Razorbacks' Live Mascot Won't Be at Season Opener

After recent death of owner, not in Little Rock, but expected back at games soon

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — No predictions for size of Arkansas' crowd at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock on Saturday morning, but Tusk won't be there after the death of Keith Stokes, the guy who made the live mascot possible.

The UA had a social media post on it earlier.

Our thoughts continue to be with the Stokes Family after the recent loss of Keith Stokes. As the family continues to grieve, @Tusk_UA will not appear at the @RazorbackFB game this week. We look forward to welcoming back the Stokes & the nation’s best live mascot soon. 🐗❤️ pic.twitter.com/xuJQMEwvR9

— Arkansas Razorbacks 🐗 (@ArkRazorbacks) August 31, 2023

We had talked about Stokes' death and the history of how the Razorbacks ended up with one of the Russian boars for a live mascot this week by Kent Smith. It will be something missed by many of the fans in attendance, but the UA is obviously confident they will have a live mascot back for games soon.

Tusk has become sort of a legend over the last 30 years or so. There was a day and age when the Hogs also had a golf cart that had a gigantic helmet fitted over it that ran up and down the artificial surfaces at War Memorial and Razorback Stadium. There was also a little remote Razorback-helmeted car that would be used when it was too unwieldy to be driving a golf cart on the field.

As far as we know, time simply forced them out of the picture, but it was entertainment in blowout games the antics of the remote car in pregame activities.

The Hogs are one of several teams across the SEC that have a live mascot for games. To the best of my knowledge, Bevo (the Texas Longhorn on the sideline for them) and Tusk have never tangled. When UGA, the Georgia bulldog, apparently got under Bevo's skin at the Sugar Bowl several years ago, the giant steer rushed him. The first thought that went through my mind was it would be way more interesting if it was Tusk instead of UGA.

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