The 2025 Arkansas Razorback football season finally came to fruition on Saturday afternoon in Fayettenam at approximately 3:15 p.m., when the Hogs received the opening kickoff from Alabama A&M and promptly drove down the field for the first of seven touchdowns en route to a 52-7 rout of the visitors. Taylen Green and the rest of Arkansas offense synced up early and often in the lopsided dub, as the senior QB completed 24 out of 31 passes to nine separate receivers for 322 yards and six scores. Second-string QB KJ Jackson capped off the scoring by tossing a fourth quarter 27-yard TD to running back Mike Washington, Jr.
Overall, the senior did a serviceable job of FTS – feeding the studs – but when you play for a perfectionist like Mr. Football, there is always room for improvement. I have watched a few folks on the youtubes dissect TGreen’s performance, and one influencer in particular was most critical of his decision making and read progressions. More than once, he missed wide-open Razorbacks streaking down the field towards one end zone or the other.
Since Alabama A&M blitzed most of the time, he shoulda been able to hit the occasional deep ball, forcing them to play more straight up, instead of the “zero coverage” packages they ran at the Hogs, play after play after play after play. His short-sightedness kept him from spying receivers running for glory, so he predominantly connected with teammates on the shorter, underneath routes, which were also usually wide open.
The opposing coaching staff knew the only way for the Bulldogs to compete was to completely sell out on defense, constantly blitz, and hopefully catch the Hogs off guard. While they did rush, the majority of their defensive playas heavily, and often, came up empty handed. At 6’6”, the long-legged QB is so dang fleet of foot he simply outran the opposition time after time. They achieved a decent push at the line of scrimmage but usually came up empty handed when grasping for #10, who appeared bigger, faster and tougher than ever.
Meanwhile, in typical MF fashion, the offense was the epitome of efficiency. Each touchdown drive averaged just over three minutes of game time – down, set, hut, score. If you blinked or went to the bathroom, you mighta missed a touchdown or two or three. Green also took immaculate care of the football, something that was an issue last season, to say the least.
O’Mega Blake led all receivers with seven grabs on the day, and it was obvious that there is pass-catching talent all over the field and up and down the roster. One thing we learned during MF’s first stint on the Hill was that he stresses YAC – yards after catch – and it shows.
As a word dork, I really dig the phonetics and guttural symbolism and pronunciation of this particular acronym. Not to be confused with a yak, which is a large bovine-like creature. Another usage of the word is spelled two different ways – yak and yack – both meaning to prattle, jabber, yammer, gab, clack, babble, blather or jaw. A high school teacher at Little Rock Catholic High, Mr. Moran, kept me after class one day during my junior year to tell me that I suffered from a classic case of logorrhea and encouraged me to look it up if I was unsure of its meaning. Yackety yack, don’t talk back.
With the overmatched Red Wolves of Arkansas St. up next Saturday and a sold-out War Memorial Stadium awaiting the two teams down in the Rockpile, the Razorbacks get one final tune-up game before heading to Ole Miss the following week to begin their brutal next 10 games, one of the toughest rated runs in the land.
Oddly enough, since Bama, Georgia and Florida are not opponents this year, the task does not seem as daunting as years gone by, when Nicky Saban roamed the Crimson Tide’s sidelines and laid 17 straight beat downs on Arkansas. Thanks to his wife, Ms. Terry, we won’t have to worry about him returning to the sidelines, ever again. And as a matter of fact, their current coach, Kalen DeBoer, may not be around at the end of this season after losing to lowly Florida St. Saban was 124-4 against unranked teams, while DeBoer is now a disappointing 6-4.
Overall, it was a good showing at the Airport Road Dart Barn and Razorback Club, where we kicked off the season with style and grace. One down, 11 to go.
WooPig!!