FAYETTEVILLE — At long last, the general public got its eyes on the Arkansas football team for the first time in the Ryan Silverfield era during Saturday’s spring game.
The scrimmage had much more of a “real game” feel than past years, with two 12-minute quarters and abbreviated special teams action. It was also visibly more competitive, as the starters were dispersed across the red and white teams rather than a defined group of “ones” and “twos.”
Braylen Russell put his newly slimmed-down physique to work with 6 carries for 35 yards, but his backfield partner on the white team, Cam Settles, led all rushers with 7 carries for 57 yards and a touchdown.
The main spectacle of the afternoon, however, was the gunslinging duel between KJ Jackson and AJ Hill, Arkansas’ first true quarterback battle since 2019. The two split first-team reps pretty evenly throughout spring ball, but the more experienced Jackson appeared slightly ahead in the race.
The redshirt sophomore southpaw kept his foot on the gas Saturday, completing 9 of his 13 passes* for 129 yards and a touchdown in a narrow 14-13 win for the red team. That included the longest play of the day, a 65-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass to CJ Brown. The Bentonville native caught it around the 35-yard line and outran the secondary the rest of the way.
Hill, by contrast, finished 9 of 17 for 95 yards, no touchdowns and an interception, adding a 2-yard rushing touchdown on a zone read keeper.
That 43-yard pick six to Nsongbeh Ginyui — a JUCO transfer defensive back who was one of Arkansas’ lower-rated portal additions this offseason — tied the game and got the red team on the scoreboard.
Hill didn’t have the best day, but it’s still too early to throw in the towel on this position battle.
AJ Hill’s Arkansas Debut
The Memphis transfer is a redshirt freshman with hardly any game experience, and his slightly lengthy throwing motion could use some refining. But at 6-foot-4 and 234 pounds with a rocket right arm, he has all the tools to be an SEC-caliber starter.
Hill’s statline also deserves a whole lot of context. The white team had six drops on the day, and four of them came with Hill in at quarterback; the red team, by contrast, did not drop any balls.
