LITTLE ROCK — Taylen Green was all smiles following his first game at Arkansas.
Even though he didn’t play at all after halftime, the quarterback was still oozing with joy when he met with reporters after the Razorbacks’ 70-0 dismantling of UAPB at War Memorial Stadium.
It was genuine, too. That was evident in an exchange between Green and running back Ja’Quinden Jackson during the press conference.
“He’s talking too long,” Jackson said after asking a reporter to repeat his question, which the quarterback answered first.
“I’m over here excited, bro,” Green quipped back. “It’s the first Hog win, bro.”
The Boise State transfer had plenty of reason to be excited. Not only did the offense score a touchdown on all 10 of its possessions, seven of which were led by him, but Green put up some big numbers.
He completed 16 of 23 passes (69.6%) for 229 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, plus added another 88 yards and two more scores on only six carries. That means he finished with 317 total yards and four total touchdowns — not bad for one half of play.
According to the ESPNU broadcast, Green joined Auburn’s Cam Newton and Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker as the only SEC quarterbacks to notch a pair of touchdowns through the air and on the ground in the first half of a season opener in the last 20 years. It’s safe to say at this point the majority of Arkansas football fans are more than OK with the idea of Green keeping the starting job.
That’s not to say he was perfect, though.
Green Overcomes Slow Start
In fact, Taylen Green nearly had a disastrous start. The Razorbacks chose to receive the opening kickoff and dialed up a shot on the first play of the game.
Tyrone Broden beat his man and likely would have scored a touchdown had Green put the ball where it needed to be, but the ball was under thrown and nearly intercepted.
“He threw it to the right guy, he just under-threw it,” Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman said. “I don’t think a whole lot fazes Taylen to be honest with you. I think he’s a grown man in his mind.”
That play might have been what Green needed to shake off the nerves and get locked in, but he admitted it was something he must improve before next week’s game at No. 17 Oklahoma State.
A couple of other throws were less than ideal, including another one that was at Broden’s feet and missing CJ Brown on a slant for a would-be touchdown, but that mental toughness helped him overcome the slow start.
“It’s a next-play mentality,” Green said. “I’m not always going to make every throw. I mean, I hope so. It’s all about sticking to the next play and you know what Coach Pittman says, just flushing it.”
Even with those misses, Green still completed nearly 70% of his passes and would have eclipsed that mark had it not been for an early drop by Jordan Anthony.
His accuracy seemed to improve as the game went on, with arguably his best throw coming on a 23-yard strike to Ty Washington for a touchdown with 5:37 left in the second quarter. Green rolled to his left and put the ball where only his tight end could get it.
“That’s straight drill-work,” Green said. “The quarterbacks, Coach Petrino, we work that every single day. When they’re doing special teams, we’re always on the turf field working that exact look and that exact play. When we saw it, Coach Petrino was like, ‘That’s drill work.’”
Electrifying Performance for Arkansas Football
Of course, what had people buzzing Thursday night was what Taylen Green did with his legs.
There have been concerns with his accuracy because of his 57.1% completion percentage at Boise State last year. Those issues flared up some in spring ball and fall camp, but whether or not they would prove detrimental with the Razorbacks was hard to determine because — like all quarterbacks — was off limits to the defense.
That meant the coaches weren’t sure just what kind of runner they had in Green.
“We obviously felt like he would play somewhat like he did,” Pittman said. “Probably the thing we didn’t know was how well he would run. We knew he was fast but we just hadn’t seen it.”
Yes, it was against UAPB, but Green did quite a bit to answer those questions in his Arkansas football debut.
With only 28 seconds remaining in the first half, the 6-foot-6 quarterback was flushed from the pocket after going through his progressions. He decided to try to get what he could on the ground and ended up in the end zone.
It officially went down as a 36-yard run, but he dropped back as far as the Razorbacks’ 49-yard line and avoided multiple tackles as he first raced down UAPB’s sideline before cutting all the way across the field. By the time he crossed the goal line in the opposite corner, only 9 seconds were left on the clock and, according to the ESPNU broadcast, he had covered 107 total yards.
“I knew it was the two-minute, and at first I was going to throw it away, but then I decided to run,” Green said. “Of course the clock keeps rolling if I get tackled, so I was like, ‘I better score.’ I crossed the field and saw the green grass and, you know, let my speed do the rest.”
Again, the Golden Lions were certainly an inferior opponent, but the play was reminiscent of another tall and fast quarterback who electrified crowds at War Memorial Stadium, Razorback Stadium and other venues across the SEC: Matt Jones.
“He is definitely a great quarterback,” offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino said in an interview on 103.7 The Buzz on Friday. “I think his ability to throw the ball combined with his talent and running makes him a special player and something that we feel like we can utilize all his talent.”
It remains to be seen if he can replicate that kind of performance against better competition, but defensive end Nico Davillier summed it up best.
“I’m glad he plays for the Hogs,” Davillier said with a smile.
Mixed Reviews of Taylen Green
Most people were singing Taylen Green’s praises after his performance against UAPB, including a reporter for ESPN and another reporter who covers Georgia:
However, that wasn’t universal. One name that should ring a bell to Arkansas football fans actually said he believed a quarterback battle was brewing.
Despite Green being the clear-cut starter since his arrival on campus as Bobby Petrino’s hand-picked quarterback, former Arkansas star Clint Stoerner saw enough of backup Malachi Singleton to post on Twitter that “Pittman/Petrino may have a tough decision to make at QB early.”
Taking over after halftime and playing all but the final drive of the second half, Singleton led the Razorbacks on two touchdown drives. The redshirt freshman completed 8 of 10 passes for 120 yards and rushed for a touchdown.
“He’s had a great fall and every time he comes in, he’s able to move the football,” Petrino said about Singleton during his 103.7 The Buzz interview. “He is very, very intelligent. He’s got a really quick release and we didn’t get to see him run as much as I thought we might last night, but he certainly can do that. But I was impressed with the way he got the ball out of his hand on time and the accuracy he threw it with.”
Here’s Stoerner’s assessment:
To be fair, the mechanics Stoerner mentions are something Petrino has worked hard on with Green since before he even committed, pointing them out during his official visit.
That was at the forefront of Green’s mind after the game, too.
“A really big focus of what we talked about on the sidelines is just getting my feet going,” Green said. “I felt like it was a little slow in the first two drives. That’s what we honed in and focused on the fall camp, so we just translate that to the game. That’s something I got to improve on, starting fast. I mean, it all starts with my feet.”
No QB Controversy for Arkansas Football
Regardless of how close Malachi Singleton actually is to pushing Taylen Green for the starting job, don’t expect any dissension in the quarterback room any time soon.
The guys seem to truly like each other and look up to Green as their leader.
“When Singleton scored and then also when Jackson at quarterback scored, man, he was the first guy on the field to hug and to high five,” former Razorback David Bazzell pointed out during the Petrino interview, “which I thought shows you the kind of quarterback room you had there.”
The leadership aspect of Green’s game has constantly come up in interviews with Sam Pittman and his teammates, and came up again with Petrino following the UAPB game.
“What makes Taylen Green (great) is the man that he is and the way he came in here and the leadership that he’s shown,” said Petrino, who’s likely aware of the kind of issues Arkansas had at the position last year. “He makes everybody around him better and that’s what a great leader and a great player is supposed to do.”
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