No. 12 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC) defeatedArkansas (2-4, 0-2 SEC), 34-31, on Saturday at Neyland Stadium during Week 7 of the 2025 football season.
Saturday marked the Razorbacks’ first game in 2025 under interim head coach Bobby Petrino. He served as Arkansas’ head coach from 2008-11.
Arkansas fired head coach Sam Pittman following a, 56-13, home loss to Notre Dame on Sept. 27.
The Razorbacks totaled 496 yards (256 passing, 240 rushing) and 76 plays at Tennessee. Petrino discussed returning to the sidelines after the game.
“I did enjoy being back on the sideline, that’s for sure,” Petrino said. “Being right in the thick of it and the adjustments. Seeing the players’ eyes and encouraging the players. I think the feel for it was very, very positive. The feel for coachable on the sidelines. The adjustments they made. The confidence that they showed each other. I thought it was something that’s encouraging.”
Petrino detailed how his players competed hard and were prepared to play a top-15 SEC game on the road.
“I thought our players really competed hard,” he said. “They were well prepared. They came out and were well prepared for the game. We played physical. We played tough. They are a good football team. Offensively, they know how to move the ball. We gave up some explosive plays, but we kept our poise, and our players stuck together and came up with some huge stops that gave us an opportunity to win the game.
“Offensively, I liked the way we started. They made some good adjustments in the third quarter that hurt us being able to continue running the ball. I was probably too stubborn with it. I wanted to keep them on the sideline, but then we came out and started throwing it around and I thought we did a good job of throwing and catching. We got hurt with some protections and negative plays, and obviously, the turnovers ended up killing us, and then I made the decision to go for it instead of kicking the field goal and that ends up killing us too.”
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This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: Arkansas interim head coach Bobby Petrino recaps Tennessee game
