North Alabama is heading into Fayetteville with a win already banked, and Brent Dearmon isn’t pretending the assignment gets any easier from here.
The Lions opened the season with a 22-10 victory over Samford on Aug. 29, then turned the page to a much bigger stage: a trip to face Arkansas on Saturday in the first game of the Ryan Silverfield era. Dearmon called the matchup a major opportunity, especially with the game set for a national television audience against an SEC opponent in what should be a loud setting.
“I know they're going to be a good football team,” Dearmon said of the Razorbacks on Tuesday. “They're going to be sound in what they do.
Coach Silverfield has always done a great job of preparing his team. He's a motivator, but not is he a motivator, he's very disciplined.
Very sound and stresses the execution of things.”
Silverfield already has a recent win over Dearmon and North Alabama, with Memphis shutting out the Lions 40-0 at the Liberty Bowl in 2024.
Dearmon also had plenty to say about Arkansas’ staff, pointing to the defensive side first. “Their coordinators, Ron Roberts is one of the best defensive coordinators in the country,” Dearmon said.
“He's got ties with great defenses in the SEC at Florida and Auburn. I know they're going to confuse us up front.
They're going to try to confuse our quarterback with different looks.
“Offensively, Coach Cramsey does a good job of running the ball. They're going to try to establish the run. They've got play-actions off of it.”
There’s also a familiar thread on the Arkansas side for Dearmon. The Mobile, Ala., native has connections to Razorbacks quarterback KJ Jackson, who is from Montgomery, Ala.
“I knew his high school coach really well,” Dearmon said. [I knew his] high school offensive coordinator really well.
They've been raving about him for years. I've gotten to watch a lot of high school tape on him.
I know he's an explosive player. I know he's got an electric arm.
I know he's been coached very well.
“In pash rush lanes, we got to bottle him up. He's different than a normal quarterback.
You can't just rush past him and recover. You have to keep him in that pocket and try to force him to stay in there, because he's electric when he gets out of that pocket.
He can hurt you in many ways.”
Dearmon enters the game with an 8-27 record at North Alabama, and the Lions, like Arkansas, finished 2-10 in 2025. He has not won more than three games in a season at UNA, which is why a road upset Saturday would stand as the biggest win of his coaching career.
Arkansas and North Alabama kick off at 3:15 Saturday, with the game airing on SEC Network and the Razorback Sports Network.
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KJ Jackson Already Knows Arkansas Fans Need More Than A Starter
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