Ryan Silverfield isn’t walking into Saturday blind.
He coached against Tulsa three times while running the show at Memphis and left with a 2-1 record.
That means he’s seen this program up close long before this week’s game plan came together.
Arkansas hosts Tulsa Saturday night at Razorback Stadium looking to snap a two-game skid.
The Hogs sit at 1-2 overall and 0-1 in SEC play.
Tulsa walks in unbeaten at 3-0 and playing with plenty of confidence.
Nobody outside Tulsa’s own locker room expected that record in September.
Golden Hurricane opened with a shocker
Tulsa’s first statement came in Week 1 when the Golden Hurricane knocked off Oklahoma State 24-10 on their own field.
That result alone caught plenty of attention around college football.
A week later Tulsa traveled to Stillwater and knocked off then-No. 6 Oregon 39-31.
Two wins over ranked-caliber competition in the first two weeks is rare for a Group of Six program.
Tulsa didn’t slow down after that either.
The Golden Hurricane beat Sam Houston 23-17 in Week 2.
Then Tulsa blew out East Texas A&M 42-0 in Week 3.
Three wins already for Tre Lamb’s team
Three wins put Tulsa just one victory away from matching last season’s total.
Silverfield made his respect for that stretch clear on Monday.
“I’m not thankful they beat Oklahoma State because they beat a heck of a team, and it’s a much-improved Tulsa team,” Silverfield said.
“I’ll give credit where credit’s due. Tulsa’s playing a really high level of football.”
He added that Arkansas doesn’t take any opponent lightly regardless of record.
“I was on the other side of the coin, where you don’t overlook anybody,” Silverfield said. “Every game, you go out and prepare your tail off and it’s the next one, so it’s the most important.”
Silverfield pointed to Arkansas’ own recent play as reason for urgency this week.
History still favors the Razorbacks
The series history leans heavily in Arkansas’ favor.
Arkansas has claimed 19 straight wins in this series and Tulsa’s last victory came back in 1976.
Even with that history stacked against them, Tulsa still cracked this week’s AP poll with 18 votes.
Silverfield brought that attention up himself during Monday’s press conference.
“You look at what they’ve done, I think they’ve had back-to-back years with wins versus Oklahoma State, and Coach Lamb’s no stranger to those going in,” Silverfield said.
“They’re obviously riding high.”
He said those votes carry real weight for Tulsa’s confidence heading into Fayetteville.
Lamb has faced this rivalry before too
Tre Lamb isn’t new to this matchup either.
He played quarterback at Tennessee Tech and made his first career start against Arkansas back in 2010.
That day didn’t go his way. Lamb managed just 99 yards through the air on 6-for-13 passing as his team fell 44-3.
“We went down the field 3-to-nothing, and we got beat 44-to-3. Bobby Petrino, Ryan Mallett, they had a great team,” Lamb said.
“It’s SEC at night, and it’s going to be a lot of fun. These games are great for us. Arkansas is a great rivalry.”
Lamb also said he didn’t realize how many Razorback fans live in Tulsa until he took the job there.
“I didn’t even realize until I moved to Tulsa, there’s a lot of alumns here. You see the Razorback logo around the town quite often.”
Arkansas expects trick plays and a prepared opponent
Silverfield expects more than a standard game plan from Tulsa’s staff on Saturday.
“We’ve got to expect the unexpected in a game like this,” Silverfield said. “Special teams. Are they going to try the surprise onside kick to open the game? Fake punt?”
He said Tulsa’s coaching staff will have the Golden Hurricane ready regardless of what Arkansas throws at them.
“He’s going to have his team prepared, and it’s my job to make sure we’re prepared as well.”
Saturday’s matchup closes the book on Arkansas’ non-conference slate for the year.
Fans will also see something new since it’s the first time the Razorbacks have played under the lights at Razorback Stadium this season.
Fans should plan around a 7 p.m. CDT start with SEC Network+ handling the broadcast duties.
Arkansas enters as a 7.5-point favorite according to Bet Saracen and that number could move before kickoff given Tulsa’s start.
