Arkansas walked into Halloween night with a chance to steady itself and instead got buried by Missouri’s ground game, turnover pressure and a string of self-inflicted mistakes in a 34-10 loss at Razorback Stadium.
The weather never let up, and neither did the mess. Rain fell throughout the night, and the Razorbacks matched it with sloppy execution that left them with four turnovers, four touchdowns wiped away and a fifth loss on the season. Missouri turned those giveaways into 24 points and rolled up 211 rushing yards to Arkansas’ 59, a gap that told the story as clearly as the scoreboard.
Ryan Silverfield didn’t sugarcoat it afterward.
"Clearly not good enough tonight in any facet or phase of the game," head coach Ryan Silverfield said. "Can't turn the ball over four times and get 24 points off of turnovers versus a top 25 team or much less anyone in college football.
"We did some decent things defensively, getting off the field on third downs, but an inability to stop the run and not being able to get off the field on third down in the second half certainly hurt us. And then some detrimental penalties. We had one penalty in the first half, and then the second half, some inexcusable, detrimental penalties that ultimately led to being the score, whatever exactly, whatever it was."
Missouri’s offense did its damage in chunks. Blake Craig drilled a 53-yard field goal, then later added a 31-yard kick after an Arkansas interception. Jamal Roberts powered the Tigers with 138 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries, while Missouri as a team averaged 6.0 yards per rush and finished with 211 on the ground.
The Razorbacks, meanwhile, kept digging themselves into holes. They lost three fumbles and threw one interception, and one of the biggest swings came when a direct snap to Cam Settles on fourth-and-short sailed over his head and Missouri scooped it up for a touchdown. Arkansas also gave up a fumble return score and later had another touchdown erased by an inadvertent whistle after Carter Stoutmire stripped Jamal Roberts and Bradley Shaw returned the ball to the 16-yard line.
There were a few stretches where Arkansas looked like it might settle in. The Hogs managed just 48 yards of total offense before an 8-play, 52-yard touchdown drive right before halftime, and later put together a massive 20-play march that covered 62 yards and burned 9:51 off the clock. But even that drive was undone by penalties, with two touchdowns wiped off the board before Arkansas settled for a 32-yard field goal from Max Gilbert.
Antonio Jordan led the Razorbacks through the air with seven catches on 11 targets for 106 yards, while CJ Brown also helped spark the opening drive with back-to-back receptions. Eight different Arkansas wideouts combined for 20 catches, but the passing game never translated into enough points to keep pace.
Arkansas was flagged seven times for 85 yards, though five of those penalties and 55 yards came on offense. Missouri had nine penalties for 80 yards.
The Tigers have now won 10 of the last 11 meetings in the Battle Line series, with Arkansas’ last win coming in 2021.
A few other notes from the night: Arkansas wore its alternate home look of red jerseys, red pants and red helmets, while Missouri went all white. The Razorbacks won the toss and received the opening kickoff after the Tigers deferred.
KJ Jackson, Caden Kitler and Bradley Shaw are the team’s permanent captains this season. Ahmad Henry also made his first appearance of the year late in the first quarter, his first action since being shot in the leg over the summer, and he carried twice for five yards.
Next up, Arkansas heads to Auburn for its penultimate road game of the season next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 11:45 a.m. CDT, with SEC Network carrying the game.
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