Landon Jackson calls Missouri rivalry a 'big game'

Since joining the SEC, Missouri has quickly become a rival with Arkansas despite being in different divisions. At SEC Media Days, Arkansas edge rusher Landon Jackson emphasized how important the game has become.

Jackson acknowledged that the SEC is full of rivals but he still feels like it’s one of the biggest in the conference.

“It’s a big game,” Landon Jackson said. “There’s a lot of rivalries in the SEC, but I feel like that’s for sure one of our bigger ones. I enjoy it. Any high-intensity game, any trophy game, I really like a lot, so…”

Arkansas and Missouri have played 14 times in their history, which pales in comparison to SEC rivalries like the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry or the Iron Bowl. At the same time, due to the proximity of the two states, there is a lot of intensity as they compete for similar recruits.

“It brings energy to the game,” Landon Jackson added. “I feel like it makes me personally play better, so I like it.”

Missouri leads the all-time series with Arkansas 10-4. That includes a win in 2022 for Missouri. The majority of those meetings have come since the Tigers joined the SEC.

With the SEC’s addition of Texas and Oklahoma, the conference added rivals from former conferences for both Arkansas and Oklahoma. The SEC also had to figure out a new scheduling model, which will still include only eight conference games in 2024, leading to concerns about the SEC’s best rivalries being affected by it. However, it looks like the Battle Line Rivalry is here to stay.

Sam Pittman on how Landon Jackson has evolved

Landon Jackson transferred from LSU to Arkansas but wasn’t ready to go, having come off a knee injury. He’s improved a lot since then, though, and head coach Sam Pittman has noticed the improvements that he’s made along the way.

“I think if you look back, Landon, he had come off an ACL, he was tall and thin. I mean he was skinny and he was playing about three-quarters speed. He got a little bit better as the year went on,” Pittman said.

“Now he’s bigger, confident, long and he’s a problem now. A good problem, he’s on our team. But he’s a problem if you’re an offensive lineman. It’s just his speed and his size right now that, I mean he’s been hard to block.”

Last season, Landon Jackson played in 13 games for Arkansas, recording three sacks. He’ll be expected to build on that in 2023.