Razorbacks Did Better Job Limiting Explosive Plays In Second Scrimmage

FAYETTEVILLE — Far too often in 2025, Arkansas' defense gave up chunk plays.

The Razorbacks ranked a putrid No. 121 of 136 FBS teams in yards allowed per play last season at 6.3. Five defensive backs — Larry Worth III, Caleb Wooden, Julian Neal, Kani Walker and Miguel Mitchell — had more than 50 tackles, which is a sign that plenty of big plays were allowed against the defense.

Head coach Ryan Silverfield has said multiple times that the 2025 season might as well be ancient history to the 2026 Razorbacks. But he also noted after Arkansas' Aug. 16 scrimmage that the Razorback defense gave up too many explosive plays.

That problem was at least somewhat remedied in Arkansas' second scrimmage of fall camp on Aug. 22.

Practice album: Scrimmage 2️⃣ Edition pic.twitter.com/t8QuS3JxL8
— Arkansas Football 🐗 (@RazorbackFB) August 23, 2026

"This week, they did a significantly better job," Silverfield said Sunday. "Now, they did have a couple explosives. They cut it in half. The next time we go out on gameday, let's limit that, because we got to be smart. One was a communication bust. One was a guy that played with bad technique, and then two in the run game.

"So, the explosives were limited, but we can find ways to continue to clean those up. Like I've said [for a long time, the yardage given up, that's y'all's job to look into that, but ultimately it's going to be about points given up, right? [The offense] drove down today and then all of a sudden, the interception in the end zone. Well, the stats are going to look bad, but all of a sudden, if you come away with four takeaways it's a hell of a game for the defense."

Memphis' 2025 defense under Silverfield and defensive coordinator Jordon Hankins, the Tigers ranked 63rd in the country in yards given up per play at 5.5. Florida, led by defensive coordinator Ron Roberts, was 86th at 5.7 yards per play. In 2023, Roberts' defense at Auburn was 66th in the country at 5.6 yards per play.

The above numbers aren't great, nor do they necessarily tell the entire story about explosive plays. But if Arkansas is to scratch across multiple wins in SEC play this fall, it can't give up explosive plays as frequently as it did a year ago.

An improved secondary and defensive line should help Silverfield, Roberts and the Razorbacks in that endeavor. Arkansas has one final scrimmage set for Aug. 29 before its Sept. 5 season opener against North Alabama.

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