Arkansas’ 2026 schedule comes with plenty of uncertainty at quarterback, but the running back spots are a different story. The Razorbacks are set to run into one proven backfield after another, and the list of opponents includes some of the best ball-carriers in the country.
That’s a problem for a team that has put together its own intriguing backfield mix. Arkansas has Braylen Russell bringing the power and Sutton Smith arriving from Memphis with the kind of quickness that can change a drive in a hurry. Still, with a mostly rebuilt roster and what the source calls the toughest strength of schedule in college football, the Hogs are going to be tested.
One of the first names on that list is Utah back Parker, who transferred in from Washington State after the 2024 season and immediately became the engine of the Utes’ rushing attack. Utah finished No. 2 nationally on the road with 266 rushing yards per game, and Parker was a big reason why.
He logged 149 carries for 981 yards and six rushing touchdowns, while also adding 13 catches for 185 yards and three more scores. Utah is replacing nearly its entire offensive line, though, which could make another 1,000-yard season a tougher climb.
Texas brings a different kind of challenge, and it comes with two backs instead of one. The Longhorns addressed a major weakness from last season by loading up through the portal with Smothers and Brown, both of whom were productive at their previous stops.
Texas ranked No. 90 nationally in rushing last season with just over 139 yards per game, and the Longhorns will need that duo to help open things up for Arch Manning’s Heisman campaign. Together, Smothers and Brown combined for 2,080 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns last season at North Carolina State and Arizona State.
Then there’s Texas A&M’s Owens, who battled back from a severe foot injury that cost him the first 11 games of the 2024 season. Healthy again in 2025, he put up 119 carries for 639 yards and five touchdowns.
He sounded ready for more in the spring, saying, “I feel like me being healthy is going to make a big difference,” Owens said. “I’m going to take that next step.
[I want to] show the coaches what I’m about, and what I can do. I’m just coming out here every day and trying to show them that I deserve to be that guy.”
Georgia’s Frazier is the next name Arkansas has to deal with, and the timing makes it even tougher. The Razorbacks will face him the week after matching up with Parker.
The 5-foot-10, 205-pound back from Compton, Calif. put together a strong season with 189 touches for 1,063 yards and 10 touchdowns, and he heads into his junior year expected to carry a bigger load for a Georgia team chasing a deep CFP run. ESPN analyst Greg McElroy has already pointed to him as a player ready to take over the backfield, saying, "This offseason, a lot of people were going after Nate Frazier," McElroy said earlier this offseason.
"Because he has a lot of juice, explosiveness. He said no to all of the outside opportunities.
He said I want to say and finish and be the unquestioned bell cow at one of the more prestigious programs in the entire country under a coach in Kirby Smart who is going to lean heavily on the run game."
The final name on the list is Missouri’s Hardy, and his rise has been one of the more striking stories in the group. Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said in May that Hardy was doing really well after suffering a gunshot wound to the leg this offseason.
Until he is ruled out for the 2026 season, he belongs near the top of any running back ranking because of the way he runs. Hardy first made noise at UL-Monroe, where he posted 245 touches for 1,423 yards and 13 touchdowns as a true freshman.
After transferring to Missouri, he became the centerpiece of Drinkwitz’s offense in an 8-5 season in 2025, piling up 256 carries for 1,649 yards and 16 touchdowns to earn consensus All-American honors.
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