Ryan Silverfield: Auburn Loss 'A Tale Of Two Halves'

FAYETTEVILLE — The first half of Saturday's game between Arkansas and Auburn played out exactly how Arkansas needed it to in order for the Razorbacks to have an opportunity to win.

Arkansas' offense didn't play great in the first half and the Hogs made their fair share of big mistakes, but the defense was outstandings, keeping mobile Auburn QB Byrum Brown contained.

In the second half, however, the Tigers scored 23 points to Arkansas' 13 as the Razorback offense mostly sputtered, save for a big run from Cam Settles and a nice touchdown drive that tied the game at 23 after a back shoulder pass from KJ Jackson to Antonio Jordan.

Auburn scored on five of its final six drives, and the shootout-style second half was not the kind of game Arkansas could afford to play.

"Clearly, a tale of two halves," Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield said. "You look at what we did defensively, proud of the effort in the first half. Played really clean. We were able to wrap up, get off field on third down, do a lot of great things. Offensively, did some decent stuff in the first half, obviously wish we could have capitalized a little bit more, so it wasn't just a 10 to 3 ball game going to halftime. And then the second half struggles offensively, giving up eight TFLs and five sacks in the second half. Then their quarterback rushing for over 120 yards and throwing for two touchdowns."

28-yard strike for the lead 🎯@byrumbrown17 ➡️ @KeshaunX21 pic.twitter.com/Rd7Nt4vyKl
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) November 7, 2026

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Arkansas held Auburn to 109 total yards of offense in the first half, but the Tigers had 254 in the second half on the strength of Brown's legs. No Auburn RB had more than 41 yards on the afternoon, but he had 128 yards and a touchdown in the second half alone.

Offensively, Arkansas was unable to protect Jackson in the second half after giving him plenty of time to throw in the first. Auburn sealed the game by getting to Jackson on the first play of Arkansas' final drive, with Jackson trying to throw the ball away but getting called for intentional grounding in the process.

"I think in the second half, they said, 'Screw this, we're just going to line up and we're going to load the box, and you're going to have to beat us'," Silverfield said. "And that's part of... the run game may have taken some of those TFLs, right? When they're loading the box and saying that clearly, anytime you give up sacks, everyone wants to look immediately at the offensive line. But three of the sacks were on other people that were involved in pass protection, and we got to find ways to catch and throw and get rid of the ball. Whether it's guys getting open to route concepts, but yeah, you're certainly right. We couldn't protect in the second half."

Silverfield is now 0-2 in one-score games at Arkansas, and the Razorbacks have lost nine consecutive one-possession games dating back to 2025.

Arkansas will return home on Nov. 14 to face South Carolina at 6:45 p.m. inside Razorback Stadium.

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