By the Numbers: 26 days until Arkansas football
The Arkansas Razorbacks will take the field for the 2023 college football season in 26 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 26 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 26.
Highlights:
Current Player: #26 Christian Ford
A native of McKinney, Texas, Ford was a three-star safety prospect out of high school. As a senior, he racked up 34 tackles after missing the first six games of the season.
The freshman defensive back chose Arkansas over programs like Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, TCU, Washington State and others.
Former Player: #26 Ramon Broadway
A former two-star prospect out of Evangel Christian High School, Broadway played far above his ranking for the Razorbacks.
From 2007-10, Broadway totaled 154 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions and one forced fumble. His career-high in tackles came during his senior season against Alabama when he made nine total.
1988: Arkansas 26 - Houston 21
The 6-0 Razorbacks took on the 4-1 Cougars in this 1988 college football game. Head coach Ken Hatfield was in his fifth season as head coach for Arkansas.
After taking a 16-7 lead at half, the Razorbacks were outscored 7-3 in the third quarter. With the score sitting at 19-14, both teams traded touchdowns in the fourth quarter to get it to 26-21. With under a minute left, Houston attempted an onside kick and recovered it, only for it to be overturned due to penalty.
Arkansas went on to win the game, 26-21.
2006: LSU 31 - Arkansas 26
Arkansas was coming into this game with national title hopes. Sitting at 10-1 overall and with a No. 5 ranking, the Razorbacks had to take care of business at home. The No. 9 LSU Tigers had different plans, however.
After taking a 14-12 lead at half, the Tigers scored a field goal in the third quarter to lead 17-12. A high-scoring fourth quarter by both squads resulted in a 31-26 score. With Arkansas possessing the ball down five and time winding down, quarterback Casey Dick threw four straight incompletions to turn the ball over on downs and end the game.
Running back Darren McFadden added 182 yards on the ground with two touchdowns to keep it close and fellow running back Felix Jones ran for 137 yards as well.
Matt Jones' 26 total touchdowns in 2003
Standing at 6-foot-6, 242-pounds with a registered 40-time of 4.37 seconds, Jones was a rarity in college football in 2003.
Still, his 2003 season was very productive. During the year, he threw for 1,917 yards and 18 touchdowns. The dual-threat quarterback added 707 rushing yards along with eight touchdowns on the ground to end up with 26 total.