Tre Lamb's Subtle Shots At Arkansas Shows How Far Razorbacks Have Fallen

FAYETTEVILLE — There was a time when a game against a Group of Six team was a relative afterthought for Arkansas, but this is not it.

Saturday's game against Tulsa is a make or break contest for first-year head coach Ryan Silverfield and the Razorbacks, who desperately need a victory before starting an eight-game SEC gauntlet to close out the year.

The Razorbacks are favored by only 8.5 and have a 54 percent chance to win, numbers that should be much higher against even a good Group of Six opponent.

Arkansas Razorbacks wide receiver Jamari Hawkins runs to the sideline following a second half reception against the Georgia Bulldogs. | Nilsen Roman, Hogs on SI Images

Tulsa has already knocked off a Power Four opponent in Oklahoma State this season and will undoubtedly come into Razorback Stadium with plenty of moxie on Saturday night.

TU head coach Tre Lamb was asked Monday why there haven't been many Group of Six over Power Four upsets this season, and he took a possibly unintentional shot at the Razorbacks while answering.

"I don't know how many of the good Group of Six teams have played games they can win," Lamb said. "South Florida was really good last year and they beat Florida. Tulane was really good and they beat Northwestern and Duke. Nobody wants schedule Boise [State]. Nobody wants to schedule Tulane. Nobody wants to schedule USF.

"Arkansas had us and Memphis on the schedule this year and bought Memphis out. You don't want to play Memphis. Not if you're at Arkansas."

Memphis, of couse, beat Arkansas last year 32-31 with Silverfield at the helm.

While the Razorbacks won't play the Tigers in Fayetteville this year as was the original plan, that's largely due to the SEC moving to a nine-game conference slate for 2026, not Arkansas buying Memphis out to get the game off the schedule. Arkansas will host Memphis in 2030, as its 2026 schedule would've been overbooked with four non-conference games rather than three.

However, Arkansas did have a choice as to which 2026 non-conference game it could move, and it chose Memphis, albeit before the Razorbacks fell to the Tigers. Still, with how good Charles Huff's squad looks this season and how poorly Arkansas has played out of the gate, that might've been a wise decision.

Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield during a game against North Alabama. | Nilsen Roman, Hogs On SI Images

That doesn't mean Tulsa will be a pushover. The Golden Hurricane are 3-0 for the first time since 2008 and received votes in the AP poll this week. it wouldn't be surprising if Saturday's game is competitive for 60 minutes, nor would it be completely shocking if Tulsa pulls the upset.

"They're paying us a lot of money to come over there," Lamb said. "Why not try to leave with a win?"

It's not known how much Arkansas is paying Tulsa to make the trip east, but one could assume it's at least several hundred thousand dollars. But with how much Arkansas has struggled in its first three games, that payout to TU could become the subject of plenty of jokes if the Razorbacks lose.

A home loss to a Group of Six program would be a huge stain for Silverfield and would be deemed, and appropriately so, as unacceptable. Such losses rarely spell good things for a coach's future — just ask Chad Morris, who lost to a Group of Six team in Colorado State in the second game of his tenure and went 4-18 in less than two seasons at UA.

"We're going to everything we can to win this football game," Lamb said. "Huge momentum game. You have a good showing over there, you play well, and your team believes you got a chance to be one of the better Group of Six teams in the country.

"A good Group of Six team wins this game. We gotta go lay it all out there. [Arkansas] has a chance to be a good football team. They're not there yet, they're figuring some things out. We ain't there yet, either. We gotta humble ourselves and go try to get this done."

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