Razorbacks Fans Only Get One Way to See Hogs' First Legitimate Spring Game in Forever

Silverfield goes out of way to present evenly matched Hogs teams for evaluation at Arkansas' Red-White game Saturday

Arkansas quarterback KJ Jackson (7) warms up prior to a game against the Missouri Tigers at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — For years the concern over the Arkansas Razorbacks playing a spring game was it would be seen on television and opposing teams would use the broadcast to scout players and pick off the best performers with NIL money in the upcoming transfer portal.

That's no longer a concern for coaches anymore. There's only one transfer portal, so the players who play in the spring game are the same ones who will take the field on opening day barring injury or a girlfriend back home guilting a player into moving back.

Because coaches were going to be able to go all out in an actual game that might give fans an idea what the Hogs might have this season, Arkansas fans were excited to find out when ESPN would broadcast it so they could get a feel for new head coach Ryan Silverfield and the team he cobbled together. Unfortunately, now that it doesn't matter that the team can be seen and there's good reason to watch, ESPN has decided it's not worth the effort.

Not even to tack up on the app as part of the ESPN+ line-up. Instead, if fans want to see the Razorbacks, they have to show up and watch in person.

Sure, it's extremely inconvenient for people who live far outside of Northwest Arkansas, especially given the recent history of the event going indoors, or in some cases like last year, being cancelled all together. Thunderstorms are expected to roll through in the second half of the day, but right now it's too far out to know if it will affect the game.

Either way, it is what it is. Those who want to see the battle between quarterbacks KJ Jackson and AJ Hill or whether receivers Courtney Crutchfield or Antonio Jordan look they have anything in live situations will have to do so from a seat in Razorback Stadium.

What Will They See

The specifics are scattered across several interviews from throughout spring, but the first thing that is certain is the team has been divided up as evenly as possible. If the Red Team got six projected starters on offense, then the White Team got six projected starters on defense, and so forth.

Those players were sorted out by offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey and defensive coordinator Ron Roberts before being handed over to Silverfield for final adjustments based on match-ups and pairings he specifically wants to see.

"He [also decided how to] split the coaches in half," Cramsey said. "Coach Silverfield really made the final decision on it all. But, that's what it is. We're trying to get two even teams, not the [No. 1] defense versus the [No. 2] offense because I'll be honest with you, offensively, I'm not in that mode to say these are the ones and these are the twos."

During the game, Silverfield will be mostly an observer, leaving coaching duties to assistants. However, to make things fair, that means the assistants in question won't be his coordinators.

It would be a tactical advantage to have Cramsey calling offensive plays on one side and a lower level assistant calling against him on the other. Instead, two position coaches from both the defense and offense have been chosen to put together game plans and call their games.

"We do it that way offensively for a couple of reasons. It gives [receivers] Coach Larry [Smith] and [quarterbacks] Coach Mitch [Stewart] an opportunity to call a game and call some plays. Jokingly, I was going to tell y'all that we just don't want teams to see that we're going to run the triple option this year.

"It's good to see them go out and call plays and put together a little bit of a plan. No secrets, it's a spring game, so we ain't showing a whole lot, but we're going to put guys in spaces to be evaluated and put guys in spaces to make plays and be able to hopefully evaluate."

During the game, Cramsey said he will watch from the sidelines, although he may not have a headset. If he does, it won't be the one used to communicate with the quarterbacks as Smith and Stewart will have those to call plays to Hill and Jackson.

Even though things are scaled down across the board, Silverfield wants this to be an opportunity for both the coaches and players to go through the process of breaking down film and performance afterward so there is an idea of what to expect this fall.

"This is not a spring game where we play and we don't watch the film," Cramsey said. "We're gonna watch the film, we're gonna grade the film, we're gonna break it down, [and] we're gonna sit down and watch the film with the players on Monday and go from there.

Other stuff surrounding the game

While the game doesn't begin until 2 p.m., there will be plenty of activities on campus around the athletics facilities to keep Razorbacks fans occupied.

The events begin at 10 a.m. when a Classic Car &. Truck Show kicks off. For those who have children with them who might not have a lot of interest in older cars, there will be a petting zoo, inflatables and several "Interactive games" available to keep them occupied.

Once fans build up an appetite, there will be a selection of local food trucks and also a beer garden for the adults looking for a more mature beverage and setting. And after filling their bellies, Razorbacks fans can make sure others don't go hungry by dropping off dry food items at the food drive presented by the University of Arkansas Full Circle Food Pantry.

Prior to 12:45 p.m., Hogs fans will want to head over to Lot 300 on the north side of the stadium. This is where most of the activities will already be taking place, so it shouldn't be hard to find.

There, multi-platinum country music recording artist and morning host on 103.7 "The Buzz" in Little Rock, Justin Moore, will put on a concert leading up to the game. Music fans will recognize Moore from songs like "Small Town USA" or "Time's Ticking."

Once Moore wraps his performance, a pep rally will begin with the Arkansas Razorback spirit squads, mascots, Razorback Marching Band and Tusk VI as they take the stage prior to kick-off new

Following the game, the football team will participate in an autograph session. Fans will receive posters upon entry for the team to sign afterward.

It's important for people to know and understand that the posters are the only things members of the football team will be signing. Please do not slow things down or ruin the experience for others by bringing other items such as Razorback footballs and try to guilt people into signing them.

The event is technically free, but not really. Razorback Foundation members will automatically have four tickets show up in their accounts and students who are collegiate members of the Foundation will have one ticket added to their account to attend.

However, those who either can't afford to be Razorback Foundation members or who don't want to be, it will cost $10. The only way to avoid paying the fee is to provide the Foundation personal information and agree to receive news and updates about their events and membership drives.

Those who wish to agree to that can go to this link and click on the words "Football Spring Game Free Ticket Opportunities" and fill out the resulting form. Otherwise, fans must click on the "Buy Tickets" link at the top and follow the prompts to pay.