By the Numbers: 11 days until Arkansas football
The Arkansas Razorbacks will take the field for the 2023 college football season in 11 days when Western Carolina visits War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock on Saturday, September 2 for a 3 p.m. CT kickoff.
Here at HawgBeat, we will count down the days until head coach Sam Pittman and his team run through the “A” for the first time.
With 11 days remaining, we will take a look at a current player, former player, some interesting scores, highlights and other miscellaneous things in Razorback history tied to the number 11.
Highlights:
Current Player #11 LaDarrius Bishop
The Ashdown native played in only two games last season before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Prior to that, he totaled 56 tackles and two tackles for loss in four seasons.
Now healthy going into the 2023 season, the redshirt senior hopes to make an impact in the secondary. According to defensive coordinator Travis Williams, he's one of a few guys standing out in practice.
"It’s always good to see the growth of all the players," Williams said. "Guys like Jayden Johnson, he’s showing flashes, and Dae Dae (Bishop) is showing flashes."
Former Player: #11 Casey Dick
A native of Allen, Texas, Dick committed to Arkansas as a three-star recruit in 2005. During his freshman season, it was expected he'd redshirt until he started over Robert Johnson against South Carolina. He finished the season strong and remained the starting quarterback.
Dick had a strange sophomore season, mostly due to injury and the Mitch Mustain saga. After leading the Razorbacks to an eight-game win streak, Mustain was benched for the then-healthy Dick. The 6-foot-2 signal caller led the team to the SEC Championship Game against Florida and Capital One Bowl versus Wisconsin, both losses for the Razorbacks.
During the 2007 season, Dick had next to no competition and earned his first SEC Player of the Week honors on Nov. 17 against Mississippi State, a game in which he completed four touchdown passes. One week later, Dick and the Razorbacks defeated No. 1 LSU, 50-48. He ended the season in third place in program history with 35 touchdown passes in a single season.
In his final season, Dick was coached by first-year Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino. He began the season with back to back 300-yard performances. Later in the year, Dick threw a program second-best 385 yards versus Ole Miss and was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week.
In his final game, Dick came off the bench against LSU and threw two touchdowns, including a fourth-down throw to London Crawford with 22 seconds remaining. This play was dubbed "The Miracle on Markham II."
Dick finished his collegiate career with 473 completions for 5,856 yards and 47 touchdowns.
1911: Arkansas 11 - LSU 0
In 1911, Arkansas wasn't in the Southwest Conference or the SEC, it was an Independent. Going into the final game of the season against LSU, the Razorbacks were 5-2-1 with a 100-0 victory over Southwest Missouri State, a 12-0 loss to Texas and a 3-0 win against Washington.
LSU was losers of two straight games after beginning the year 5-0 with wins over powerhouse programs Louisiana Normal and Meteor Athletic Club. In that five game stretch, LSU outscored its opponents 174-0.
In just the seventh all-time game played between the two programs, Arkansas won the game 11-0 for its third straight over the Tigers.
Cobi Hamilton's 11 receptions against Texas A&M
Hamilton led an outstanding career for the Razorbacks, catching 175 passes for 2,854 yards and 18 touchdowns from 2009-12. In his final season against Texas A&M, Hamilton caught 11 passes for 162 yards.
This performance came after a 10-catch, 303-yard record-setting game against Rutgers. The 303 yards were the most in a single game by a receiver in SEC history, a record Hamilton held until LSU wide receiver Kayshon Boutte broke it with 308 yards in 2021.