The difference in size and overall talent was evident during Saturday’s momentous clash between the University of Arkansas and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
That, along with a number of other glaring factors, are generally clear-cut whenever a Power 5 school and an FCS member play against one another
So it wasn’t exactly a surprise to anyone inside War Memorial Stadium that the Razorbacks had a relatively easy time in beating the Golden Lions 45-3 in front of an engaged crowd of nearly 42,576.
What may not have been obvious to many was the confidence UAPB had going in.
The Golden Lions (1-6) hadn’t won a game in 49 days and had been beaten by a combined 80 points during a five-game losing streak. Yet, according to UAPB Coach Doc Gamble, none of that mattered to a team that was sixth months removed from playing for a Southwestern Athletic Conference title.
“We showed up here expecting to win the football game,” Gamble said. “The guys that make plays, we expect them to make plays. We’ve just got to make more than what we’ve been making.
“But we showed that we do have some talent.”
UAPB just didn’t have enough of it to keep up with Arkansas (5-3).
With the exception of their barely 13-minute advantage in time of possession and the five less penalties they accumulated, none of the final significant statistics swayed in the Golden Lions’ favor. All of Arkansas’ scoring came during the first and second quarters, which was more than enough to snap out of its three-game losing streak in SEC play.
The Razorbacks played with mostly backups in the second half, but the Golden Lions’ intensity level never waned. If anything, it may have picked up over the third and fourth quarters.
“The character of our football team, it was never quit with us,” said Gamble, whose Golden Lions have lost their past six games. “We didn’t come in at halftime, down. [Defensive coordinator] Coach [Jonathan] Bradley gave us a spirited speech at halftime, and it was great at the time going into that second half.”
The fight the Golden Lions showed also drew praise afterward from Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman, who acknowledged how hard UAPB played throughout, particularly when the outcome was obvious by the midway point of the second quarter.
“First of all, very grateful for Pine Bluff to come over here,” he said. “Very grateful for Doc Gamble, he’s a fine man and his kids play extremely hard with a lot of discipline. We’re excited to play a team from the state of Arkansas.”
As excited as they were about playing the Razorbacks, the Golden Lions didn’t start like a team in awe of the moment, either.
UAPB was demonstrative from the time it exited the visitor’s tunnel prior to game time until the final seconds ticked off the stadium clock. Still, the game, as historic as it was, will go down as another loss for the Golden Lions, who’ll try to put an end to their longest losing streak since 2018 on Saturday when they play at Texas Southern.
Gamble isn’t one to bank on moral victories, but he did feel as if the Golden Lions showed that better days are ahead.
“We’ve got some good football players,” he said. “We’ve still gotta add more pieces to the puzzle and get our younger guys up to speed. We had a ton of guys that are used to contributing on the sidelines with injuries.
“But those younger guys will become veterans at some point. So we’ll get better.”