Fayetteville-
Arkansas began the Ryan Silverfield era with a lackluster start Saturday, defeating North Alabama 31–14 at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
The Razorbacks improved to 1–0 behind quarterback KJ Jackson, who delivered three touchdown passes in his second career start. Jackson completed 24 of 35 passes for 267 yards, added 27 rushing yards and connected with three different receivers for scores. Ryan Silverfield on the play of KJ Jackson and the offense:
“They tried to take away the run game, and we saw a different look than they had shown. We were watching some of (their defensive coordinator film)
from Oklahoma State the year before when he called the last three games. I had actually coached against him when he was at Kansas a long time ago,
so I went back and studied that. Hopefully we weren’t chasing ghosts in preparation for this. We saw the three high look last week versus Samford.
They played more quarters, so we’ve got to do a better job putting KJ in the right opportunities throughout the week of practice in order to correct
Arkansas took control early, holding North Alabama scoreless through the first half. Jackson opened the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Ismael Cisse late in the first quarter, then found Matt Adcock for a 2-yard touchdown in the second quarter to give the Razorbacks a 14–0 halftime lead.
The Arkansas defense dominated the opening two quarters, limiting the Lions to just 17 yards of total offense. North Alabama managed only five first downs through the first three quarters as the Razorbacks consistently disrupted the Lions’ offensive rhythm. Jackson added his third touchdown pass early in the second half, connecting with Jaden Platt on a 10-yard scoring play to extend Arkansas’ lead to 21–0. The Razorbacks’ offense then answered North Alabama’s first touchdown with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Braylen Russell scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run. Silverfield on the play of the defense:
“I’ll say this, I think you got to see the relentless effort by the defense. We must have played 36 different defensive players. There was just constant
rotation. I looked out there one time and guys that probably weren’t even on our depth chart. You guys are probably looking out there saying, ‘Who the
heck is that?’ So, a lot of guys got a lot of reps, especially in the first half. What I was proud of with the defense, a sudden change. Those are so hard
to replicate in practice.
North Alabama quarterback Destin Wade provided the Lions’ biggest spark. He scored twice on rushing plays, including a 6-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter and a 4-yard score in the fourth. Wade finished 12 of 23 passing for 113 yards and was North Alabama’s most effective offensive weapon. North Alabama recovered two fumbles and intercepted Jackson, while the Razorbacks committed eight penalties for 74 yards. Arkansas finished with 415 total yards but struggled to maintain consistent offensive explosiveness throughout the afternoon.
Russell led Arkansas’ rushing attack with 49 yards on 17 carries, while Chris Marshall paced the receiving corps with seven catches for 79 yards. Eleven different Razorbacks caught passes in an offense breaking in several new starters.
Arkansas added the final points on Max Gilbert’s 33-yard field goal with 2:59 remaining. The win ended a 10-game losing streak for the Razorbacks, but Silverfield acknowledged afterward that his team must improve quickly.
“Today’s performance certainly wasn’t to the standard and expectations we want,” Silverfield said. “So many opportunities that we can improve on and we better do it very, very quickly.” North Alabama, which fell to 1–1, showed resilience in its first SEC matchup since 1959. The Lions were competitive defensively and held Arkansas to 31 points despite surrendering 464 or more yards per game during the previous season. Arkansas will have to shake off the slow start as they travel to play No. 21 Utah. Utah took care of business in a 66-14 win over Idaho. They will be led by Devon Dampier, who was 13-18 for 176 yards and 3 touchdowns and added 31 yards rushing on 6 carries. The Utes racked up 633 yards of offense against the Vandals, only allowing 225 yards.
