FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas spent all season talking about “OTB,” the offense’s shorthand for “own the ball,” but Saturday in a 34-10 loss to Missouri, that message never translated to the field.
The Razorbacks gave it away four times, and each turnover turned into points for the Tigers. Missouri’s first takeaway came on Arkansas’ second possession, when a tipped KJ Jackson pass was intercepted and set up a field goal.
Later, the Tigers pounced on a fumbled snap in the end zone for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead, then forced a KJ Jackson fumble that led to another touchdown and a 27-7 advantage in the third quarter. Missouri finished the sequence by recovering an Antonio Jordan fumble in the fourth quarter, which led to another score and helped put the game away.
Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield didn’t sugarcoat what he saw.
"I've done every ball security drill known to mankind," Silverfield said. "We talk about it.
There's time where it shows up, and then we saw a variety of different guys obviously not do what they needed to. We're going to practice it.
We're going to practice it tomorrow, throughout the week. But it's got to show up.
It's like everything else. It's no different with some of the missed tackling.
I mean, we practice tackling more than we ever have."
He said the issue wasn’t a lack of emphasis, but a failure to execute when it mattered.
"It's got to show up on Saturdays, and you know, I don't know if there's a creative way to continue to discuss it, but yeah, finding better ways to take care of it. And if we do, we give ourselves a chance. But when you turn the ball over four times, you really don't have yourself much of a chance."
The loss marked the fifth time this season Arkansas has lost the turnover battle. The Razorbacks have won that fight against Tennessee and Vanderbilt, but not nearly often enough to match the standard they’ve set for themselves.
KJ Jackson put it bluntly after the game.
"It's obviously not good enough," KJ Jackson said. "We preach OTB, owning the ball, and we failed to do that tonight, and that's the reason why we weren't successful."
Silverfield called the mistakes "Absolutely self-inflicted," while also giving Missouri credit.
"Yeah, credit to their defense; it's a great one. But when you catch, tuck the football... you're running open.
Yeah, getting the ball high and tight. That's all the stuff that we've been taught since Pee Wee football."
If Arkansas wants another SEC win this season, it has to clean up the same problem that has followed it for much of the year: protecting the football.
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For Arkansas, the sting was not just in the final result but in how the game unraveled after halftime, when Missouri pulled away and the Razorbacks were outscored badly in the second half. In a rivalry where every detail gets remembered, Drinkwitzs comments only added another layer to a loss that already felt familiar and frustrating for Arkansas fans. [Read more 🡒]