Silverfield Can't Allow Hogs To Get Taste of His Own Medicine Against Tulsa

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – As heartbreaking as Arkansas' road loss to Ole Miss was a season ago, the tipping point for what eventually became UA's third 2-10 season in eight years was the Razorbacks' 32-31 collapse against Memphis at the Liberty Bowl.

Arkansas led 28-10 and looked to be on its way to easily disposing of the Tigers and Ryan Silverfield. Instead, that loss was followed by a 56-13 demolition of the Hogs by Notre Dame, which was Sam Pittman's final game as the head coach at Arkansas.

Would Pittman still be around had Arkansas beat Memphis? Maybe, maybe not. But Arkansas likely would've played a more inspired game against Notre Dame and could've even made a bowl game regardless of coaching scenario had it had more motivation from not blowing an 18-point lead against a G5 opponent.

This year, as the head coach at Arkansas, it's Silverfield's duty to ensure a similar fate doesn't befall the Razorbacks. After a road trip to Utah and the SEC opener against Georgia in Weeks 2 and 3, respectively, Arkansas will return to Fayetteville to play another American opponent in Tulsa. Silverfield is 2-1 against Tulsa as a head coach, winning the last two matchups in Memphis in 2022 and 2025, respectively.

The Golden Hurricane are a far less formidable foe than Silverfield's Tigers. While Tulsa did bring in a solid haul of players in the transfer portal, second-year head coach Tre Lamb still has plenty of work to do in order to get to a bowl game, much less fielding a squad that can go toe to toe with Arkansas in Razorback Stadium.

So why, then, if Tulsa is not a sneaky-good team, is this game so important for Arkansas?

It's been a long time since the Razorbacks consistently disposed of G5 teams the way an SEC school should.

From last year's collapse at Memphis, a home loss to Liberty and nailbiters against Rice, UAB and Kent State under Pittman, Bret Bielema's cardiac arrest-inducing final win over Coastal Carolina and his loss to Toledo in Little Rock, not to mention Chad Morris' losses to Colorado State, North Texas and San Jose State, Arkansas has had its hands full with lesser opponents far more times than it should've over the past decade and change.

Beating Tulsa by 4, 14 or 40 wouldn't do very much to move the needle on Silverfield or the Razorbacks as a whole. It's one of two games, along with Arkansas' season opener against North Alabama, that the Hogs are fully expected to win with little issue.

But beating Tulsa like Arkansas should in a prompt, no-nonsense manner would earn Silverfield some respect from a fan base used to seeing the pendulum swing the other way where the Razorbacks give a relatively unknown G5 program and head coach a day in the sun.

If Arkansas does drop both of their games to Utah and Georgia, beating Tulsa could inject some momentum back into the team. If they split those games, a convincing win over Tulsa would be proof a win over the Utes or Bulldogs wasn't a fluke. If by some miracle Arkansas beats both Utah and Georgia, taking care of business against the Golden Hurricane would convince the nation that Silverfield and the Razorbacks remain focused.

Any way you slice it, beating Tulsa is imperative for Silverfield in Year 1 – and preferably, he'd waste no time doing so and win by 30 rather than 3.

Sign up toour free newsletter, and follow us onFacebook,X (Twitter)for the latest news.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/arkansas as Silverfield Can't Allow Hogs To Get Taste of His Own Medicine Against Tulsa.

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos