FAYETTEVILLE – After jumping out to a fast 14-0 lead early in the first quarter, the Razorbacks continued their struggle with the running game and committed several turnovers and mistakes to drop their return game with BYU at Donald W. Reynolds Razorbacks Stadium by the score of 38-31. The eighth largest crowd in the stadium’s history (74,821) witnessed the “roller coaster ride” of seeing the Hogs look much improved to committing mistakes that contributed to the loss.
The Hogs will now begin conference play at LSU this Saturday night. Kickoff in Baton Rouge is set for 6 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN.
Here are some post-game summary highlights as provided by the University of Arkansas:
» Arkansas has scored 30+ points in 18 of QB KJ Jefferson’s 29 career starts under center. Jefferson finished the game 24-35-1 with 247 passing yards and a passing touchdown.
» RB AJ Green had a career-long 55-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter. It’s also the longest rushing touchdown since Rocket Sanders’ 68-yard score vs. Ole Miss in 2022.
» RB AJ Green logged his first career game with multiple rushing touchdowns after finishing with two. Green finished with nine carries for 86 yards (9.6 ypc).
» RB AJ Green is the first Razorback player to rush for two touchdowns and record a tackle in the same game since RB Broderick Green accomplished the feat against Eastern Michigan in 2009.
» WR Isaiah Sategna’s 88-yard punt return in the first quarter is the first punt return touchdown since Bryce Stephens’ 82-yard return vs. Missouri State in 2022. Sategna’s punt return touchdown is the longest since Joe Adams’ 97-yard return vs. Ole Miss in 2010.
» WR Isaiah Sategna recorded a career high 149 all-purpose yards, tallying 95 punt return yards and 49 kickoff return yards.
» RB Rashod Dubinion charted a career high 13 rushes for a career high 47 yards.
» TE Luke Hasz hauled in his first career touchdown reception – a 19-yard catch – in the second quarter. Hasz finished with four receptions for 78 yards (19.5 ypc).
» DE Landon Jackson registered career highs in sacks (1.5) and tackles for loss (3.5). Jackson tied his career high in tackles with five (four solo).
» LB Jaheim Thomas led the Hogs in tackles with nine stops (six solo) and one quarterback hurry.
» P Max Fletcher booted a career-long 54-yard punt in the first quarter. Fletcher had six punts for 239 yards (39.8 average) and two punts for 50+ yards. He had three punts downed inside the 20-yard line.
» With his 26-yard field goal, K Cam Little is now a perfect 13-for-13 from inside 30 yards in his career. For his career, Little has connected on 34-of-42 field goals. His career field goal percentage (80.9%) ranks first all-time in Arkansas history.
After the game, Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman reflected on the game in the post-game press conference. Coach Pittman commented, “I want to give BYU credit. We knew they had a team that played extremely hard and they certainly did. They took care of the ball a little better than us and they certainly were better in the penalty area. We want to give them credit because they played a good football game and we have a lot of things to clean up. They exposed us a little bit with their pass rush and not necessarily by bringing extras, but just with their ends. Certainly, the penalties, we’ve got to get a handle on that.”
On the final drive of the game, Pittman said, “They were all holding penalties and we jumped offsides on one of them. When (Andrew) Chamblee went down we moved Brady [Latham] to tackle. We moved Chamblee to begin with because [Patrick] Kutas got hurt and Kutas came back out there. We just weren’t moving our feet and getting on edge. They bulled us a lot of the game and, when you’re setting for a bull rush, sometimes you’re susceptible for an inside move. That’s what happened and we were holding them.”
On the next four games, Pittman commented, “It’s hard to lose any time because the crowd was so great. The Hog Walk was so great. The people were loud. We disappointed the home fans. They’re all hard to lose. I don’t really look at it as a four-game stretch on the road. LSU, as we saw, played really well on the road. We’ve got our work cut out for us you know with the next one at night. Obviously, it’s hard to go into Baton Rouge.”
It will be a very difficult task to go into Baton Rouge and defeat a LSU team that seems to be back on track after their dominating road win on Saturday at Mississippi State.
Stay with RNN Sports next weekend! Our photographer, John D. James, will be on the field to bring you action photos next week of the Hogs’ game with the Tigers!
Note to Our Readers: Portions of this story were sourced directly from the University of Arkansas Office of Communications, Grace Tafolla.
