FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas has reached the midway point of its first season under Ryan Silverfield with just two victories, another lengthy SEC losing streak and several statistical problems that continue to hold the Razorbacks back.
Arkansas sits at 2-4 with victories over North Alabama and Tulsa. Its three blowout losses came against Utah, Georgia and Texas A&M, while Saturday’s 24-17 defeat against No. 15 Tennessee offered signs of improvement.
Some fans will count Saturday’s loss as a moral victory, but boy there was nothing moral about it.
Offensive coordinator put his third-most effective running back in Sutton Smith on the field during the final two offensive series and was frequently tackled behind the line of scrimmage or managed to get back to the line of scrimmage.
Everyone’s piled on about the fourth quarter punt, but something has to be said about the creativity — or lack thereof — on the play sheet.
99 Yards
That’s the number of yards Arkansas is averaging per game on the ground this season. Offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey’s unit is starting to gel together in the rushing department and could’ve cracked the 150-yard mark against Tennessee if it weren’t for a holding penalty against right guard Kobe Branham.
The Razorbacks rank No. 131 nationally, and are no longer last in the SEC as Oklahoma’s porous run game takes the cake at just 95.8 yards per contest with just three touchdowns on the ground.
A lot of Arkansas’ problems seemed to be cured by a center exchange at halftime with Kash Courtney’s insertion into the lineup. He graded out at 68.6 on 19 run blocking opportunities, which was by far the best by a whole point, according to Pro Football Focus.
For the second time in three weeks, running back Cam Settles led the Razorbacks in rushing yards with an eight carry, 50-yard performance against Tennessee.
“I feel like our linemen just executed what they needed to execute,” Settles said during his postgame interview. “They were more physical, blocked the lower pad level, and we just wanted to take pride in making them right and making their blocks worth it.”
Arkansas will have another opportunity to improve its run game against a Vanderbilt defense that has given up 169.25 yards per game and seven touchdowns over the last four games.
217.3 Yards
The Razorbacks didn’t give up 200 yards on the ground, which is good for anyone associated with defensvie coordinator Ron Roberts in the coaches booth on Saturday. Arkansas is allowing 217 yards per game on the ground against SEC opponents this season, but limited Tennessee to just 167 yards.
However, the Hogs still lost 24-17 because his unit continued being gashed in the fourth quarter, allowing the Vols’ running backs to gain 97 yards and two touchdowns to sneak out of Fayetteville with a win.
Silverfield was complimentary of his defense’s performance and encouraged them to keep fighting down the final half of the season.
“Obviously, the defense came out and gave us an opportunity to be in this game and fought for four quarters,” Silverfield said. “You know, anytime you have the opportunity to go get three takeaways, the two interceptions and the fumble recovery, you put yourself in a great position.
“We’ve got to limit the explosives. The long run, obviously, when backed up, and the explosive pass, got to be able to continue find ways to eliminate those, but I thought the defense had a good game plan. I thought they flew around to the football with the right type of level of effort and passion that we want to see from the Razorbacks.”
9-for-32
No, that’s not KJ Jackson’s conversion rates on big-time throws or anything. Actually, that’s the Razorbacks’ third-down conversion rate in conference play.
Arkansas converted on a season-worst 2-of-11 (18.18%) attempts against Tennessee and is a major reason Silverfield opted to punt the ball away down seven points with 1:45 to go in the fourth quarter and three timeouts in his pocket.
Jackson mentioned during the post game press conference that he understood the decision not to keep the offense out there for fourth down. However, he doesn’t see the need of hitting the rewind button and dissecting the decision in his mind over and over again.
“Yeah, I believe in every decision that our coaches make,” Jackson said. “Like I said, we had a lot of third downs, a lot of thirds and longs, and we weren’t successful, and the defense were playing their tails off all night. So if I was in his position, I think I’d have done the same thing.
“Let our defense go out there and make a play, and hope that they do. They didn’t end up doing it, but yeah, like, it’s hard. I mean, it’s easy to sit back and press the rewind button and make a different decision.”
14 Straight SEC Losses
That’s simply the amount of games Arkansas has lost consecutively to SEC opponents over parts of the past three seasons. The Razorbacks last defeated a conference foe when they went to Starkville and defeated a lowly Mississippi State team 56-24 on Oct. 26, 2024.
This isn’t Arkansas’ longest SEC losing streak by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s already the third-longest since the Razorbacks joined the conference in 1992.
Just look at UCLA, Kentucky, and Oklahoma State this season. Arkansas just seems content with losing and making up excuses in their minds as to why they can’t punch their way out of a wet paper bag.
Arkansas’ Longest SEC Losing Streaks Since 1992:
20 games, 2017-2020
17 games, 2012-14
14 games, 2024-present
6 games, 2022-2023
6 games, 2004-05
5 games, 2016-17
5 games, 1995-96
5 games, 1997
Sign up to our free newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter) for the latest news.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
