Arkansas’ first-ever meeting with Arkansas State was nothing short of a blowout Saturday evening in Little Rock at War Memorial Stadium, 56-14. The Razorbacks were solid all around in the in-state stomping, but not everything was perfect on either side of the ball.
Arkansas vs. Arkansas State: The Good, Bad and Ugly
The Good
Arkansas opened up by scoring on the first two plays of the game in 39 seconds. QB Taylen Green completed a 22-yard pass to WR O’Mega Blake to start the drive. RB Mike Washington Jr. went off on the next play for a 53-yard touchdown to give the Hogs an early 7-0 lead with 14:21 left in the opening quarter.
The Razorback defense shut down the Red Wolves immediately on their first drive on offense with a three-and-out that included a sack by DL Quincy Rhodes Jr.
After Arkansas State punted the ball away to the Arkansas 20-yard line, the Razorbacks went right back to work on offense with another run by Washington to open up the drive for 14 yards. Two plays later, Green found WR CJ Brown for 18 yards to the Arkansas State 42. After Washington ran for a five-yard gain, Green dotted up WR Raylen Green, who scampered his way for a 32-yard receiving touchdown to put the Hogs up by two possessions with 9:50 left in the first quarter.
After allowing a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, Arkansas was right back to scoring quickly. The drive did not start well, with the Razorbacks getting flagged for illegal motion. The Hogs shook it off with Green connecting with WR Jalen Brown for a 16-yard completion to the Arkansas 36-yard line. Green showed off his legs with a huge 64-yard touchdown for his first rushing score of the season to put the Razorbacks back up by 14, 21-7, with 8:59 to go.
The Arkansas defense remained stout with another three-and-out. After a 12-yard penalty for offensive pass interference on 2nd & 10, Razorback DL Phillip Lee sacked QB Jaylen Raynor for a 12-yard loss back to the Arkansas State 1-yard line.
Arkansas took over at midfield and started its fourth possession of the game with a big run by Green for 35 yards to the Arkansas State 15-yard line. After a two-yard run by Green and a six-yard run by RB Braylen Russell, Russell scored his first touchdown of the season with a seven-yard run to extend the lead to 21.
The Razorback defense allowed their first first down of the game with 5:05 left in the first quarter after Raynor ran for 12 yards on 3rd & 10, with 15 yards being added onto the play for illegal use of hands on Lee. On the Arkansas State 48-yard line, Raynor threw an interception to LB Xavian Sorey Jr., who returned it 25 yards to the 30-yard line in opposing territory with 4:08 left in the first quarter.
After Arkansas State led a long 14-play, 62-yard drive to cut the game to a 28-14 deficit, the Arkansas offense set up shop at its own 17. Green led a solid drive by completing four consecutive pass attempts to open up the drive for a combined 37 yards. Green ran for an eight-yard gain on the fifth play to the Arkansas State 38-yard line to head into the two-minute timeout. Green threw back-to-back incompletions out of the timeout, but the Hogs picked up a first down in 3rd & 10 thanks to a defensive pass interference that moved the ball to the 29. Green picked up a first down one play later on a 10-yard run and another first down on an 11-yard scramble in 2nd & 10 to the eight-yard line. He finished the drive with a touchdown pass to Jalen Brown to put Arkansas back up by 21, 35-14, with 53 seconds left until halftime.
Arkansas State opened up the second half with the ball, but it ended up right back in the hands of Arkansas when Raynor threw an interception to DB Julian Neal. Raynor overthrew his man, and the ball fell in the waiting hands of Neal, who caught it as if it were a punt return.
With 13:30 left in the third quarter on Arkansas’ 44-yard line, Washington broke loose for a 23-yard run on the fourth play of the drive before getting brought down to the 33 in opposing territory. On the very next play, Green threw an easy 33-yard touchdown pass to TE Rohan Jones to extend the lead, 42-14, with 11:20 left in the third quarter.
RJ with the TD pic.twitter.com/5wb24J5Bkq
— Arkansas Razorback Football (@RazorbackFB) September 6, 2025
Another defensive stop put the Hogs right back on the field. Arkansas put together an 11-play, 86-yard drive that ate up 4:32 of the clock. The drive ended with Green tossing a touchdown pass to Blake for 14 yards on a crossing route over the middle to put the game out of reach, 49-14, with 3:46 remaining in the third quarter. Green finished the night 17 of 26 passing with 239 yards, four touchdown passes and two interceptions. He set a career-high with 151 rushing yards on nine carries with a score.
Arkansas State started putting together a big drive with Raynor bursting for a 16-yard run and RB Devin Spencer coming through with an 11-yard run of his own to the Red Wolves’ 41-yard line on the first two plays. Arkansas State was piecing together some plays that put the offense on the eight-yard line in Arkansas territory. Faced with 4th & Goal at the one-yard line, the Red Wolves turned the ball over on downs.
After the big defensive stop, QB KJ Jackson came in to relieve Green deep in the Razorbacks’ own territory with 10:32 left in the fourth quarter. Jackson connected with TE Andreas Paaske on 3rd & four for 14 yards and dotted up Jones for 41 yards down the sideline to put the Hogs on the Arkansas State 38-yard line. RB Rodney Hill ran for 18 yards on the next play, and Jackson completed a 15-yard pass to TE Jaden Platt to set up 1st & Goal at the five. One play later, Jackson scrambled to the left side for a six-yard touchdown for his first rushing score of the year.
As a team, Arkansas put up 630 yards of offense with eight different receivers making a catch. The defense racked up 10 tackles for loss, four sacks and five pass deflections.
The Bad
Arkansas State found its way on the board thanks to special teams while down 14-0 with 9:50 left in the first quarter. Kick returner Clayton Amaya took it to the house on a 98-yard kickoff return to put the Red Wolves back in the game, 14-7.
The Ugly
After Sorey’s interception with 4:08 left in the first quarter, the Razorback offense was back on the field to do some more damage on the Arkansas State 30-yard line. However, Green threw an interception to LB Terry Kirksey, who returned it 18 yards to the Arkansas State 38-yard line.
Green threw another interception with 10:30 left in the second quarter after Arkansas State ended its last drive by missing a 53-yard field goal. After Green ran for seven yards on the first play of the drive and Washington picked up the first down on a four-yard run to the Arkansas 47, Green’s pass was intercepted by DB Avante Dickerson. The turnover led to a 14-play, 62-yard drive for the Red Wolves that ended in a touchdown on a two-yard pass from Raynor to Cameron Ambrose to cut the lead to 14, 28-14, with 3:44 remaining in the first half.
Conclusion
This was about what was expected in this matchup. Arkansas came away with a blowout victory, but still has a couple of things to work on. The Razorbacks will be highly tested next week in a road matchup against the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday, Sept. 13, in Oxford, MS., at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Kickoff is going to be scheduled for either 6 or 6:45 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on either ESPN or the SEC Network.
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