will be broadcast on SEC Network Alternate and the ESPN app.
You can listen live HERE at HitThatLine.com and ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
• 1:30 p.m.: Arkansas GameDay with Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft.
• 3:30 p.m.: Pregame show from Starville from the Learfield/IMG Radio Network.
• 6:30 p.m.: Hogs-Mississippi State with Chuck Barrett and Quinn Grovey.
10 things to know before kickoff
1. Arkansas is coming off a 37-10 defeat to No. 4 Georgia in the 2020 season-opener but did lead 7-5 at halftime. The Razorbacks struck first in the opening quarter when senior QB Feleipe Franks found sophomore wide receiver Treylon Burks for a 49-yard touchdown toss.
2. Burks had a game to remember and recorded career-highs of seven catches and 102 receiving against the Bulldogs in Week 1. Three of his receptions on the day eclipsed 20 yards, including a 49-yard career-long grab for his first career touchdown. Last year, Burks finished second among SEC freshman averaging 16.4 yards per catch on 29 receptions.
The first of many trips to the EZ for @TreylonBurks ? pic.twitter.com/rCle29vOWM
— Arkansas Razorback Football (@RazorbackFB) September 27, 2020
3. Franks made his Arkansas debut after grad transferring in the offseason from Florida, where he served as the starter from 2017-19.
The Crawfordsville, Fla., product completed 19-of-36 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown while chipping in 13 yards on the ground.
He engineered a seven-play, 91-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter that was Arkansas’ first 90+ yard scoring drive since 2018 against Vanderbilt.
4. The linebacker duo of senior Grant Morgan and junior Bumper Pool were the two leading tackles for defensive coordinator Barry Odom’s unit, combining for 24 stops against Georgia.
Morgan, a native of Greenwood, made his first career start while appearing in his 37th consecutive game, and totaled a career-high 13 tackles with ten coming in the first half. The team’s second-leading tackler a season ago, Pool picked up where he left off, recording 11 tackles, 0.5 sacks and 1.0 tackle for loss with a pass breakup.
The pair teamed up for a crucial four-and-one stop in the second quarter, forcing a turnover on downs by wrapping up UGA running back Zamir White for no gain at the Arkansas 24-yard line.
5. The Razorback secondary forced Georgia into two turnovers by generating an interception and a fumble.
Redshirt junior defensive back Montaric Brown picked off the second pass of his career when Georgia was threatening inside the red zone.
Redshirt freshman defensive back Jalen Catalon forced a fumble which was scooped up by true freshman defensive back Myles Slusher for a seven-yard return.
6. Nine different Hogs made their first career start last weekend including De’Vion Warren (WR), Beaux Limmer (RG), Brady Latham (LG), Isaiah Nichols (DT), Julius Coates (DE), Grant Morgan (LB), Jalen Catalon (S), Simeon Blair (S) and Jonathan Marshall (DT).
7. Razorback players selected four seniors in Boyd, Franks, Marshall and LB Grant Morgan to serve as team captains for the 2020 campaign.
8. This weekend’s matchup against No. 16 Mississippi State is the first of three Arkansas matchups this year to pit two first-year SEC head coaches against one another.
Arkansas’ Sam Pittman is in his first year as an FBS head coach, while the Bulldogs’ Mike Leach is starting his first year in Starkville, and his 19th year as a head coach after previously guiding Texas Tech and Washington State.
Later this season, Pittman and the Hogs will also take on first-year SEC head coaches Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss) and Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri).
9. Despite meeting just twice before 1992, the Razorbacks and Bulldogs have met every year for the last 29 seasons, with Arkansas holding a 16-13-1 all-time series edge.
The series is deadlocked at 7-7 when games are played in the Magnolia State. Arkansas’ last win in the series was a 58-42 triumph on Nov. 18, 2016, in Starkville.
The year’s meeting marks the first time since a Sept. 30, 1939 meeting in Memphis, that the two have not squared off in November. The Razorbacks have won all three overtime games against Mississippi State, with the last a 38-31 double overtime thriller in 2010.
10. According to the latest edition of the AP Poll (Sept. 27), eight of Arkansas’ 10 opponents this year are ranked inside the top 25.
For the first time in school history, the Razorbacks are facing back-to-back ranked teams to begin the season.
Pittman was also the first head coach in school history to take on a ranked opponent in his first game. In both 2014 and 2016, Arkansas faced eight ranked teams, finished 7-6 and made bowl appearances.
