{"id":80226,"date":"2025-09-21T10:00:57","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T14:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=80226"},"modified":"2025-09-21T17:28:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T21:28:26","slug":"report-card-for-arkansas-versus-memphis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/09\/21\/report-card-for-arkansas-versus-memphis\/","title":{"rendered":"Report Card For Arkansas Versus Memphis"},"content":{"rendered":"
Can you feel the heat from the seat of Sam Pittman?<\/div>\n
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In a\u00a0packed Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium<\/a>, the Arkansas Razorbacks suffered their second loss, 32-31, to Memphis on Saturday. With the loss, the Razorbacks fall to 2-2 on the season. We at\u00a0Last Word presented three keys for success for Arkansas<\/a> in a previous piece. Now, we grade the Razorbacks on these keys in the postgame.<\/div>\n

Report Card For Arkansas Versus Memphis<\/h2>\n
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Before we analyze the game, we must remind you of the three keys for the Razorbacks before we proceed with our analysis. First, read it right defensively. Second, it was to embrace a challenging environment. Last, it was for the offense to play with speed and precision.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read It Right<\/h3>\n
In key number one, we tasked the defense with reading correctly. As the week of preparation for the game transpired, Pittman spoke of the Memphis offense and its effectiveness in the run, pass, and option style of plays. Ultimately, the defense was unable to stop the running attack from Memphis. Tigers quarterback Brendon Lewis finished 15-30 through the air for 199 yards, including a touchdown and an interception apiece. If you were to ask Pittman, he would get by with this performance.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But this was not the only way Lewis would pen the Hogs. The Nevada transfer bumbled for 103 yards on 16 attempts for two scores on the day. The improvement from the first half to the second was a factor in the grade for the initial key. If Arkansas was asked to get a good read on Memphis, they failed in the loss. With this, the report card on reading it right defensively is a D-.<\/div>\n
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\"2025
Photo Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Tough Place To Play<\/h3>\n
We spoke about the importance of embracing the environment. In the beginning, Arkansas seemed to handle the sellout crowd of over 39,000 announced as they took a quick 7-0 lead. As the first half came to a close, Arkansas led 28-17, behind a late Memphis touchdown. With the Tigers gaining possession to start the second half, the Arkansas defense needed to quiet the crowd with a stop. Instead of this, the Razorbacks allowed Memphis to come from behind and regain the lead as they outscored them 28-3 in the second half.<\/div>\n
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While Memphis is not the easiest place to remain safe in public, this also applies to SEC teams entering the football stadium. Since 2015, Memphis is now 4-0 versus SEC opponents, including back-to-back wins for Ryan Silverfield. The meltdown today from Arkansas will undoubtedly spark more questions<\/a> than answers for the Razorbacks. To further this gut-wrenching loss, this was the first blown lead of 18-plus points by an Arkansas team since a 2021 loss to Colorado State. We grade the report card for Arkansas versus Memphis with a C- in this key.<\/div>\n

Pedal To Floor<\/h3>\n
With the final key for success, Arkansas was asked to push the pedal to the floor. If you were to look at the stats alone, as some do, this would be an automatic A+, and we could stop typing. Yet, if we look further into these stats, we find ways to improve. The most glaring of these is turnovers, as Arkansas finished the game with three in the loss. From a usual effective offense, the Memphis defense stifled them to only three points in the second half. Part of this success was due to two interceptions, one of which was abysmal, combined with the fumble loss as the Razorbacks looked to be driving in for a win.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This fumble, a punch out from Memphis defender Chris Bracy, came not only at the worst time, but, following last week, it has fans wanting changes immediately. We spoke in detail during this offseason about the emphasis on ball security from this staff. Thus far, the team is averaging roughly two turnovers a contest, which includes two in late-game situations. As fast as the offense is on the field, the turnovers continue to keep them off. For Arkansas to win in conference play, this must be corrected. With this, we grade the report card for Arkansas against Memphis with a C. The offense played well, but the turnovers cost them yet another possible win.<\/div>\n
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In closing, the loss was not pretty. No matter if Memphis is the current G6 CFP darling or not, fans expected a win. If Arkansas had read the crowd better, while taking the crowd out of the game, putting the pedal to the floor would have been easier. In the end, the Razorbacks limp out<\/a> of the on-conference season with a loss. With a loss in conference already, these report cards will need to improve. If not, we may need to write up some additional content on who is next.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Main Photo: Wesley Hale-Imagn Images<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can you feel the heat from the seat of Sam Pittman? In a\u00a0packed Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, the Arkansas Razorbacks suffered their second loss, 32-31, to Memphis on Saturday. With the loss, the Razorbacks fall to 2-2 on the season. We at\u00a0Last Word presented three keys for success for Arkansas in a previous piece. Now, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4207,"featured_media":80240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,35588,17,3],"tags":[30,5186,7357,111,8291,35677],"class_list":["post-80226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-arkansas-razorbacks","category-news","category-sec","tag-american-athletic-conference","tag-memphis-tigers-football","tag-ryan-silverfield","tag-sam-pittman","tag-sec-football-recaps","tag-southeastern-conference-football"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80226"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80260,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80226\/revisions\/80260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}