LITTLE ROCK — War Memorial Stadium leaders were determined to give Arkansas football fans a better experience in 2024 after last season’s fiasco.
The historic venue came under intense scrutiny last year when it reportedly ran out of bottled water prior to the conclusion of the Razorbacks’ blowout win over Western Carolina, which had been moved up several hours because of the heat in Little Rock.
On top of that, there were also issues with the mobile ticketing system and the referee mic.
It has almost become a running joke: “What will go wrong this time?” Those in charge wanted to make sure there wasn’t a repeat this year when Arkansas opened the season Thursday night against UAPB, though.
While the Razorbacks took care of business in a 70-0 beatdown of the overmatched Golden Lions, it seems as though War Memorial Stadium came up short. Again.
It should be noted that this column is being written while drenched in sweat because the air conditioning in the press box isn’t working. Of course, you — the fan — probably don’t care about something that really only impacts the media.
However, the water also completely stopped working in the press box before kickoff. Toilets, sinks, water fountains — none of it worked. It wasn’t just the media floor, either. The bathrooms on the concourse were reportedly fine, but Best of Arkansas Sports confirmed that the water was out for all levels of the press box, which includes premium seating. That’s inexcusable.
The issue that should cause the most frustration with fans is that War Memorial Stadium still had a connectivity problem that apparently caused a couple of issues.
First, the ESPNU broadcast cut out just before Arkansas scored its second touchdown of the game. Those watching from home saw a black screen as Taylen Green kept the ball on a read-option and went 5 yards untouched for his first touchdown with the Razorbacks.
That could be written off as a technical issue with ESPN, but multiple people on Twitter told Best of Arkansas Sports that the radio broadcast also cut out at the exact same time. That indicates it was an issue within the stadium.
Then, during the second quarter, Hogville’s Jason Pattyson reported that some fans on the west side of the stadium were still waiting to get in because of “issues with the connectivity with the ticket scanners.”
If that’s truly the case, it’s also inexcusable. War Memorial Stadium manager Jon Latch even told THV11 that they had upped the network speed and increased the number of ticket scanners to avoid such an issue.
It was yet another bad look for those hoping the tradition of Arkansas football games in Little Rock won’t die after next year’s matchup with Arkansas State, the last War Memorial Stadium game currently on the books.
Another War Memorial Stadium Massacre
It also doesn’t help that the announced attendance was only 40,127 – which might have been generous.
Of course, that’s not on the fans. That’s a byproduct of Arkansas playing only cupcakes in Little Rock. Last year, it was a 56-13 beatdown of Western Carolina. Three years ago, the Razorbacks blew out UAPB 45-3. In 2017, it was a 49-7 win over Florida A&M, which came a year after a 52-10 win over Alcorn State.
None of them were as bad as what unfolded Thursday night. Arkansas dominated the Golden Lions about as thoroughly as possible.
Defensively, the Razorbacks notched their first shutout since they beat Tulsa 23-0 in 2018 for one of Chad Morris’ four wins as head coach.
Offensively, Arkansas was perfect. It went 10 for 10, scoring touchdowns on every drive. Not only was it the first time it had scored on each of its first 10 possessions, but that feat hadn’t been accomplished anywhere in college football in at least two decades, according to the ESPNU broadcast.
Part of that is because UAPB is simply bad.
The Razorbacks racked up a whopping 687 yards of offense, which is the third-most in school history. They probably would have surpassed the Darren McFadden-led 2007 team’s total against North Texas, currently holder of the No. 2 spot, had the Golden Lions not shanked multiple punts that set the Hogs up in good field position.
(It also didn’t help that the third and fourth quarters were each shortened by five minutes. Otherwise, Arkansas might have even challenged the school record of 859 yards set in 1936 against Pittsburg State, where Sam Pittman eventually played about five decades later.)
Speaking of punts, UAPB burned three of its timeouts prior to punts – including on a fourth-and-38 late in the fourth quarter when it was trailing 63-0.
Just two of the Golden Lions’ 11 drives ended in Arkansas territory and they really only threatened to score once. That came when quarterback Mekhi Hagens launched a deep ball that went through Jayden Johnson’s hands and into the arms of Daemon Dawkins. It would have been a 66-yard touchdown, but Hagens stepped out of bounds just before releasing the pass.
UAPB finished with 130 total yards – only 7 of which came on the ground. It was the fewest rushing yards allowed by the Razorbacks since the 2014 Texas Bowl, when they held Texas to just 2.
When the dust settled, it was Arkansas’ most lopsided victory since 1928, when it beat Rhodes College – which is located in Memphis and is now a DIII school – by a final score of 73-0.
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