Silverfield’s punt decision leaves a whole state to judge him

Ryan Silverfield didn’t wave a white flag Saturday night.

He just called for the punter, which looked a lot like one from the stands.

Arkansas trailed No. 15 Tennessee by a touchdown inside the final two minutes. The Razorbacks faced fourth-and-10 deep on their side of the field.

Every timeout was still available and so was one last shot.

Silverfield kicked it away. Tennessee picked up a first down and the game ended 24-17.

Here’s the thing about that punt. Going for it might’ve failed. Punting made sure Arkansas couldn’t win unless somebody else did the work.

Arkansas Razorbacks tight end Jaden Platt catches a second-half touchdown pass with teammates against the Tennessee Volunteers at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Ted McClenning-HitThatLine Images

Math made sense and moment didn’t

Give the coach this much. He didn’t hide afterward.

He figured his team had “under 5% chance to get it” on fourth-and-10 with the way the line was blocking.

The idea was to punt, stop three runs and get the ball back That’s a fine plan if your defense is stopping the run.

It wasn’t.

DeSean Bishop had just gone 59 yards through the middle of that defense a few minutes earlier. He reached the end zone shortly after and wound up with 138 yards on the ground.

Everybody in the building knew what Tennessee would do next. The Vols did it anyway and it worked.

One first down was all it took. Bishop got it on second down.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Ryan Silverfield during game with the Tennessee Volunteers at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. | Ted McClenning-HitThatLine Images

An NFL call in a college town

I’ll say this for Silverfield. Plenty of NFL head coaches make that same decision.

They look at the chart, trust the defense and live with it.

But an NFL coach has one person to keep happy. He explains it to the owner on Monday and moves on.

Silverfield doesn’t have an owner. He has a state.

He has every fan who drove to Fayetteville and booed. He has every one who watched at home and said something worse.

None of them care much about a 5% chart. They care that their team was close to beating a ranked opponent and chose not to try.

That’s the difference between Sundays and Saturdays. College football runs on feeling. Punting there felt like quitting, whether it was or not.

Why risk is bigger than one game

This is Silverfield’s first season. That usually buys a coach some patience.

But Arkansas hasn’t won a conference game in its last 14 tries. Most of that streak isn’t his. He just owns it now.

And patience isn’t something college football has much of these days.

The odd part is Saturday should’ve been a good night for him. Arkansas led 14-7 in the third quarter and it was the first lead the Hogs had held against a league opponent this fall.

They ran the ball. They got two interceptions. A 55-yard kick pulled them even in the fourth quarter.

For most of the second half the Razorbacks looked like a team getting better.

Then the last thing anybody saw was a punt.

That’s what people will remember. Not the two touchdown drives. Not the defense holding a ranked team to seven points in the first half.

What comes next for Hogs

Silverfield may have been right about the odds. I’m not sure it matters.

A failed fourth down gets forgotten by Tuesday. A punt like that one follows you around.

Fans will forgive a coach who loses swinging. They’ve got a harder time with one who plays the percentages and loses anyway.

Next up is a trip to Vanderbilt. That one starts at 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2.

A win there changes the conversation in a hurry.

Another loss and that punt gets brought up all over again.