Notebook: Hogs have record-low attendance, Burks at KOR, more

FAYETTEVILLE — Despite it playing its annual homecoming game, Arkansas hit a historic low in attendance Saturday afternoon.

An announced crowd of 52,256 were inside Reynolds Razorback Stadium to witness the Razorbacks’ 54-24 blowout loss to Mississippi State.

It was the smallest attendance for a game in Fayetteville since Arkansas’ on-campus stadium was expanded prior to the 2001 season. The previous low of 52,683 was set in 2001 against Weber State, a game that was added to the schedule after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks led to the cancelation of a scheduled game against North Texas.

In the 19 seasons since that expansion, the Razorbacks have drawn fewer than 60,000 fans just nine times. Six of those occasions have been in their last eight home games.

Arkansas would have to sell 87,778 tickets - or 115.5 percent over capacity - to next week’s game against Western Kentucky (11 a.m., SEC Network) to avoid setting a post-expansion low for average attendance in Fayetteville. The current mark of 61,225 was set last season.

Burks at KOR

It required an injury to a teammate, but Treylon Burks found another way to impact a football game Saturday night.

When starting kickoff returner De’Vion Warren went down with an ankle sprain midway through the second quarter, the true freshman from Warren took over the duties and didn’t disappoint.

His first return gained only 11 yards, but he followed it up with one that set the Razorbacks up at the 41-yard line. In the second half, he had a 38-yard return to set up John Stephen Jones’ touchdown drive, a 20-yard return out to the 25-yard line and a 42-yard return that actually crossed midfield.

In his first action as a kickoff returner, he averaged 26.8 yards on five returns. Even with his lone punt return of the night losing one yard, Burks still racked up 180 all-purpose yards in the loss.