This fall’s season opener will be the first in three years for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff without Mekhi Hagens starting at quarterback.
Hagens started the 2023 season opener at Tulsa, UAPB’s first game under Head Coach Alonzo Hampton, before suffering an injury in the third quarter. He went on to share playing time with two other quarterbacks that season.
The St. Louis native won last year’s quarterback battle and started every game of the 2024 season, including the opener against Arkansas.
Hagens, who initially transferred to Lamar before deciding instead to play at Alabama A&M this coming season, helped UAPB finish 2024 with the third-best passing offense in the SWAC. He threw for 2,541 yards with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions after starting every game.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
With Hagens gone, whoever starts on Aug. 30 at Texas Tech will be the first UAPB quarterback other than Hagens or Skyler Perry to start a season opener since 2018. Five players are vying for that honor this offseason.
Redshirt junior D.J. Stevenson was Hagens’ backup last season and competed with him for the 2024 starting role. The junior college transfer appeared in four games, completing 9 of 17 passes for 93 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Although Hagens started every game, Stevenson finished the last two games of the season, losses to Southern and Texas Southern.
Stevenson, who transferred from Reedley College in California after the 2023 season, is the longest tenured quarterback remaining on the UAPB roster. He and Hagens were the only quarterbacks to complete 2024 spring practice, meaning he has the most experience with offensive coordinator Tony Hull’s system.
The quarterback with the most experience overall, though, is newcomer Christian Peters. The graduate transfer from Division II Shaw University in North Carolina threw for 3,052 yards, 30 touchdowns and 15 interceptions during his four seasons with the Bears. He played in at least eight games during three of those four years.
Last season, he completed 51.1% of his passes for 1,478 yards, 18 touchdowns and five picks. He also rushed 47 times for 151 yards and three scores.
Peters scored two last-minute game-winning touchdowns last season. The first was a touchdown pass with 8 seconds remaining to top Albany State in Georgia, 43-40. It was his fifth passing touchdown in a game which saw him throw for a season-best 322 yards. He also led the Bears in rushing that day with 75 yards and a touchdown.
Later in the season, he rushed for the game-winning touchdown against Fayetteville State from North Carolina with 35 seconds left. He also threw for 238 yards and a touchdown in that 38-35 victory.
UAPB also has three less experienced options who may have potential.
Junior college transfer Tysan Robbins appeared once last year for UAPB against Arkansas Baptist. Prior to UAPB, he spent two years at Highland Community College in Kansas, where he threw for 2,631 yards with 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions after transferring from Bethune-Cookman.
Pine Bluff native Landon Holcomb redshirted last season but did score a rushing touchdown late against Arkansas Baptist. As a high school senior in 2023, Holcomb led Pine Bluff High School to a 5A-Central Conference championship and a state semifinal appearance. He threw for 2,569 yards and 31 touchdowns.
The final candidate for the position is the youngest. True freshman Garrison Davis of Lexington, Miss., threw for 3,518 yards and 41 touchdowns last fall as a high school senior, then enrolled early at UAPB so he could be on campus for spring ball.
Hampton said during spring practice each of the five were showing improvement, but newcomers Peters and Davis surprised him.
“(Peters is) in grad school, very intelligent young man,” Hampton said. “Can run it, and he can throw it. Then you have Garrison, the freshman. Man, he’s been in the system. He knows where the ball is. He’s a very intelligent, confident young man. You’d think he’s been in college two and a half, three years, just because how he carries himself.”
Stevenson sat out of this year’s spring game, but the other four played. Robbins and Peters received a combined seven offensive possessions, while Holcomb and Davis got two apiece.
Peters led with 137 yards and a touchdown, while Robbins threw for 129 yards. Davis threw for 34 yards, while Holcomb finished 7 of 8 for 29 yards and a touchdown.