KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Arkansas football interim coach Bobby Petrino spoke earlier this week about the need to keep his debut game against Tennessee tight heading into the fourth quarter.
Two promising drives that ended with a thud in the third quarter doomed those ambitions and ruined the Razorbacks‘ upset bid.
Arkansas (2-4, 0-2 SEC) got outscored 17-0 in the first 17 minutes of the second half and eventually fell to the No. 12 Vols (5-1, 2-1) 34-31 on Saturday, Oct. 11. The Razorbacks rallied with two late scores in the fourth quarter, but the game was decided with a pair of failed offensive series in the previous period.
“Offensively, I like the way we started,” Petrino said. “(Tennessee) made some good adjustments in the third quarter that hurt us.”
In reality, the Hogs also hurt themselves.
Tennessee got the ball to open the second half and needed nine plays to go 43 yards. The Vols settled for a 50-yard field goal to grab their first lead of the evening at 20-17.
That set up the first blunder of the third quarter. Arkansas quickly got into Tennessee territory with four plays, and the Hogs had second-and-one at the Vols’ 29 when a triple-option resulted with plenty of running room for Braylen Russell. The backup running back got inside the Tennessee red zone when he was hit hard by Edrees Farooq. The Tennessee defensive back forced a fumble that Arion Carter recovered.
“I feel bad for (Russell) fumbling the ball because he was working hard at it,” Petrino said. “He’s just got to know to chin the ball and lock it at that point, because there were two guys there, not just one.”
The Arkansas defense responded with a three-and-out, giving the Hogs another chance to either take the lead or tie the game. The Razorbacks once again quickly got into Tennessee territory.
But this drive stalled just outside the red zone, and Arkansas lost yardage on a third-and-2 from the Tennessee 24. A 40-yard field goal attempt was in the cards for freshman Scott Starzyk, but Petrino elected to go for it on fourth down.
The Hogs did not convert, and Tennessee was able to score a touchdown on its ensuing drive to make it a two-possession game at 27-17.
“Mad about not kicking the field goal,” Petrino said. “Kicking myself in the head all the time for that one, but I feel like we could still be out there playing and seeing if we could win or not, so it’s a bad decision.”
To make the third quarter even more damaging, Arkansas’ next seven plays after the failed fourth down resulted in 13 yards and one penalty.
The Hogs clawed back in the fourth. Taylen Green tossed a pair of touchdowns and upped passing total to 256 yards on the night. Running back Mike Washington Jr. set a season-high with 131 yards rushing, and Arkansas only committed one penalty.
But the final result was a product of a sluggish start after the intermission, and even the players feel like the troubling third period ruined a potential upset bid.
“The biggest thing that, we have to improve on that third quarter offense,” Arkansas running back Mike Washington Jr. said. “We came out slow. Picked it up towards the end, but if we would have came out, you know, if we would have played all four quarters, it probably would have been a different story.”
Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jfuller@gannett.com or follow him @jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Third quarter miscues ruin Arkansas football’s upset bid vs Tennessee
