FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — There is no more important tenet to a Tim Cramsey offense than ball security.
“That’s all we talk about,” Cramsey said Thursday after Arkansas’ second practice of fall camp. “That’s how we start meetings, that’s how we start practice. That’s what we yell in practice. We got the kids yelling, we got trainers yelling. That is a pivotal, pivotal, pivotal part of the game.”
Indeed it is, not that Arkansas fans need be reminded. The Razorbacks turned the football over 20 times a season ago and had a turnover margin of -11.
“That’s what going to change, and that’s what going to keep us in and win us football games,” Cramsey said. “That is going to lose us football games, if we turn the ball over. That’s all we talk about, that’s all we practice. We do ball security every single day. Every single drill we do is a ball security circuit.”
Ball security is, of course, especially important for quarterbacks — and for all of the dazzling plays Taylen Green made in his two seasons at Arkansas, his 20 interceptions and 17 fumbles in 2024 and 2025 were backbreakers.
As a quarterback battle between KJ Jackson and AJ Hill rages during fall camp, ball security will be a major factor in determining which player earns the starting job this fall.
” Every single thing we talk to the quarterbacks [about] is protecting the football,” Cramsey said.
In regard to the competition itself, Cramsey didn’t give either Jackson or Hill a perceived leg up.
“It’s going to be a battle throughout,” Cramsey said. “The three of us had a sit-down the other day and talked about exactly what needs to happen, exactly what’s going to happen, exactly what needs to stop happening for that person to get the spot.
“They were made very aware that in a couple weeks, a real grown-up conversation is going to happen. One of them’s going to get the nod and one of them’s going to be the backup, and the expectation is that they go to work every day like they always have.
“They’re both playing good ball. They both are doing what we asked them to do. They have cut down on what we’ve asked them to stop doing. That’s what we need. We need the guy we put on the field, we need him to win the spot. We don’t want the guy [to be] on the field because the other guy lost the spot.”
For what it’s worth, Jackson, who started the season finale against Missouri last November, has been seen as the favorite to be QB1 since he announced his return to the team last December.
The clip of a gorgeous deep ball thrown to receiver CJ Brown on Thursday helps that perception, though if what Cramsey and head coach Ryan Silverfield are saying about the QB battle is true, it isn’t time to crown Jackson yet.
Perhaps most importantly, Jackson didn’t throw an interception in 54 passing attempts last season.
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