Arkansas' ongoing woes continued in loss to Memphis
Here we go again.
For the 19th time in 26 opportunities (.280) of the Sam Pittman era, the Arkansas Razorbacks failed to close out a game that was decided by one score.
An even more nauseating stat is the Hogs led 28-10 until Memphis quarterback Brendon Lewis connected with Cortez Branham Jr. for a 38-yard touchdown with 31 seconds remaining in the first half. It should’ve been an offensive pass interference called on Branham, but it was not.
Memphis’ 18-point rally to win 32-31 was the largest comeback victory in the FBS ranks thus far in 2025.
Just like in Oxford last week, Arkansas (2-2, 0-1 SEC) trailed late with a quality drive going, but this time on the ninth play running back Mike Washington had the ball jarred from his hands on a short run up the middle. Memphis recovered what was ruled a fumble upon review and the Tigers sent the Hogs back across the Mississippi River with another crushing defeat.
“Well, congratulations to Memphis, They played a very physical, a good game, they out-rushed us and obviously outscored us,” Pittman said. “They had more yards than we did. And I thought coming into the game that we could have an advantage there, but their defense did a nice job on us and their offense, they did about whatever they wanted to in the run game, you know, with two guys over 100 and … We just didn’t tackle well.”
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Tackling struggles continue
Speaking of not tackling well, this is also the second straight week that tackling, or lack thereof, has been immensely concerning.
Whether players were out of position or just flat out did not give full effort on a play(s), the Hogs were once again gashed on the ground, surrendering 290 yards to the Tigers. Running back Sutton Smith (147 yards, 1 touchdown) led Memphis on the ground, while quarterback Brendon Lewis (103 yards, 2 touchdowns) also passed for 199 yards and a score.
One of the ongoing concerns is the play of senior linebacker and team captain Xavian Sorey Jr. He did not do much in the season opener against Alabama A&M and had very disappointing performances in the past two games.
Sorey has had a lingering hamstring injury dating back to fall camp, but it appeared he was ready to move forward at full speed following his career outing against Arkansas State on Sept. 6.
“I think it has something to do with the hamstring again,” Pittman said of Sorey. “Because he wasn’t running like he normally does, not at all.”
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If it was not humiliating enough that Ole Miss quarterback Austin Simmons scored a touchdown against Arkansas basically on one leg, Memphis freshman second-string quarterback Arrington Maiden (204 pounds) drug Arkansas defensive tackle Ian Geffrard (387 pounds) for about 10 yards on a third and eight play that ultimately sealed the game for the Tigers.
“On that specific play when he came in, we thought we had him bottled up,” Arkansas fifth-year defensive tackle Cam Ball recalled. “We held him for a minute, but he just kept moving, and we should’ve put him on the ground, but he just kept going. We got too lackadaisical on that specific play.
“Tackling in general, I just feel like as a whole we try to be too aggressive. Not setting down, and breaking down, and we don’t have to be overly aggressive on our tackles. So we just have to go back to our fundamentals and our coaching.”
Through four games, Arkansas’ defense ranks 14th in the SEC for both yards and points allowed but there is also some blame to serve to the offense – at least in the second half.
Second half offense stalls
In each game against Ole Miss and Memphis, the Razorbacks got off to a blazing start putting up 28 points in the first half, but have looked like a different team coming out after halftime. Arkansas scored only seven points in the second half against Ole Miss and three on Saturday via a Scott Starzyk 46-yard field goal.
“Honestly, just, we’ve got to come out of halftime with the same type of energy,” Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green said. “And it was similar to last week, so we’ve just got to practice like that. And with me, I’ve got to bring energy to my guys, and just do my job in that and to lead.”
Green threw two interceptions against the Tigers, his second time this season to have multiple picks.
Another head-scratcher was second-string running back Braylen Russell only touching the ball once in the second half despite producing one of the best outings of his career in the first half while averaging 15 yards per carry and scoring a 16-yard touchdown.
Save for Starzyk’s field goal, the second half was just flat out bad for the Hogs.
It went as follows: punt, field goal, interception, punt, fumble.
Every week we have heard something along the lines of getting back to basics. It would be the understatement of the year to say it will be an uphill climb for the Hogs to rebound from the disappointing start with what is in front of them.
After No. 24 Notre Dame comes to town next week, Arkansas have will finish out the final seven games with an SEC slate that includes six teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25.
The Hogs and Irish kick off at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday. The game will air on ABC.
