Razorbacks Sticking With KJ Jackson At QB Despite Early-Season Struggles

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield said Monday that KJ Jackson will be Arkansas' starting quarterback when the Hogs host No. 2 Georgia on Saturday despite Jackson's struggles in the first two games of the season.

"We plan on having KJ as our starting quarterback, but I've got great faith in everybody in that quarterback room," Silverfield said. "I certainly do, and they're going to continue to improve."

AJ Hill entered the game with Arkansas trailing 43-3 and led the Razorbacks' only touchdown drive of the night, though the score came on a tipped pass to Ismael Cisse that should've been picked off. Hill completed eight of his 14 passes for 105 yards and the touchdown, and despite Jackson's first half struggles, Silverfield said that there was no thought to going to Hill earlier in the game.

"Probably not any earlier," Silverfield said. "I think we saw the adjustments that KJ had made the week before after halftime. Kind of just OK, go back, take a deep breath. We knew we had to kick off and say, hey, these are the things that have got to get fixed.

"Obviously, we weren't able to, but there was never that discussion at halftime. Hey, let's go and switch. And so the timing of it was going to the fourth at that time, kind of OK, hey, is this the right opportunity now to to see if we can get the offensive spark?"

Jackson started Arkansas' 2025 finale against Missouri and looked solid in limited action a season ago, but has fallen well below the bar set for him in the offseason in Arkansas' first two games of the season.

After not throwing an interception in his college career in 2024 or 2025, Jackson has thrown a pick in each of Arkansas' first two contests. The first was an egregiously poor throw to end the first half against North Alabama when Arkansas was in the red zone, while the second came on an overthrown screen pass in the first half of Saturday's 43-10 loss to No. 17 Utah.

Jackson easily could've thrown another interception against North Alabama and had two more near misses against Utah.

"I thought the quarterback play was not to the standard that we expect and not to the standard to win football games," Silverfield said. "KJ knows good and well that he did some things that can't happen."

Jackson started out Saturday's game well enough, leading UA to a field goal on its opening drive and completing eight of his first 12 passes for 72 yards. But he connected on only six of his final 22 attempts and ended the night with a 41 percent completion percentage and only 139 yards through the air on an evening where he flat-out missed several receivers and once again looked timid.

Sep 12, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes defensive tackle Karson Kaufusi (51) knocks down a pass by Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback KJ Jackson (7) during the second quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"Can we put him in a better situation to have more success? Sometimes it’s just as simple as the throw wasn’t there that we need to make, or the read wasn’t there on the defensive end," Silverfield said. "If the defensive end bites down on the running back, well then you’re supposed to pull and go get 5 yards on the run. Instead, it’s a tackle for a 1-yard loss. So those things, I’m not sure why it’s not translating. I had a sit-down with KJ and talked through it. Obviously we all have. And he understands.

"The biggest difference was that at halftime of Game 1, him saying, ‘Yup, I understand the mistakes I made,’ got it fixed and had a clean second half. And then this game, just not making the best throws, not making the best decisions with the ball. Even on the screen pass, maybe the touch on the ball that got intercepted. It’s just sitting back and saying, ‘Okay, learn from these things.’ So what you want hope is that every opportunity, every experience he gets on the field, he’s going to continue to improve. Again, the good news is he’s a smart, intelligent, hard-working young man who I think we’re going to see the right strides and right direction."

Jackson will have to play better on Sept. 19 if Arkansas is going to have any chance to beat No. 2 Georgia, though the Bulldogs are likely foaming at the mouth ahead of the Week 3 matchup. Jackson hasn't had much help from his offensive line in pass protection, nor has Arkansas' running game opened up opportunities through the air.

It wouldn't be surprising to see Georgia have a defensive field day, but if there were a week for Jackson to make massive strides in practice, it'd be this one.

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