Week Twelve Report Card For Arkansas Football

As the “Battle For the Boot” kicked off, the game had a unique feel. Possibly, it was Arkansas entering the field with a white helmet, combined with an all-red uniform, which had never been worn before. Or, it could have just been a deep-rooted SEC rivalry. In the end, Arkansas fell 23-22 to LSU for another one-score loss. Now, we will grade our pregame keys to success in the week twelve report card for Arkansas.

Before we begin this week’s report card, we want to remind you of the keys to success for Arkansas versus LSU. First was to embrace the road environment. Second was to make accurate throws and receptions. The last was to make some history in a first-time event inside Tiger Stadium.

To begin, Arkansas took the ball and proceeded to fumble on the sixth play of the drive. Then, special teams coordinator Scott Fountain got mentions everywhere as Caleb Wooden recovered a blocked punt for a Hogs touchdown. This was followed by an offensive score from Taylen Green with his legs to extend the score to 14-0. The blocked punt for a touchdown was the first since the 2009 season. In addition, Wyatt Simmons, who made the block, is the son of Harding head football coach Paul Simmons.

This momentum offensively was quickly quieted as the Tigers scored 16 unanswered to take a two-point lead, 16-14, into halftime. Arkansas would not see a score again until the 4:02 mark of the third quarter to take a 22-16 lead following a successful two-point conversion. This ended up being the final points tallied for the Hogs in the loss. With the initial efforts, despite another lackluster second half, we grade the Arkansas report card for week twelve with a C.

The second key will not grade well. Not to abruptly indicate the upcoming grade, but this problem has become a plague. Arkansas fumbled the opening drive away, and Green threw two interceptions in the loss. In an issue that remains unresolved, Arkansas continues to hinder its own progress. Three turnovers for Arkansas is not a recipe for any success.

One of these early holiday season gifts for LSU was six points that ultimately made the difference between a win and a loss. The losses are piling up, as Arkansas has now lost eight consecutive games. As the CFP Rankings are released on Tuesday, we will hear from Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek. Meanwhile, his team continues to do the exact thing, losing one score, for which he fired the previous coach, as he put it. The priorities are out of order, and the football program is as well . The second grade on the week twelve report card for Arkansas is a D.

As we learned during the pregame, this is the first game in Tiger Stadium where both programs are led by an interim coach. In the end, Frank Wilson edged Bobby Petrino on Saturday. With the win, LSU is now bowl eligible while Arkansas falls to 2-8 on the season.

As the Hogs learned on Saturday, Tiger Stadium is a special venue. In a game where the Hogs faced a backup quarterback who threw for 221 yards, the loss in the trophy game stings. In a season that has long gone by, a win in Baton Rouge would have changed some perspective. Now, fans have moved on to basketball season, with some jumping straight to baseball. In the loss, some history was mentioned above. Because of this, we grade the third key on the week twelve report card for Arkansas a C.

In closing, the season ends with three rivals. In addition, the next game features a trip to top-ten Texas on November 22nd, with a kickoff time to be announced. A game versus the old Southwest Conference foe always draws attention. We at Last Word will have more on this game soon. Stay tuned.

Main Photo: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images