For the second time in the first three weeks of the 2024 college football season, the Arkansas Razorbacks are set to face an inferior opponent. Fifth-year head coach Sam Pittman and the Hogs (1-1, 0-0 SEC) will play host to the UAB Blazers (1-1, 0-0 AAC) Saturday in Fayetteville.
On paper, Arkansas ranks near the top of the country in just about every offensive category, while the Blazers have some work to do following a 32-6 loss at Louisiana-Monroe over the weekend. The Razorbacks suffered a 39-31 double-overtime loss at a ranked Oklahoma State squad despite totaling 648 total yards of offense.
As for high school star ratings, Arkansas' starters average out at 3.4 stars, while UAB unsurprisingly comes in at an average of 1.9 stars. The Blazers do have a handful of transfer from Power Four programs, though, such as LSU transfer edge rusher Desmond Little, Purdue transfer linebacker OC Brothers and former Baylor quarterback Jacob Zeno, who set plenty of records for the Blazers a season ago.
Arkansas has fared better than UAB in every offensive category on Pro Football Focus, which is a football analytics website that provides grades for each individual player and full teams after analyzing each game for all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. Defensively, the Blazers have graded out very well this season.
Here's a look at how both teams stack up based on stats from this year and high school star ratings:
Season Stats - UAB | Arkansas (FBS rank out of 134 teams)
OffenseUAB || Arkansas
Scoring: 23.5 (96th) | 50.5 (9th)
Total yards: 388.0 (73rd) | 667.5 (2nd)
Passing: 191.5 (97th) | 412.0 (2nd)
Rushing: 197.0 (39th) | 255.5 (16th)
Third downs: 46.2% (46th) | 71.43% (1st)
Sacks allowed/game: 2.5 (t-100th) | 1.5 (t-59th)
Turnovers: 6 (t-126th) | 3 (t-79th)
Defense
UAB || Arkansas
Scoring: 17.5 (t-62nd) | 19.5 (t-67th)
Total yards: 236.5 (t-26th) | 257.5 (t-35th)
Passing: 73.5 (3rd) | 224.5 (89th)
Rushing: 163.0 (98th) | 33.0 (4th)
Third downs: 31.0% (52nd) | 23.1% (18th)
Sacks/game: 2.5 (36th) | 2.0 (57th)
Turnovers forced: 2 (t-62nd) | 1 (t-98th)
Star Comparison (using Rivals ratings)
Star Comparison - UAB vs Arkansas| UAB | Stars | Arkansas | Stars |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB Jacob Zeno | 4 | QB Taylen Green | 2 |
| RB Lee Beebe Jr. | NR | RB Ja'Quinden Jackson | 4 |
| TE Bryce Damous | NR | TE Luke Hasz | 4 |
| WR Amare Thomas | 2 | WR Andrew Armstrong | 2 |
| WR Malachi Holt-Bennett | 3 | WR Tyrone Broden | 2 |
| WR Brandon Hawkins Jr. | 3 | WR Isaiah Sategna | 4 |
| LT Jondarius Morgan | 3 | LT Fernando Carmona Jr. | 2 |
| LG Quez Yates | 2 | LG E'Marion Harris | 4 |
| C Brady Wilson | 2 | C Addison Nichols | 4 |
| RG Zaire Flournoy | 2 | RG Joshua Braun | 4 |
| RT DJ Jones | NR | RT Keyshawn Blackstock | 4 |
| DE Kendall Johnson | NR | DE Landon Jackson | 4 |
| NT Kevin Penn | 2 | DT Eric Gregory | 4 |
| DT LD Cox | 3 | DT Cam Ball | 3 |
| RUSH Desmond Little | 3 | DE Nico Davillier | 4 |
| LB Michael Moore | NR | LB Brad Spence | 3 |
| LB OC Brothers | 3 | LB Xavian Sorey Jr. | 4 |
| LB Everett Roussaw Jr. | 3 | HOG Doneiko Slaughter | 4 |
| SS Chris Bracy | 2 | S Jayden Johnson | 3 |
| FS Tyjon Jones | NR | S TJ Metcalf | 3 |
| CB Colby Dempsey | 3 | CB Jaylon Braxton | 4 |
| CB Kelvin Hill | 2 | CB Marquise Robinson | 2 |
NR - Not rated
Pro Football Focus Comparison (using season grades)
Team Grades (UAB | Arkansas)Overall: 83.8 | 90.1
Offense: 63.6 | 86.3
Passing: 66.1 | 90.6
Rushing: 70.9 | 78.2
Receiving: 55.7 | 77.6
Pass blocking: 53.8 | 64.4
Run blocking: 66.3 | 75.0
Defense: 89.0 | 67.9
Run defense: 82.9 | 88.1
Tackling: 82.2 | 60.1
Pass rush: 74.2 | 59.1
Coverage: 90.2 | 55.4
Special teams: 77.0 | 73.0
PFF Comparison - UAB vs. Arkansas
| UAB | PFF Grades (Snaps) | Arkansas | PFF Grades (Snaps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB Jacob Zeno | 66.8 (152) | QB Taylen Green | 90.8 (136) |
| RB Lee Beebe Jr. | 68.3 (67) | RB Ja'Quinden Jackson | 74.2 (81) |
| TE Bryce Damous | 45.2 (73) | TE Luke Hasz | 78.5 (105) |
| WR Amare Thomas | 57.2 (108) | WR Andrew Armstrong | 75.5 (85) |
| WR Malachi Holt-Bennett | 48.6 (80) | WR Tyrone Broden | 58.8 (122) |
| WR Brandon Hawkins Jr. | 60.3 (34) | WR Isaiah Sategna | 73.1 (101) |
| LT Jondarius Morgan | 52.1 (157) | LT Fernando Carmona Jr. | 72.4 (142) |
| LG Quez Yates | 62.4 (139) | LG E'Marion Harris | 59.1 (154) |
| C Brady Wilson | 73.2 (157) | C Addison Nichols | 66.8 (142) |
| RG Zaire Flournoy | 53.8 (77) | RG Joshua Braun | 64.4 (142) |
| RT DJ Jones | 61.1 (157) | RT Keyshawn Blackstock | 55.3 (142) |
| DE Kendall Johnson | 84.2 (42) | DE Landon Jackson | 64.4 (99) |
| NT Kevin Penn | 62.9 (54) | DT Eric Gregory | 72.3 (87) |
| DT LD Cox | 66.8 (77) | DT Cam Ball | 65.7 (82) |
| RUSH Desmond Little | 73.3 (84) | DE Nico Davillier | 69.5 (81) |
| LB Michael Moore | 69.8 (81) | LB Brad Spence | 64.4 (68) |
| LB OC Brothers | 59.0 (75) | LB Xavian Sorey Jr. | 61.6 (82) |
| LB Everett Roussaw Jr. | 81.3 (75) | HOG Doneiko Slaughter | 53.5 (90) |
| CB Colby Dempsey | 77.0 (98) | CB Jaylon Braxton | 56.0 (77) |
| SS Chris Bracy | 66.9 (71) | S Jayden Johnson | 69.2 (102) |
| FS Tyjon Jones | 61.3 (98) | S TJ Metcalf | 62.3 (110) |
| CB Kelvin Hill | 80.1 (91) | CB Marquise Robinson | 53.7 (24) |
