Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Why Arkansas Lost
Anemic offense. Special teams gaffes. Turnovers. A defense that was manhandled to the tune of 6.7 yards per play. Any of those ingredients would get you beat against No. 1 Alabama. All of them together? You wind up with arguably the worst home loss in Arkansas history. Baylor beat the Razorbacks 7-0 at Razorback Stadium in 1966. A shutout loss by this margin? Hasn’t happened since 1914, a 44-0 loss to Missouri School of the Mines. Arkansas struggled to move the football without quarterback Tyler Wilson, gaining 137 total yards and averaging 2.2 yards per play with five turnovers. Defensively the team started strong, but was worn down by the end, allowing 438 yards.

Turning Point
Coach John L. Smith changed deep snappers based on a coverage the Arkansas coaching staff saw from Alabama and the decision seemed to backfire. Will Coleman sailed a snap over the head of punter Dylan Breeding for what went down as a 31-yard rushing loss. Alabama took a 7-0 lead thanks to Eddie Lacy’s 6-yard touchdown and the game was over from there.

Player Of The Game
Alabama running back Eddie Lacy made the most of his 12 carries. He ran for 55 yards — never going backwards —and ran for three touchdowns. Lacy scored touchdowns of 6, 1 and 10 yards.

Two-quarterback System
Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson was dressed and went through pregame warmpus with the team. But the Razorbacks had no intention of playing him.

Instead they opted for a two-quarterback system, using Brandon Allen and Brandon Mitchell. Neither had a great game.

Allen, who started the game and gave way to Mitchell one snap later, completed 10 of 18 passes for 60 yards and two interceptions. Mitchell, who gave the team more of a running threat, completed one of seven passes for 19 yards and ran for 18 yards on six carries.

Arkansas waited until game time to make a public announcement on Wilson’s status for the game. Wilson was knocked out of last week’s ULM loss with a concussion and was not cleared to play after seeing local doctors and a specialist in Pittsburgh.

Speaking Out
“Well, I really don’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to say to our team as well. … That’s about as bad football as I can ever remember.”
—Arkansas Coach John L. Smith on the 52-0 loss

Up Next
Arkansas (1-2) hosts Rutgers (3-0). Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. on ESPNU.