A third of the way through the season, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s passing offense has shown significant improvement from last year.
Redshirt junior quarterback Mekhi Hagens has completed 56 of 111 passes (50.45%) for 988 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception through four games. That’s 408 yards more than he threw for last season with six fewer attempts. His 7-to-1 touchdown-interception ratio is also a major jump from his 3-to-4 ratio in 2023.
Hagens shared time with two other quarterbacks last season. As a team, UAPB (1-3) finished the year with 1,694 passing yards. Hagens is on pace for 2,964 yards so far this year. Hagens needs four more touchdown passes to match the team total of 11.
The quarterback isn’t the only noticeable improvement. In 2023, Kenji Lewis led UAPB with 429 receiving yards. No other receiver reached 200 for the season, though Daemon Dawkins finished second on the team with 199, followed by Maurice Lloyd with 198.
Four games into 2024, two receivers have already surpassed the 200-yard milestone. JaVonnie Gibson leads the pack with 395 yards, followed by Aramoni Rhone with 216. Dawkins is on pace to shatter his total from last year, already sitting at 134.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
UAPB Coach Alonzo Hampton said Hagens is flourishing under new offensive coordinator Tony Hull, and the Golden Lions did a great job recruiting receivers in the offseason.
“We got three more guys that are just as talented if not better than those guys, and Mekhi is doing a good job of getting the ball where it needs to go,” Hampton said. “This offense is going to be really good. We just gotta continue to get the guys to go to the right position, and the ball will find you, because Mekhi is seeing it.”
It must be noted these numbers are inflated somewhat by the game against Arkansas Baptist, a much weaker opponent than any team UAPB faced last season. Hagens threw for 350 yards against the Buffaloes, with 172 of those going to Gibson.
However, the Golden Lions have also performed better against their Division I opponents this year.
UAPB’s season high in passing yards in a game last year was 242 against Alabama A&M, a game in which both Hagens and Jalen Macon played. This year, Hagens beat that number by himself with 276 yards against Tennessee State and came close to matching it with 239 against No. 8 Central Arkansas.
The Golden Lions as a team reached or surpassed 200 passing yards just three times last season, and Hagens has already matched that this year.
From a receiving standpoint, the best individual performance by a UAPB receiver in any game last season with Lewis’ 94 yards against Division II foe Miles College. Gibson has already crushed that number twice with his big game against Arkansas Baptist and his 149 yards against Tennessee State.
UCA held Gibson to two catches last Saturday, but Dawkins, Rhone and Kristian Gammage stepped up with 56 or more yards each. Hampton said that shows UAPB’s receiver depth.
“What you’re seeing is guys now starting to realize, ‘If I get to the right spot, the ball’s probably going to find me,'” Hampton said. “So, it’s good to see those guys making plays, but obviously on Saturday, we didn’t make enough plays.”
Hagens’ 247 passing yards per game currently leads the SWAC, as does Gibson’s 98.8 receiving yards per game. Rhone’s 54 per game is good for eighth.
These passing numbers haven’t led to a Division I victory so far this season, but they reflect a clear step in the right direction for a team which had the second-worst passing offense in the SWAC last year.