The college football season begins in Arkansas this week, and it presents a unique opportunity for fans of the sport to see all four of the state’s NCAA Division I teams (two at the FBS level and two at the FCS level) compete.
On Thursday night at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium — with a national television audience looking on via ESPNU — the University of Arkansas Razorbacks will play the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Golden Lions.
I’ve heard your excuses.
“It’s a school night.” Granted. But your kids can stay up late at least one night. Take them to the game and let them have some fun.
“It’s hot.” Of course it’s hot. It’s August in Arkansas. What’s new about that? It’s always hot here at the start of football season.
“The game won’t be close.” It shouldn’t be. If it is, the Hogs have bigger problems than we knew. Let’s face it. From a talent standpoint, UAPB couldn’t compete at this point with top Division II programs such as Harding and Ouachita.
Still, it’s a chance to support two of the state’s football programs and kick off the college season by attending a game, eating a hot dog and having fun.
At Monday’s meeting of the Little Rock Touchdown Club, I urged the more than 1,000 people in attendance to buy extra tickets to give to kids, friends and relatives in an attempt to get them hooked on the sport the rest of us love so much.
After catching that game Thursday, you should plan to travel to Jonesboro on Saturday to see Arkansas State University host the University of Central Arkansas.
I expect this game to be much closer than the Thursday affair. The last time I was in Jonesboro for a football game, I saw the Red Wolves score 77 points last November in a 77-31 Sun Belt Conference victory over Texas State, which happens to be my wife’s alma mater.
It was obvious then that freshman quarterback Jaylen Raynor is the real deal. Yet the Red Wolves finished the season with a losing record (6-7), dropping Butch Jones to 11-26 in his three seasons as head coach. Jones badly needs a winning season this year, and I think he will get one with 10 returning offensive starters.
UCA was 7-4 last season, giving the Bears a 37-29 record in the Nathan Brown era at the Conway school. UCA returns 16 starters and is hoping for an FCS playoff appearance in 2024.
Here are the picks for the first week:
Arkansas 51, UAPB 13 — The Razorbacks should be able to name the score. It will be interesting to watch an offense with Bobby Petrino calling the plays again and start to get a feel for what Petrino will allow quarterback Taylen Green — the transfer from Boise State — to do. I don’t expect many Razorback starters to play for more than a half. We’ll have a lot better picture of how good this team can be when it visits Oklahoma State. That said, get off the couch and buy a ticket.
Arkansas State 34, UCA 24 — As that 77-point explosion last year showed me, ASU has an offense capable of putting big numbers on the scoreboard when everything is clicking. Yet something tells me that the Bears will hang around until deep into the fourth quarter on Saturday night. After watching a Thursday night blowout in Little Rock, I would frankly welcome a close game. And the weatherman claims it will be cooler by Saturday night.
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Publish date : 2024-08-27 02:15:00
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