Chad Morris explains his decision to name Ben Hicks starting QB

Two factors led to Arkansas head coach Chad Morris naming senior Ben Hicks as the Razorbacks’ starting quarterback on Monday — experience and knowledge.

Hicks, who started 33 games for SMU the previous three seasons, earned the job over redshirt junior Nick Starkel, who transferred to Arkansas after two seasons at Texas A&M.

“Everything’s earned in this program, nothing’s given. Ben has earned the right to start,” Morris told the media on Monday. “We are going to play a lot of young guys, and that alone was the main deciding factor, is his ability to know where everybody’s supposed to be, to get our offensive line in the right protection and do it at a pace to where the game, because of his experience, is a little bit slower.”

Although Hicks is entering his first season at Arkansas, he is familiar with Morris’ offense, as Morris was the head coach at SMU when Hicks was the starter there in 2016 and 2017. Hicks is the Mustangs’ all-time leader in passing yards (9,081) and touchdown passes (71).

“The competition between Ben and Nick has been impressive, to say the least, over three weeks,” Morris said. “We feel very confident in Ben in his complete overall knowledge, as you would expect. Ben has been in this offense for three years, been here since January. Nick has been in this offense for three weeks.”

For more of Morris’ comments from Monday’s meeting with the media, watch the below video courtesy of Hayden Balgavy of THV11 in Little Rock:

"Ben has earned the right to be our starter"
Chad Morris on the decision to name Ben Hicks the starting QB.@THV11 pic.twitter.com/FfpphqN171

— Hayden Balgavy (@HaydenBalgavy) August 26, 2019

Hicks will make his Arkansas debut on Saturday as the Razorbacks open with a home matchup against Portland State at 4 p.m. ET on SEC Network.

Jake Rill

Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. He has covered the SEC since 2016.