A Road Win Over No. 20 Utah Would Earn Ryan Silverfield Some Grace

FAYETTEVILLE — The discourse around Ryan Silverfield's one-game tenure as the head football coach at Arkansas has been largely negative, and understandably so, given the Razorbacks' struggles in their season-opening 31-14 win over North Alabama.

But it's important to remember that Arkansas is, in fact, 1-0 and not 0-1 and that Saturday's game in Salt Lake City against No. 20 Utah will, in fact, start with a score of 0-0 and not 14-0 in favor of the Utes.

That's not to say that Arkansas' Sept. 5 performance against North Alabama was excusable. It wasn't, especially on offense or in regard to penalties.

Still, the Razorbacks have flushed that game and have a huge opportunity awaiting them at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday against No. 20 Utah.

Sep 3, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes head coach Morgan Scalley greets offensive linemen after a score against the Idaho Vandals during the fourth quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

There's an old adage that teams always improve the most from Week 1 to Week 2. Silverfield believes in that, though only "to an extent."

"That [is] no excuse for the way we played," Silverfield said Monday. "I’ll never sit up here, as you guys are starting to find out… I can put it on my shoulders and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be better.’ But I do. Listen… hopefully, we are tremendously better this week than we were last week.

"I think a lot of it is the communication aspect, seeing things, some of the big eyes. Some of these guys for the first time, you can say well, KJ’s played football, Sutton Smith’s played football, but it’s the first time for all 80 of us and a new staff all being together, so there’s some learning things we all felt. It probably is an advantage with those teams to play that game."

It wasn't just Arkansas who played a Week 1 game, though. Utah demolished Idaho 66-14 on Sept. 3 and looked far more crips than Arkansas against an FCS opponent.

But Arkansas has struggled in an opener and scored a big Week 2 road win before. Take 2020, for example, when Sam Pittman's first game as head coach saw Arkansas fight early but eventually lose 37-10 to Georgia. The Razorbacks went to Starkville the next week and beat Mississippi State for their first SEC win since 2017.

In 2016, Arkansas squeaked out a 21-20 victory over Louisiana Tech in the season opener, only to go to Fort Worth the next week and beat No. 15 TCU in a 41-38 2OT thriller.

Arkansas hasn't won a Week 2 contest against a Power Four opponent since it beat South Carolina in 2022. It hasn't won a Week 2 game on the road in a non-COVID season since the aforementioned victory over TCU a decade ago.

A win on Saturday for Silverfield and Arkansas wouldn't only put the Hogs on the inside track to bowl eligibility, but would also earn Silverfield some grace with a fragile fan base after what was a relatively discouraging debut.

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