Three Things Razorbacks Must Do in Week One That Will Pay Off For 2026 Season

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — There's not much to learn from Saturday after the Arkansas Razorbacks take on North Alabama, but they can set the tone for the 2026 regular season.

Unless the Razorbacks come out completely flat and play an uninspired brand of football, coach Ryan Silverfield's team should take care of business in a big way Saturday afternoon.

Here are five things the Hogs must do to not only win, but handle what appeared to be an improved North Alabama football team last Saturday against Samford.

Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback KJ Jackson (7) gets ready for the snap during spring practice at the Arkansas Razorbacks practice facilities. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

KJ Jackson: Game Manager

The Razorbacks' QB1 won't be taking the field for his first start, but this offense will allow him to thrive in a scheme tailored to his skillset.

Jackson will be asked to process quickly, operate the offense efficiently and limit turnovers. He's also not going to be asked to do anything that doesn't fit his playing style either.

Offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey and Silverfield alike don't have a specific scheme they want to run, but will adapt a scheme to who they are coaching. While they have been gameplanning in a hypothetical manner throughout the spring and training camp, taking the gray jersey off him could help him build confidence through improvision.

What he must avoid is playing in a manner that doesn't quite represent his style and keeping the ball away from his opponent. Should he manage the game, that'll be at least one key to taking care of North Alabama.

An official throws a flag in Razorback game against the Mississippi State — An official throws a flag in Arkansas Razorback game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Ted McClenning-allHOGS Images

Play Clean: Limit Turnovers, Penalites

Like Jackson needs to avoid turnovers, making sure his offense keeps pre-snap penalties will go a long way to playing that disciplined style of fotoball Silverfield has talked about since taking the job.

“We want to be the best that we can possibly be in being really good at controlling the controllables,” Silverfield said after the Razorbacks first scrimmage. “The thing that I’m really pleased with is the effort. I don’t ever want to talk about what’s occurred in the past, but everybody here is saying it’s completely different.

“The way we’re commanding the effort, the way we’re demanding it, running to the football, being passionate about playing. I think those things are showing up day in and day out. I think that’s what’s pleasing me.”

He also wants to make sure the Razorbacks maintain their composure throughout games that can be detrimental to playing a winning brand of football.

"Anything that's directed at the opponent or the opponent's sideline is automatic 15-yard penalty," Silverfield said Monday. "That's one of those things, obviously, was a point of emphasis over the last three years, and then certainly more so this year.

"And then one of the new added things is any signaling of wiping the nose and doing it, Whether it's directed at it or even in the direction of wiping the nose and then showing the first down, that's banned from the NCAA."

Last season, there were so many missed assignments, effort concerns and missed tackles throughout all of 2025 season. That will no longer be tolerated by the Silverfield regime, which fans should be thrilled with moving forward.

"You've heard me talk in the past about not our standard, our standard, and just showing examples throughout college football, things that we can learn from," Silverfield said. "Do I want to play absolutely clean game? For sure. But I always tell those things, right? The penalties that are pre-snap and then post-whistle, we've got to be able to do our best to keep those out of our system."

Arkansas Razorbacks running back Sutton Smith warms up during the Red-White Spring Game. | Sutton Smith, Instagra

Run The Ball

The earlier Arkansas can establish the run game, the better it'll open up the passing game. It sounds elementary, but that's what it takes to win at any level of football.

Sutton Smith gets the start at running back with Braylen Russell getting the next handful of carries. The 5-foot-10 running back isn't your average scatback, he can run between the tackles and make defenders miss in space.

After being limited through fall camp, Smith is fully healthy and is equipped to put on a show out of the backfield on Saturday.

“Sutton Smith should be good to go,” Silverfield said on Monday. “He is, what we believe, is healed. [He] told me he feels 100%. He’s moving around really well, so we have no doubts that he should be full go.”

Sign up to our free newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter) for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google