BYU-Arkansas Will Feature a Showdown of Two Veteran Quarterbacks

Two of college football's most experienced quarterbacks will square off on Saturday night. Both Kedon Slovis and KJ Jefferson played their first season of college football in 2019. BYU quarterback Kedon Slovis will lead the BYU offense into Arkansas to take on the Razorbacks. On the opposite sideline, senior quarterback KJ Jefferson will start for the Razorbacks.

Kedon Slovis has played in 40 games over the course of his collegiate career and he has started 39 games. Over his 40-game career, Slovis has thrown for 10,466 yards and 72 touchdowns. BYU is coming off a 41-16 win over Southern Utah in which Slovis threw for 348 yards and finished with five touchdowns.

KJ Jefferson entered the season ranked in the top 10 at Arkansas in pass attempts, completions, passing yards, touchdown passes, total plays, total yards and touchdown responsibility. Jefferson has thrown for 6,186 yards and 53 touchdowns in his career and he has also run for 1,488 yards and 20 touchdowns. Jefferson has played in 34 games for Arkansas. Jefferson torched BYU in 2022 for 399 total yards and five touchdowns.

There isn't much in terms of defensive schemes and coverages that the two quarterbacks haven't seen. Both defensive coordinators, in their first seasons at their respective schools, will have to get creative.

Ironically, KJ Jefferson is one of the reasons why BYU has a new defensive staff in the first place. According to various reports, BYU defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki offered to resign after Arkansas scored 52 points in Provo that day. Instead of letting him go on the spot, Sitake took over the defense after that game and retained Tuiaki until the end of the regular season. Once the regular season ended, BYU parted ways with Tuiaki hired Jay Hill as its new defensive coordinator. There were certainly cracks in the foundation of BYU's defense, but KJ Jefferson was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

This story will come full circle for the BYU defense when they face KJ Jefferson in the first real challenge for the new staff. To say BYU's secondary will be tested might be an understatement, especially down the field. Jefferson has been one of the best deep throwers in college football over the last three season. In 2021, Jefferson received a grade of 96.9 on deep throws by PFF, that ranked fourth in the country. Jefferson's deep throws were graded 91.6 in 2022 and after two games this season, his deep-throw grade is 95.1. That is good enough for 13th in the country. He is also the best quarterback in the country in a clean pocket according to PFF. The BYU defensive line needs to be disruptive on Saturday, or they could be in for another long day.

For BYU, the offensive line needs to give Kedon Slovis time to throw. Slovis is one of the top passers in the country in a clean pocket. His production drops dramatically when he is under pressure.

Great college football quarterbacks make for great college football games. If history is any indication, we're in for a really good game when BYU kicks off against Arkansas.

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