Arkansas AD fumes about game time against Georgia, requests schedule change

Georgia’s first SEC game of the season will be at Arkansas on Sept. 19.

ESPN announced Wednesday that the game will be played at 11 a.m. Central Time on ABC.

Within an hour of that announcement, Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek took to X to voice his displeasure with that announcement.

Prior to playing Georgia, Arkansas will visit Utah for a game that starts at 9:15 p.m. Central Time.

“This assigned schedule will cost our student-athletes nearly a full day of rest and recovery that they would otherwise have available to them,” Yurachek said in a statement on X. “This is not simply a competitive disadvantage, it is a genuine welfare issue for the young men who represent our program and contribute greatly to the bottom line of our television partners.”

Prior to facing Arkansas, Georgia has a home game against Western Kentucky that starts at 12:45 p.m Eastern Time.

The Sept. 19 slate is loaded, with LSU facing Ole Miss and Auburn taking on Florida. Those two games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET and 7 p.m ET, respectively.

As for the 3:30 p.m.ET slot, Alabama will host Florida State.

“This type of scheduling is unacceptable and demonstrates a clear neglect for the well-being of college athletes,” Yurachek said. “I am confident there are not many other programs in the SEC that would be placed in a similar position, and I will not quietly accept it for our program.”

Yurachek ended his statement by requesting that the SEC and ESPN consider alternatives for either or both games for Arkansas.

“The focus must be on the well-being of the game’s participants — not the bottom line of our media partner,” Yurachek said.

Georgia’s game against Arkansas already had some intrigue after comments made by new Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield when he was at Memphis last season. He took a swipe at Kirby Smart’s program over their driving record.