Incremental Improvement Isn't Enough To Keep Arkansas Fans Happy

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield is cordial and personable whenever you speak with him, even when reporters have to ask tough questions. Such was the case on Monday after Saturday's 34-7 loss to Texas A&M.

But, as Silverfield seems to know, he's not just speaking to the reporters who ask him questions every Monday and Saturday. He's speaking to the entire state of Arkansas, as well as the countless Razorback fans scattered beyond the Natural State's borders. And after three blowout losses to Power Four teams in which Arkansas has been outscored 122-34, fans don't want to hear coach speak, even if Silverfield remaining positive is all he can do when he takes to the mic.

Silverfield and his staff preached about "controllables" — turnovers, penalties and the like — all offseason. The Razorbacks were pitched as a team that was going to be disciplined, even if they weren't the most talented team.

But when you take a team short on talent and combine it with a team short on discipline that loves to turn the football over, you get the kind of results Arkansas has gotten in Year 1 of the Silverfield era, and fans no longer want to hear about how things are going to get fixed. They want to see issues fixed tangibly, on the field and in real time as Arkansas plays No. 15 Tennessee on Oct. 10.

"I think the biggest thing for us is some of the controllables," Silverfield said Monday. "The one thing I’m disappointed in is ball security. That’s one of those things — again, not to harp on the past — teams I’ve coached have always been really, really strong at, is taking care of the football. We have not done a good enough job of that."

QB KJ Jackson has thrown four interceptions through five games and fumbled twice. Sutton Smith put the ball on the carpet against North Alabama. In just five games, the Hogs have already coughed up the football seven times.

No matter how talented your team is, you won't win games like that.

There's no excuse for Arkansas to be playing this poorly

Nobody thought Arkansas would win many games this season. Few thought the Hogs would reach bowl eligibility, and fewer still thought the Razorbacks would be over .500.

But Arkansas has played poorly in four of five games this season and wasn't competitive against Utah, Georgia and Texas A&M. All three of those games were essentially over by halftime.

Even for a team with 80 new players and a first-year head coach, as well as the cheapest roster in the SEC, that's just not good enough. If they can't get wins, fans at least deserve a team that will keep games close.

"I would have major issues right now if we didn’t play with good effort and I felt like we weren’t building a culture every day," Silverfield said. "I get it, fans want to see the final score, and so do [I]. No one wants to win more than I do and the players in that locker room, I promise you. But you get to see a little bit of improvement every day. You see the buy-in.

"Sometimes that improvement may be a guy taking a step in the right direction, maybe it’s a guy that’s learning from this or something, a mistake that was made the previous week and sometimes you take a step backwards as you continue to try to grow. But I firmly believe that every single day we’re finding ways to improve. Sometimes it’s hard to see outside of our building and I understand that. That’s my job, for it to show up on a Saturday in a win. The guys are working diligently about those things... we gotta be better at the controllables. Those are daily challenges. We knew what we were when we took this thing over and how we’ve got to continue to work to get better."

Silverfield referenced the financial limitations Arkansas had when putting together its roster, saying that Arkansas "replaced 80 players and we did it to the best of our ability with the resources that were allotted to us."

There's no doubt Silverfield and his staff are putting in work to try and win. There's no doubt that the players aren't playing hard, nor any that they hurt after losing.

But at some point, incremental improvement can't be what Silverfield hangs his hat on. Sports are a what have you done for me lately kind of business, and not only are the Razorbacks not winning as of late, they're not even competitive.

Another poor showing in front of the home crowd at Razorback Stadium on Saturday against Tennessee will only be the cause of more frustration.

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