A lot went wrong for the Arkansas Razorback football team during the 2025-26 season. However, while there were countless losses, the one that, in hindsight, changed the course of the season happened at Liberty Stadium in September.
The Razorbacks came into that game against the Memphis Tigers licking their wounds after a close road loss against eventual College Football Playoff semifinalist Ole Miss. However, with nine games still remaining, the Hogs had plenty of time to turn the season around. A win on the road against a hungry Memphis team out for SEC blood would go a long way toward teaching the team how to win.
We all know the story.
The Hogs went up big, only to squander a 28-10 lead. They crawled back and had a chance to put the game away for good late in the fourth quarter, but the ball was punched out of running back Mike Washington’s hands in the closing minute, allowing the Memphis Tigers to hold on for a 32-31 victory. The next week, Notre Dame came to Fayetteville and demolished the Razorbacks so thoroughly that head coach Sam Pittman suddenly found himself unemployed.
Does Arkansas go on to win 7 or 8 games if they held on against the Tigers? Does Pittman keep his job? Does new Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield stay at Memphis? We’ll never know. But as the close losses stacked up and the Hogs continued to drop game after game, you could feel that the team couldn’t stop thinking about those early, close losses.
Looking ahead to this season, the Utah game in Week 2 feels like it could have a similar effect.
Of course, new head coach Ryan Silverfield’s job will not be on the line in the same way that Pittman’s was — though if you do any type of scrolling on social media, you would get the impression that Silverfield is on his way there.
In many of these preseason polls, Arkansas is ranked to finish last in the conference, and Silverfield is considered to be the worst coach in the conference. Never mind Silverfield’s record against other incoming coaches; when a narrative strikes fire, it’s hard to put out.
At SEC Media Days, when asked about the negative chatter, Silverfield said, “I don’t think our players need that as motivation. We’re not one of those guys who need bulletin board material.”
"I don't think our players need that as motivation. We're not one of those guys who need bulletin board material... I can promise you when we were running in that Arkansas heat yesterday, they weren't thinking of the bulletin board material."
— Courtney Mims (@MimsCourtney) July 22, 2026
Ryan Silverfield asked whether the… pic.twitter.com/dAKLIymycj
That’s a fantastic mindset to have — but when the losses start stacking up, one can tend to believe the chatter.
The Hogs will likely be underdogs when they travel to Salt Lake City (which, much to athletic director Hunter Yurachek’s chagrin, will be a 9:15 local time kickoff). But like Arkansas, Utah will be breaking in a new coach after Kyle Whittingham stepped down and later departed for Michigan.
There is no belief-builder like winning. If the Hogs can go on the road and steal one against the Utes, they can convince themselves that they’re good enough to beat anybody. A foundation could be set, which would be the best thing Silverfield could ask for as he attempts to set his culture in stone.
Lose it, though, and you’re staring down the barrel of an SEC gauntlet beginning with Georgia, Texas A&M, and Tennessee. The wheels could come off before the tread is even worn.
The odds are already stacked against the Hogs with the inaugural 9-game SEC schedule. Many prognosticators — and, unfortunately, many in the fan base itself — are already writing this off as another losing campaign for the Hogs.
When we look back in hindsight, a win over Utah might not look like much. But if the Razorbacks can somehow string enough wins to go bowling, we’ll all know it started on a late night in Salt Lake City.
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