FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas will take on a new look on the football field this fall by wearing retro jerseys from what could be called the Darren McFadden era of the mid-2000s.
The football program's official Twitter site, @RazorbackFB, unveiled the jerseys Tuesday. The home red jersey features a big numeral on the front topped by "Arkansas" in a large, all-caps font.
The jerseys are accompanied by white pants trimmed with a double red stripe down the side. The Razorbacks wore the jersey style from 2005-07, coinciding with the same seasons McFadden and fellow running back Felix Jones were on the roster. There will not be an accompanying road white version of the outfit.
Jake Rosch, the Razorbacks' director of football equipment since 2014, said he'd heard plenty of feedback from fans asking for a jersey to reflect that era, and Coach Chad Morris was on board.
"Coach Morris loved it as soon as he saw it," Rosch said. "He pushed really hard to get it earlier, but he understands how all that stuff takes time."
The unveiling featured an unidentified No. 5 player, the same number worn by McFadden (and now worn by running back Rakeem Boyd), and one of the accompanying pictures featured the player holding a baseball bat with "Dat Wood" written on it.
McFadden famously jumped into the CBS postgame interview of then-Arkansas coach Houston Nutt with a similar bat in hand shouting "We got that wood!" after the Razorbacks upset No. 1 LSU 50-48 in triple overtime in the 2007 regular-season finale at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.
McFadden is the Razorbacks' all-time rushing leader with 4,590 career yards. The Little Rock native also holds school records with 1,830 rushing yards in 2007, 321 rushing yards in a 48-36 victory over South Carolina in 2007, and 10 career 100-yard rushing games.
The Razorbacks still have their red-and-white uniforms from last season, so the old-school look is intended to be a supplement to the current jerseys made by Nike. A team spokesman said decisions regarding jersey choices for specific games in 2019 have not been made.
"This is just an alternate we're adding to our repertoire for uniforms," Rosch said. "It's not going to be a mix and match as far as this jersey mixed with other pants.
"I'm not sure how much we'll wear it, but we will wear it. You'll see it in Razorback Stadium."
The Razorbacks will wear home colors nine times during the season, and there's a chance the retro jersey could appear outside of Fayetteville. Arkansas has six games at Razorback Stadium, plays Missouri in Little Rock during the Thanksgiving weekend, is the host for the Southwest Classic against Texas A&M in Arlington, Texas, and will also wear red for their road game at LSU, which wears home whites at Tiger Stadium.
The original style of the jersey revealed Tuesday was made by Adidas, which outfitted the Razorbacks from 2003-09.
Arkansas schedule
All times Central
DATE OPPONENT TIME
Aug. 31 Portland State 3 p.m.
Sept. 7 at Ole Miss* 6:30 p.m.
Sept. 14 Colorado State 3 p.m.
Sept. 21 San Jose State TBA
Sept. 28 vs. Texas A&M*^ TBA
Oct. 12 at Kentucky* TBA
Oct. 19 Auburn* TBA
Oct. 26 at Alabama* TBA
Nov. 2 Mississippi State* TBA
Nov. 9 Western Kentucky TBA
Nov. 23 at LSU* TBA
Nov. 29 Missouri*# 1:30 p.m.
*SEC game
^AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
#War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock
Sports on 07/10/2019