Arkansas heads into a difficult stretch with something it can point to now: a win that looked and felt like progress.
The Razorbacks handled Tulsa 34-6 on Saturday, controlling the Golden Hurricane for most of the afternoon before the offense finally turned pressure into touchdowns after halftime. That left Arkansas at 2-2 overall and 0-1 in SEC play as it turns to Saturday’s 6 p.m. trip to Texas A&M.
It’s not exactly a surprise where Arkansas sits record-wise after the first month under first-year coach Ryan Silverfield. The path there, though, has been uneven.
The Razorbacks opened with a messy home win over North Alabama, then got hammered by Utah and Georgia before showing a little more steadiness - and some confidence - in the closing stages against the Bulldogs. The Tulsa game still had rough edges, including a stalled running game, but the overall performance was cleaner, and the staff’s plan showed up on a night when the crowd and the setting clearly helped.
Silverfield said Monday he was struck by the atmosphere at Razorback Stadium, where the new laser lighting performance and a crowd that stuck through first-half rain gave the place some juice.
“So appreciative of the fans that showed up, the students were great, and the people that sat through the rain,” he said Monday. “But just a terrific environment and I couldn’t be more pleased with it.”
Now comes a Texas A&M team that was supposed to be much better than this. The Aggies were a College Football Playoff team last season, but they’ve stumbled into the conversation as one of the SEC’s biggest disappointments after back-to-back losses at home to Kentucky, 31-21, and at LSU, 35-6. They’ve fallen from preseason No. 8 to out of the Associated Press rankings entirely.
Much of the frustration in College Station has centered on quarterback Marcel Reed, a senior who ranks last among SEC starters with a 112.16 efficiency rating and 55.4% completions under first-year coordinator Holmon Wiggins and first-year quarterbacks coach Joey Lynch.
Still, Silverfield knows what Arkansas is walking into.
“There's a reason they were top 10 in the country preseason,” Silverfield said. “They're one of the most talented teams that we'll see.
They’ve got a lot of things. Their head coach has done a tremendous job.
They have a three-year starting quarterback. They've got a defense that's forced seven takeaways.”
Texas A&M’s defense has been productive in that area, with only Georgia and Alabama ahead of the Aggies’ nine takeaways, while Florida and Kentucky also have eight. But the Aggies have given it away six times themselves, leaving them at plus-0.25 per game in turnover margin. Arkansas, meanwhile, sits at minus-0.5 per game, good for 13th in the SEC, though the Razorbacks did post their first turnover-margin win under Silverfield by a 2-1 count against Tulsa.
For Silverfield, the value of the win wasn’t just the record. It was what it allowed him to demand the next day.
He said victories give him a chance to coach the team harder on Sunday, and he planned to do exactly that.
When asked Monday what kind of momentum the Tulsa result might create, Silverfield leaned more toward process than celebration.
“More than anything, the way the two previous games occurred, it’s like I said, we got kicked in the teeth,” he said. “I mean, those were tough ones. … But we learn from those, and no different from a win, you learn, you take the rear-view mirror, you throw it out the door and you keep progressing.”
He also used the Tulsa performance as a reminder to his players that the routine matters.
“This is why we do this film study. This is why we eat the way we do,” he said. “This is why we train.
“So, more than anything, you just want it to be a little bit of the fruits of the labor. 'Hey guys, this is the reasoning.'
Just trusting this process, and so whether you win by one point or win by plenty, it's just more … ‘Yeah, you know what? Even when things were looking bleak and people were telling us we stunk, five days ago we just stuck with it.
We showed up. We went to class.
We did all the things you've asked us to do. We've been bought in.'”
In Other News...
Arkansas Depth Chart Sends A Clear Message Before Texas A&M
Arkansas Week 5 depth chart offered a fairly straightforward snapshot as the Razorbacks turn their attention to Texas A&M, with KJ Jackson staying locked in at quarterback and Sutton Smith still listed as the lead back. Even with that stability, there is at least one backfield wrinkle worth watching, because Cam Settles has picked up more carries lately and is beginning to carve out a larger role as the offense gets deeper into conference play.
The rest of the chart fills in the picture across both sides of the ball, laying out where the staff currently sees its first-string options and how the rotation is taking shape. For Arkansas, the release is less about surprises than it is about clarity, but these weekly listings can also hint at where competition is still alive and where the coaches are comfortable leaving things alone heading into a tougher SEC test. [Read more 🡒]
Arkansas Has A Real Opening In Texas A&Ms Biggest Weakness
Arkansas heads into its Week 5 matchup with Texas A&M at 2-2, and the timing is interesting after the Razorbacks bounced back with a solid win over Tulsa. There were still some rough edges for KJ Jackson, but the quarterback did show improvement, and that matters as Arkansas looks for signs it can carry momentum into a conference game against a team that just took a loss to LSU.
Marcel Reed has been the bigger concern on the other sideline, with his recent struggles putting Texas A&Ms offense under a brighter spotlight than usual. Mike Elko has already said Reed will remain the starter against Arkansas, which sets up a clear point of attention in a matchup between two teams trying to find some traction early in the season. For Arkansas, the opening is there if its defense can force the issue and keep Reed uncomfortable. [Read more 🡒]
Arkansas Heads To Kyle Field With One Big Offense Question
Arkansas heads to Kyle Field for an SEC matchup that should tell a lot about where the Razorbacks stand after a mixed start, with both teams sitting at 2-2 and coming off conference losses. It is the kind of early-season league game that can nudge a team back into the picture or leave it scrambling to recover, and the on-campus setting only adds to the feel that this one matters a little more than a typical September road trip.
For Arkansas, the larger concern is on offense, where the search for consistency has been the storyline even as the defense has tried to keep things manageable. Texas A&M brings a defense that will force the Razorbacks to prove they can move the ball cleanly and finish drives, and the answer to that question may say plenty about how competitive Arkansas can be as SEC play settles in. [Read more 🡒]