Utah vs. Arkansas: How to watch, listen to or stream the game

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Arkansas (1-0, 0-0 SEC) at Utah (1-0, 0-0 Big 12)

• Kickoff: Thursday, 8:15 p.m. MDT
• Venue: Rice-Eccles Stadium
• TV: ESPN
• Livestream: ESPN app with participating TV provider
• Radio: ESPN 700 AM/92.1 FM
• Series: This is the first meeting between Arkansas and Utah
• Weather: Partly cloudy with temperatures in the low 90s at kickoff, falling to low 80s by end of game.

The trends

For Utah: Utah comes off a dominant 66-14 win against FCS foe Idaho in Morgan Scalley’s first home game as Utah’s head coach.

This is the first-ever meeting between the two teams before Utah pays the visit back in 2028.

For Arkansas: The Razorbacks defeated North Alabama 31-14 in their season opener under new head coach Ryan Silverfield, who took over for Sam Pittman.

What to watch for

During Utah’s blowout of Idaho, Utah’s offensive and defensive lines held their own, but facing an SEC line could be its first test of the season, despite a poor showing against FCS opponent North Alabama in Arkansas’ first game.

The Razorbacks’ offensive line returns two starters from 2025, including center Caden Kitler. But Arkansas only averaged three rushing yards per attempt in its opener while totaling 148 rushing yards. North Alabama allowed nearly 180 yards a game in 2025 against FCS opponents.

Utah outmatched Idaho’s offensive line last week with the defense bringing the pressure early and causing two turnovers in the first quarter and limited the Vandals to 108 rushing yards on the night.

If the first games for these two teams said anything, Utah’s new-look defensive line could have a heyday Saturday night, as Arkansas committed three turnovers (two fumbles, one interception) and struggled to move the ball.

Silverfield challenged his offense and said it needs to play better than it showed in the first game of the season. An obvious takeaway is Arkansas’ offense will need to fix a lot if it wants to have a chance.

Also, keep an eye on the Ute running game.

In the first half against the Vandals, Devon Dampier received a few more hits than was necessary for a tuneup game. Being a completely new offensive line, the Utes’ challenge lies in protecting their play caller against a Razorback defense that only allowed their opponent 18 first-half yards on the ground and nearly shut them out through the first three quarters until North Alabama scored a touchdown with 2:10 in the third.

Ground threats in Wayshawn Parker, Devon Dampier and likely backup QB Byrd Ficklin will be a good test for Silverfield to gauge if his defense is a legitimate force or if it is indicative of a poor North Alabama rushing attack.

Player to watch

In the Arkansas press conference Monday, Silverfield praised Dampier’s ability to do it all.

“They’ve got a guy doing it that’s really experienced. He can run, he can throw, and so that makes the challenge,” he said.

In Saturday’s matchup, Silverfield said he hopes to contain the Utah QB and keep him in the pocket as much as possible to make Dampier win the game with his arm. How that strategy pans out remains to be seen, since Dampier threw for three touchdowns and 176 yards in the first half against Idaho, with only 31 rushing yards.

Arkansas’ head coach also commented on the many wrinkles in the Ute offense, calling it a challenge to prepare for not only Dampier’s unpredictability, but also factoring in Ficklin, who sees the field on a healthy amount of snaps and brings a whole new aspect on any given play.

Quotable

“(We) definitely want to show well for the conference. The challenge of playing top-quality teams regardless of where they’re coming from, (we) want to be able to show (our) best stuff. So we’re excited to host and, yes, we want to represent the Big 12. We want to represent the state of Utah the right way.”— Utah coach Morgan Scalley on hosting an SEC opponent in Rice-Eccles Stadium

“We’re excited about the challenge ahead. Going to Salt Lake City and playing a great Utah team. They obviously have had a tremendous defense for many, many years. We know how tremendous a job their fans do showing up. It’s going to be a night game, so it’ll be another sellout for them. So we’ve got to prepare for it.”— Ryan Silverfield on playing Utah in a raucous environment

Next up

• Utah: vs. Utah State
• Arkansas: vs. Georgia

Utah schedule

• Sept. 3 — vs. Idaho, W 66-14
• Sept. 12 — vs. Arkansas
• Sept. 19 — vs. Utah State
• Sept. 26 — at Iowa State
• Oct. 10 — vs. Kansas
• Oct. 17 — at Colorado
• Oct. 24 — vs. Houston
• Oct. 31 — at Cincinnati
• Nov. 7 — vs. BYU
• Nov. 14 — at Arizona
• Nov. 21 — at TCU
• Nov. 27 — vs. West Virginia

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