Three Things to Know about Oklahoma State’s Week 2 Opponent Arkansas

For the first time since Pac-Man was released in arcades around the country, Arkansas will be making the short 185-mile bus trip to Stillwater for a football game.

A lot has happened throughout college football the past year, let alone in 44 years. Because of that, even with the close proximity, the Razorbacks are still a conference away from Oklahoma State, so those who follow the Cowboys probably don’t keep up with Hogs. Here are three things to know about Arkansas before OSU hosts the Razorbacks at 11 a.m. Saturday.

1. Arkansas Went 4-8 Last Season

A 4-8 record might seem like a down year for Arkansas, but the Razorbacks have actually had more losing seasons than winning during the past decade.

Last season, though, Arkansas was oh-so-close to winning more than losing. Other than two blowouts to Auburn and then-No. 10 Missouri, the Razorbacks were, at the most, two possessions away in every other loss. That included one-possession ranked losses to then-No. 12 LSU 34-31, then-No. 16 Ole Miss 27-20 and then-No. 11 Alabama 24-21.

That 4-8 record looks rough, and usually a number like that next to a team means it can be overlooked, but considering its schedule and it hung around with everyone, a 4-8 Arkansas squad is not like other 4-8 teams.

“I’ve scanned through them over the summer, and they had four or five games last year that they could’ve won,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said. “I don’t know what their record was last year, but it looked to me they could’ve won eight games pretty easy in obviously a very difficult conference. They played against good teams and lost (by) single-digit points late in the fourth quarter. So, this team that we’re playing Saturday – regardless of what anybody in the country may think – will be as talented as anybody we play this year, in my opinion.”

2. QB Taylen Green is Dangerous

Considering Arkansas’ Week 1 opponent (we’ll get into that more later), it’s hard to judge just how good the Hogs’ quarterback is, but no matter who he was facing, Taylen Green showed he’s at least dangerous.

Green made plays every way possible last week. Throwing the ball, he was 16-of-23 for 229 yards and a pair of TDs. Running the ball, he had 88 yards and two more scores. And some of those carries weren’t simple runs, he’s incredibly elusive, that’s what makes him so scary for a defense.

This is Green’s first year in Fayetteville after transferring from Boise State, where he started the last two seasons. And he ran for over 1,000 yards in those two seasons for the Broncos.

Green won’t be the best quarterback OSU has to stop this season being in the Big 12, but he could still give the Pokes fits on Saturday.

“You gotta have a guy for him,” Gundy said. “When you are competing against a guy that has the ability to run, you have to take that into account in your structure of defense and the style of play. We have plenty of ways to do that because we see them quite a bit now. It’s just a matter of being disciplined and making sure somebody has responsibility for the quarterback.

“He’s a guy that can make plays.”

3. The 2024 Razorbacks are Still an Unknown

Just like we can’t make a true assumption about Green, we really can’t judge any of his team yet.

The Razorbacks hammered Arkansas-Pine Bluff 70-0 to start the season. But UAPB was a 2-9 FCS team last year. It’s hard to know how much of Week 1 was how good Arkansas is, and what part of that outcome was just UAPB being terrible.

The Cowboys will be the Razorbacks’ first true test before a game against UAB, then a gauntlet of an SEC schedule.

“The game Thursday, there’s really not a lot you can put into the results of that because, no disrespect, we’re not gonna play anybody like that the rest of the year,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. ” … We’re gonna get pressured Saturday. There’s no doubt in my mind. They’re gonna see if we can protect. For what the game was, I thought we played smart and we played physicial, and that’s the expectation when we go into Stillwater. I like our line. We haven’t been tested. We’ll find out a lot more about them on Saturday.”