FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas had an open date to get ready for Missouri. You’d have never known it Saturday night.
The Hogs lost the ball four times. No. 23 Missouri cashed in for 24 points and left a soggy Razorback Stadium with a 34-10 win.
One of those turnovers became a Missouri touchdown without the Tigers’ offense even taking the field. Two more Arkansas touchdowns got erased by penalties.
Oddsmakers had the Razorbacks (3-5, 1-4 SEC) as 10-point underdogs. Nobody in Fayetteville was counting on an upset. Most folks just hoped the Hogs wouldn’t beat themselves.
That hope lasted about one quarter.
“Clearly not good enough tonight in any facet or phase of the game,” Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield said later.
The first giveaway came on the Hogs’ second series. KJ Jackson’s pass was tipped and intercepted, and Missouri turned it into a field goal.
The next drive was worse. Arkansas went for it on fourth-and-1 at its own 34, and Cam Settles never cleanly got the snap.
The ball squirted loose and got booted deep into the end zone. Darris Smith pounced on it for six, and Missouri was up 10-0.
A 53-yard field goal in the second quarter made it 13-0.
Arkansas’ next trip came up empty, too. A lateral went the wrong way for a 9-yard loss. That left Max Gilbert a 52-yard try, and he missed.
The Razorbacks did get on the board before the break. On third-and-long, Jackson found Antonio Jordan for 37 yards. Jackson then ran it in himself from the 2 with 41 seconds left, finishing a 52-yard drive.
It was 13-7 at halftime, and Missouri’s offense still hadn’t scored a touchdown.
That changed on the first possession of the third quarter. The Tigers needed eight snaps to go 75 yards, and Austin Simmons found Donovan Olugbode for a 15-yard score.
Jackson then lost the ball on a first-down run. That was giveaway No. 3, and Missouri took over in Arkansas territory. Jamal Roberts broke free for 43 yards, then punched it in from the 2. Missouri led 27-7 with 9:47 left in the third.
Silverfield gave the defense some credit for the first half.
“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,” he said.
Roberts piled up 138 rushing yards on 23 attempts. Missouri outrushed Arkansas 211-59, and the Hogs averaged less than 2 yards on their 36 runs.
Arkansas got into the end zone two more times. Neither score counted.
Late in the third, Jordan caught a touchdown pass, but a personal foul on Malachi Breland brought it back. Settles scored next, and a chop block call took that one away, too.
So the Hogs kicked a 32-yard field goal instead. Gilbert’s kick cut it to 27-10 as the fourth quarter began.
That drive lasted 20 plays and burned almost 10 minutes. Arkansas got 62 yards and three points out of it. Down 17, that wasn’t going to cut it.
“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,” Silverfield said.
Arkansas was flagged seven times for 85 yards. Five of those hit the offense for 55 yards.
The defense added a costly one. Missouri was stuck at second-and-20 until Xadavien Sims got called for a facemask. The 15 yards moved the Tigers to the Arkansas 30.
Midway through the fourth, Arkansas finally caught a break.
Roberts fumbled deep in Arkansas territory, and the Razorbacks recovered.
Arkansas couldn’t hang onto it. Jordan caught a 7-yard pass and lost the ball at the Arkansas 33.
Missouri needed four plays. Simmons and Roberts connected from 10 yards out, making it 34-10 with 7:19 left.
“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,” Silverfield said.
Simmons finished with 179 passing yards and two touchdown throws. Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy also played for the first time this season.
Jackson completed 20 of 34 passes for 229 yards. It could’ve been more. Several catchable balls hit the ground.
Chris Marshall sat out hurt, so Jordan carried the passing game. He had seven catches for 106 yards. Arkansas finished with 288 total yards.
The bye week was supposed to help with all of this. Players had time to heal up and work on the basics. Instead, Silverfield opens November with a lot to fix and not much time to do it.
Arkansas plays at Auburn next. Kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium is set for 11:45 a.m. Saturday. Alex Golesh’s group lost 45-15 at Ole Miss this weekend. That dropped Auburn to 4-4 and 2-4 in SEC play.
