Historic Football Game Saturday in Little Rock
Story by DDNS Reporter Jared Burton
On September 6th, 2025, for the first time, the Arkansas Razorbacks will take on the Arkansas State Red Wolves at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, with kickoff scheduled for 4:00 pm. This is a historic matchup as it is the first time that the FBS schools in the state of Arkansas will finally play each other. Many people would not have thought it would happen because of a statement made by the previous Arkansas Razorbacks Athletic Director John Barnhill, who said that the hogs would not play against in-state schools like A-State, UCA, UALR, and UAPB. This policy was continued by his successors, Frank Broyles and Jeff Long.
But Jeff Long’s successor, Hunter Yurachek, broke this policy in 2018 by having Arkansas play against in-state schools for the first time in Arkansas Athletics history. Still, those games were scheduled for sports outside of football and basketball. However, on February 3, 2021, a jaw-dropping announcement was made, stating that hogs and red wolves would play a football game against each other on September 6, 2025, in Little Rock. Finally, the game that everyone has been waiting for in the entire state of Arkansas has a date. Fans of both programs were split on this, as A-State fans wanted this game to happen in the early 2010s when both Arkansas and Arkansas State were doing really well in football, with the hogs ranking inside the top 25, while the Red Wolves were winning conference titles and going to bowl games with a new head coach every single season.
Coach of the University of Arkansas Sam Pittman (left) and Coach of the Arkansas State Butch Jones (right) will coach the Arkansas-Arkansas State game.
Butch Jones and his players, Jaylon Raynor and Brandon Barnes, were asked about this matchup at the 2025 Sun Belt media days in New Orleans, LA.
“ Being able to go play in our state capital against the University of Arkansas, and you look at the excitement, you look at the revenue that it’s going to bring to the entire state comes to one place for a weekend, it is going to be a great challenge for us, but I think it is a great opportunity for us, and it’s truly a great opportunity for the entire state of Arkansas” said Coach Jones.
Junior Quarterback Jaylon Raynor said,” Definitely, it is a great opportunity for us to play Arkansas.” Sophomore safety Brandon Barnes said,” I would say that there is some excitement about being able to play a team like Arkansas.” Both players are excited for the game, but are focused on the fall camp and the first game against Southeast Missouri. Coach Jones was asked again about this matchup at the Sun Belt media day with the host of the Locked-on Sun Belt podcast, Dave Schultz.
“I will say it is in the world of college football expansion and conference expansion and coast to coast for two in-state schools to come together at a neutral site in Little Rock or the state capitol and play. That’s as big for our players or their players, it is for the entire state and the fan bases, but also the economic value that it brings to the state in Little Rock, AR.
Before the Sun Belt Media Days this year, Coach Jones was asked about the game between the Hogs and the Red Wolves back in March of this year on the Coaches and the Mouth Show with hosts Jeff Williams and Brey Cook.
“Obviously it’s a great challenge for us and it’s an uphill battle for us, but have so much respect uh, you know for everyone in that program, but when you look at what it does to the entire state of Arkansas, the excitement, the economy, you know, everybody going to Little Rock for the weekend, I think it’s really going to be a unique atmosphere and it’ll be a great experience for really both of our players, but especially our players playing a program and a team that’s, you know, been very, very competitive in the Southeastern Conference in terms of our program.” Said Coach Butch Jones.
Fans, players, and coaches of either team are not the only ones excited about this game; media members are excited about this game as well. One of the media members who is excited about this game is Chris Hudgison of Kait8 Sports, where he covers both the Razorbacks and the Red Wolves. Chris was asked about this matchup on Aug. 6 on the Chuck and Bo show with hosts Chuck Barrett and Bo Mattingly.
“It’s been fascinating, I think it was 2021 when the game first got announced, and it has been kind of like a snowball that slowly kind of getting down the hill, and then once it got closer, okay, now it’s 2025, now it’s actually happening, it’s been a combination of things.” Said Chris Hudgison of Kait8 Sports. Later in the show, Chris was asked about the matchup and whether could A-State pull off the upset against Arkansas. “It is possible, yes, because in college football, anything could happen. I think matchup wise, I think a-state has a decent chance offensively against the Razorback defense just because of all the experience coming back, obviously there is a big question mark at offensive line, but in terms of the skill position, there’s a lot of depth there, and having a essentially a 3-year quarterback, which doesn’t happen very often in the sunbelt with Jaylon Raynor, having experience in these type of settings against power 4 is gonna help. What I’m gonna be interested to see is the matchup between the very new A-State defense goes up against the Razorback offense, and special teams has been an ace in the hole for A-State, so if the game is close on the sixth, A-State has a definite more than a puncher’s chance to pull it off.” Said Chris Hudgison.
War Memorial Stadium will be the site of this first-ever game between the hogs and red wolves.
War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock will be the site of this first-ever meeting between the hogs and red wolves. Both teams have a history of playing in this stadium. Razorbacks have played at War Memorial more often than the Red Wolves, which has led fans to call the stadium the Razorbacks’ second home stadium, with Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville being the primary home stadium for the Hogs. The Red Wolves have not played at War Memorial Stadium since 2006, and have played their home games at Centennial Bank Stadium in Jonesboro. The game on September 6th will be the first Red Wolves game at War Memorial Stadium in 19 years.
Everyone in the state of Arkansas is excited about this game. Fans of both programs will be divided when the game kicks off on September 6th, but they can all agree that September 6th will be a historic day for college football in the Natural State.
Delta Digital News Service 