Taylen Green Could Use A History Lesson On Deadly Razorback Sin He Endorsed

Taylen Green, Devwah Whaley, anthracite jersey
Photo Credit: Arkansas Athletics

The debate over whether or not Arkansas football should expand its uniform selection has been raging on for years.

Under head coach Sam Pittman, the Razorbacks have mostly stuck to their bread and butter red and white look. The occasional switch-up for an all-white or all-red look, but mostly a traditional look.

The last time the Hogs wore a non-school color was in 2017 – the final time the infamous anthracite uniforms made an appearance, at the tail end of the Bret Bielema era. In the years since then, Twitter debates about bringing back the anthracite have opened up every now and again between Arkansas fans – usually when one fan has a little too much fun with photoshop on a slow workday.

The latest installment of this argument came last week with a post that garnered enough attention to warrant a response from QB1 himself. After racking up the second-most yards in a season in program history in 2024, Taylen Green is primed to lead the Razorbacks in 2025. He publicly supported the idea of Arkansas breaking out a “blackout” look. Here’s the concept in question:

“Neeeeed it!” Green exclaimed in reply, which prompted a predictably divided response from Razorback Nation.

History Suggests Black Jerseys Would Be a Deadly Sin

“If my QB1 says he needs it, this gotta happen,” one user said. “Been wanting a black alternative jersey for years,” another said in agreement.

Other fans weren’t sold. The complete opposite, in fact.

“The school colors are red and white. To wear ANYTHING else is disrespectful to the U of A and its alumni, regardless of how cool it may look,” said one fan by the name of Randy. “If you want to have a black jersey then the awesome city of Jonesboro is waiting,” said another user, throwing Arkansas State under the bus.

Photo Credit: Arkansas State Athletics

You can’t exactly blame Green for not knowing why so many fans turn up their noses at the idea of black uniforms. He’s from Lewisville, Texas, and didn’t get an offer from Arkansas out of high school. Before coming to Fayetteville, he played at Boise State – a school known for playing on blue turf and repping a number of wacky uniform combinations. So it was probably a little boring for him to wear the same set of attire for almost every game.

But those detractors might have a point beyond just being angry old men shaking their fist in the air. It’s true that Arkansas has stuck to the tried and true red and white combination for almost its entire history.

The lone exception, of course, are the dreaded anthracite uniforms of the 2010s. Ironically, that stretch of time is also when Arkansas had its most hideous normal uniforms, by far. Nike’s remake of the Razorbacks’ uniforms resulted in the tiny, hideous “RazorFont” epidemic now notorious with Bielema and the reign of former athletic director Jeff Long.

That same tiny-font scourge is likely what cursed the baseball team last season. Luckily, it seems that fatal mistake has been remedied ahead of the 2025 campaign.

Maybe the execution of the anthracite could have been better with a less ugly design template, but it’s still hard to bleach that look from the memory. There’s also the fact that Arkansas has a losing record in the few games it decided to stray away from tradition. Here’s the full history, courtesy of HogFlashbacks on Instagram:

Kentucky in 2012 – 49-7 W (wore red helmets)

Ole Miss in 2012 – 30-27 L (red helmets)

Mississippi State in 2013 – 24-17 L (all anthracite)

Florida in 2016 – 31-10 W (all anthracite)

Auburn in 2017 – 52-20 L (all anthracite)

While the Hogs did manage to blow out Florida in the Swamp donning anthracite, their overall record in the alternate look is just 2-3 – and two out of those three losses came by more than 30 points. Ouch.

Arkansas has had four quarterbacks across those five games: Tyler Wilson, Cole Kelley and Brandon and Austin Allen. They averaged 237.8 passing yards per game, and combined for eight touchdowns and four interceptions. Not terrible numbers, but certainly nothing that jumps off the page.

Wilson threw for 372 yards and five touchdowns against Kentucky and another 297 yards and two touchdowns against Ole Miss – really putting the anthracite gunslingers on his back straight out of the gates with those showings. In the last three games, however, Kelley and the Allen brothers averaged just 173.3 yards per game.

All in all, the precedent for “Darkansas” quarterbacks is nothing to write home about – and something Green might want to beware of.

Not only did the Razorbacks do away with the program’s rich history by rocking these sets, they also didn’t perform well in them. For those two reasons alone, a return to a “Darkansas” look should not be on the cards. Especially considering that the current uniform set – a callback to the 2000s uniforms – is, in my opinion, the best look that Arkansas has ever had. It’s the perfect mix of slick modernity and tradition, and the large-sized “ARKANSAS” makes it clear exactly who’s on the field. It’s beautiful.

Some fans clamoring for the black jerseys argued that they would look extra sweet during night games…but I can’t help but point out how clean the Hogs looked wearing their classic look in a primetime upset of No. 4 Tennessee last year.

In a night game, when you’re in a primo TV slot, you want to show off your best look to a national audience. Don’t overcomplicate it. Just wear the red. Maybe this topic can be revisited when the university switches up its apparel sponsor again and inevitably ends up with an ugly rebrand. But for now – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

It seems the softball program is offering a middle-ground alternative to the debate, unveiling on Monday night a new alternate uniform that is mostly white with black accents — but no red to be found.

Of course, switching things up with a fun alternate uniform is much less of a big deal in a sport like baseball or softball where you play over 50 games per season. In football, though, it’s just an even dozen regular season games — and you usually only have the opportunity to wear a predominantly-black jersey for a home game. Considering that, as well as Arkansas football’s recent history in alternates, it’s still a good precaution to not stray far away from the school’s core colors.

Where Taylen Green Stacks Up in the SEC Pack for 2025

With Green returning for year two with the Razorbacks, he automatically vaults up the list when ranking SEC quarterbacks heading into the 2025 season. Arkansas’ QB1 is one of just seven schools in the conference who return their starting signal caller from last year – the other nine will have a new face leading the offense.

Among the returners, Tennessee’s Nico Iameleava and Florida’s DJ Lagway both lead the pack due to their five-star status and NFL Draft buzz. Texas’ Arch Manning will be in his first year at the helm, but the same applies to him. LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier had produced big numbers during an up-and-down junior season, but he’ll need to be better to take the Tigers to the CFP. 

South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers returns after leading the Gamecocks to a 10-win season. Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed is also back after the Aggies had an underwhelming 8-4 season – though he did manage to outduel Green in the Southwest Classic last time around. Diego Pavia’s legal win means he also returns after taking Vanderbilt to a surprising 6-6 season.

Of the schools replacing their gunslinger for this year, Oklahoma’s John Mateer, the No. 1 portal QB of the cycle, is really the only one you can say is expected to outperform Green. Even if you put Mateer and some of the other returning quarterbacks ahead of Green, the Razorback QB is still comfortably in the upper echelon of signal callers in the conference.

In fact, On3 ranks Green as the 12th-most impactful returning quarterback in the nation ahead of the 2025 season. Not only do national media outlets view the 6-foot-6 dual-threat as one of the best in the conference, but they also see him as one of the better passers in the country.

Arkansas’ offense was markedly better under the direction of Bobby Petrino last year, finishing 10th nationally in total yardage. Green’s biggest issue in 2024 was turnovers – not just his nine interceptions, but also his five fumbles. If he can take the next step in his development with a second year under Petrino’s tutelage, then the Hogs’ offense could be a force to be reckoned with next season.

It’s not just the uniforms, either. Another successful season at the helm could launch Green into the record books as one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in school history. In that case, a brush-up on the Razorbacks’ past could help out on multiple fronts. 

***

Tye Richardson from ESPN Arkansas joins That SEC Football Podcast to talk Taylen Green’s potential in 2025:

YouTube video

***

More coverage of Arkansas football from BoAS:

Facebook Comments