The Ryan Silverfield era kicks off on Saturday as Arkansas hosts FCS North Alabama.
Fan anticipation seems to be very low for a season opener, which probably isn’t surprising with Arkansas coming off a 2-10 season, their fourth winless SEC season since 2012. Throw in the fact that Silverfield wasn’t a hot name, and you have more anxiety than excitement for many fans, who are legitimately concerned that Arkansas football may have fallen below peer SEC programs that have historically been considered inferior (Auburn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina, and maybe even Kentucky).
Silverfield is a conservative coach who was a conservative hire, but I’m very much wait-and-see on him, as he comes off as very different than Arkansas’ last three full-time head coaches (Sam Pittman, Chad Morris, and Bret Bielema). Arkansas desperately needs a coach who will bring consistency and stability to a program that has desperately lacked those things.
For example, as the Roberts piece below notes, Arkansas has only had three defenses since 2012 not finish in the bottom-third of the SEC in SP+: those were 2014, 2021, and 2024. Three of Arkansas’ worst defenses since 2012 have come the year following those good defenses: 2015, 2022, and 2025, even though all had the same coordinator as the year before (Robb Smith, Barry Odom, Travis Williams). Forget trying to build an elite defense: just two not-bad defenses in a row would be a major breakthrough.
With two new coordinators come two new schemes, so there are some basic things you can look for in the opener. Be sure to read these refreshers on the new coordinators:
- Tim Cramsey’s offense, including its origins under Gary Crowton and Chip Kelly, plus what needs to go right for it to work: https://www.fayvillains.com/2025/12/05/what-to-expect-from-the-tim-cramsey-offense/
- Ron Roberts’ defense, including the impressive coaching tree he’s created, and why his defenses are strong against the run: https://www.fayvillains.com/2025/12/05/what-to-expect-from-the-ron-roberts-defense/
On offense, look for a more conservative offense than what we’ve seen with Bobby Petrino and Kendal Briles in recent years. The Cramsey offense will focus on avoiding turnovers and negative plays. You’ll see short, safe throws, lots of screens, RPOs, and rollouts, and a conservative zone-schemed run game that will consistently crank out yards. Explosives will mostly come either when the offense has a massive speed advantage (which definitely will happen a few times on Saturday) or the defense busts an assignment.
On defense, keep an eye on Roberts’ signature simulated pressures, where the defense shows blitz to scare the offense but doesn’t actually come. Roberts’ big innovation involves a backside defensive end dropping into coverage, something you’ll probably see plenty of against UNA.
Meet the Lions
Located in Florence, Alabama, the University of North Alabama has a strong football history. The Lions won three straight Division II national titles (1993, 1994, 1995) and spent a record 27 weeks ranked #1 in the Division II polls. After another dominant stint included four consecutive Gulf South Conference titles (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016), the Lions made the jump to Division I (FCS). They are currently in the Atlantic Sun (called United Athletic Conference for football, since the WAC’s football teams are also part).
Moving up has not been kind to UNA, to put it mildly. Legendary coach Bobby Wallace, whose name is on their home stadium, retired right as the program was making the transition. They had zero losing seasons from 2003 to 2017… but since then, they’ve only one winning season.
Fourth-year coach Brent Dearmon is 9-27 in his tenure so far. He has some familiar ties: a former high school assistant in Alabama, he was added to Gus Malzahn’s first Auburn staff as an analyst. After two seasons, he was hired by Arkansas Tech coach Raymond Monica, where he coordinated Monica’s best offenses in Russellville. Les Miles, then fledgling at Kansas, hired him as an offensive assistant in 2019, and he became the offensive coordinator after a midseason firing. Further stops as OC at Middle Tennessee and Florida Atlantic led to him getting the UNA head coaching job ahead of the 2023 season.
Optimism isn’t high in Florence, as the Lions were picked seventh in the eight-team UAC preseason coach’s poll. They opened the 2026 campaign with a 22-10 victory over hapless Samford (1-11 last year).
Their starting quarterback is Destin Wade, a former 3-star recruit who started his career at Kentucky in the Class of 2022, choosing the Wildcats over offers from Baylor, Arizona State, Cincinnati, and Kansas, among others. Wade, who took zero regular season snaps, started the 2022 Music City Bowl for Kentucky, but completed 16 of 30 passes for 98 yards and two interceptions in a 21-0 loss to Iowa. Wade hit the portal and became one of the mass migration of players to Colorado when Deion Sanders was hired, but he recorded zero stats in two seasons in Boulder. He signed with North Alabama ahead of the 2025 season and shared quarterbacking duties last season. He’s dual-threat almost to a fault, completing 92 of 181 passes (50.8 percent) for 1,188 yards and 10 touchdowns with four interceptions, while adding 469 rushing yards on 104 carries with five touchdowns.
Wade had the most efficient passing performance of his career against Samford, completing 13 of 19 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown. The Lions rushed 47 times as a team, racking up 165 yards (just 3.5 per carry) with a couple of rushing touchdowns. Expect a run-heavy approach from the Lions, who topped 50 rushing attempts in multiple games last season. Like a true Malzahn disciple, Dearmon will run the quarterback and use lots of misdirection. The running backs are small and shifty, and a committee approach is led by redshirt sophomore Jalen Fletcher (just 5’7) and Bowling Green transfer Chris McMillian.
The wide receivers have been iffy for UNA, but they may have found a stud thanks to Arkansas hiring Ryan Silverfield: the leading receiver in the opener was redshirt freshman Xavier Johnson (5 catches for 129 yards). Johnson was a 4-star recruit out of Fort Worth when he signed with Memphis and redshirted last year, breaking for Florence when Silverfield broke for Fayetteville.
His day included this 95-yard bomb that set a school record:
Johnson is a dangerous receiver who is capable of playing high-level Division I football. His gangly running style hides deceptive speed, and he has very good hands for an FCS receiver. If Wade can consistently get him the football – a big if, to be sure – then this UNA offense could be feisty.
What’s not feisty is the UNA defense. The Lions allowed 30-plus points nine times last year, 40-plus five times, and 50-plus four times. They struggled to knock opponents off schedule on the ground and allowed way too many big plays in the passing game. There’s not a major expectation of improvement this year; however, they recorded 13 tackles for loss (including six sacks) against Samford. They’re going to have to do that against the Hogs to have any prayer of keeping this game close.
What to watch for
I expect Arkansas to win this game easily, but there’s still plenty we can learn.
How fast are the receivers? The Hogs breaking in a nearly all-new receiving corps, with CJ Brown standing out as the only guy who saw significant snaps last year. Cramsey’s Chip Kelly spread requires extreme speed at the skill positions. Boise State transfer Chris Marshall has excellent size (6’3) and good speed for an outside receiver. Memphis transfer Jamari Hawkins, who will likely start in the slot, is a former track and field star. There’s no clear leader – which makes you a bit nervous with a young quarterback – but the raw athleticism should be there. The Hogs’ speed needs to overwhelm a team like North Alabama.
How clean will KJ Jackson’s pocket be? Jackson probably offers a higher floor than AJ Hill, which is why he got the starting nod. Over the final two games last year, he completed 27 of 46 passes for 332 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Give him a decent running game, a solid offensive line, fast receivers, and a good playcaller and scheme and he’ll be just fine. There’s good a chance he’ll have just about all of that this year, but the offensive line is still a bit of a question mark. The Lions recorded six sacks in the opener. If your quarterback is running for his life in the opener against an FCS school, that’s usually a bad sign.
How dominant can the Hogs be against the run? Roberts’ defense is known for being difficult to run against, especially if you don’t have a quick offensive line or your tight ends and backs can’t run block. North Alabama will test this with a high-volume run game that will attack every gap and use the quarterback as a run threat. I expect UNA to do very little damage, but a total shutdown would be a positive sign.
Can the Hogs make field goals? Letting former number-one kicker Scott Starzyk walk was a risky decision. Tennessee transfer Max Gilbert was pretty good at his last stop: five makes of 50-plus against only three career misses under 40. But Starzyk, who is now at LSU, didn’t miss from inside of 40 last year. If Gilbert misses a field goal, there will be grumbling.