Arkansas one-score losses hit nine straight with 26-23 loss at Auburn

I didn’t need to see the end of Saturday’s game to know how it was going to turn out.

Once it became a one-score game in the fourth quarter, I’d seen enough. Arkansas has been losing that kind of game since 2024, and nobody on the Hill has found a fix yet.

Sure enough, Auburn hung 17 points on the board in the final quarter and walked out of Jordan-Hare Stadium with a 26-23 win.

That makes it nine straight one-score losses for Arkansas going back to 2024. Two of them have come this fall. I’d love to chalk it up to bad luck, but nine in a row is stretching it.

The Razorbacks slipped to 3-6 and 1-5 in SEC play. Auburn moved to 5-4 and 3-4.

Ryan Silverfield’s postgame news conference is in the video with this story. He’s told reporters before that every loss is gut-wrenching. This one fit the bill.

What gets me is how good the Hogs looked for a half.

The first half gave folks some false hope

Arkansas took a 10-3 lead into the locker room, and the defense earned most of it. Auburn had 109 total yards at the break.

Byrum Brown, Auburn’s fifth-year quarterback, had 4 rushing yards on five tries before halftime. I’ve had longer walks back to the truck after a game.

Auburn moved the chains on just one of its nine third-down tries. The Razorbacks were tackling well and getting off the field.

“Some of their perimeter game, we were able to show up and make the tackles right there,” Silverfield said.

The trouble was on offense. Arkansas had chances to stretch that lead and kept stalling short of the end zone.

Silverfield didn’t sugarcoat it. “We are not playing good enough football to miss those opportunities,” he said.

Seven points isn’t much of a cushion against an SEC team with a veteran quarterback. We found that out in a hurry.

Brown took over once second half started

Silverfield called Brown “clearly the most experienced in the SEC” and said he “played like it in the second half.” I can’t argue with either one.

Brown carried 18 times for 116 yards after halftime. He finished with 120 rushing yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.

Auburn’s offense as a whole piled up 254 yards over the last two quarters, 165 of them on the ground. The Tigers won the second half 23-13.

The third downs started breaking their way, too. Auburn cashed in half of its six chances after the break.

Silverfield couldn’t point to one thing that went wrong. His defense just stopped bringing guys down.

“Just a ton of missed tackles in the second half,” he said. “There wasn’t a certain technique. There wasn’t a certain thing that occurred that ultimately led to those failures to get defensive stops.”

Meanwhile, the offense gave up eight tackles for loss and five sacks after halftime. That’s a tough hole to climb out of against anybody.

Silverfield said Auburn crowded the line and dared the Hogs to do something about it. “We’re just going to line up and we’re going to load the box, and you’re going to have to beat us,” he said, describing Auburn’s mindset.

There’s enough blame for everybody

Before anybody goes after the offensive line, Silverfield pointed out that “three of the sacks were on other people that were involved in pass protection.”

The run game had a few bright spots. Sutton got the fewest carries and still broke the longest run. Batten made his first offensive appearance of the season after battling injuries.

Silverfield said the run game “showed proof of life today.” Those second-half TFLs also made it “boom or bust.”

Then there’s the kicking game. Silverfield admitted Gilbert’s results from 50 yards and beyond have “been not what we want.”

The staff will look for another kicker. If there’s no answer, Silverfield said it’ll come down to going for it or punting. Neither option sounds like much fun.

Injuries aren’t helping matters. Quincy played through pain after being a game-time decision, and Braylon is still nursing a lower leg injury.

Silverfield wasn’t leaning on any of that. “We gotta find ways to go out there and execute at a higher level,” he said.

Close doesn’t win you anything

I’d have used this line myself if Silverfield hadn’t beaten me to it. “I learned a long time ago that close doesn’t matter except for horseshoes and hand grenades,” he said.

He’s right. Nobody hands out partial credit in this league.

He also asked out loud what Arkansas fans have been asking for a while now. “How do we get this Arkansas football program over the hump? Because we’re showing we’re capable,” he said.

Silverfield said a big part of his job is teaching these players how to finish. The other part is getting them to believe they can beat anybody.

South Carolina comes to town next Saturday for a 6:45 p.m. CST kickoff on SEC Network.

If that one’s tight late, I won’t change the channel. I’ll just have a pretty good idea how it’s going to end.