Comedy of Errors: Dark Winter for Arkansas Football After Mizzou Loss

Arkansas offense held to 234 yards of total offense in embarrassing finale to cap season

Author:
Daniel Shi
Publish date:
Nov 24, 2023 9:04 PM EST

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE Ark. — Muffed punts, fumbles returned for a touchdown, an injury to quarterback KJ Jefferson, fights, ejections and a stadium empty except for a healthy number of Missouri fans. It was just that kind of day for the Razorbacks as Arkansas native Eli Drinkwitz and his Tigers went back to Columbia with a 41-14 win and the Battle Line Rivalry trophy.

"Congratulate Missouri," Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. "We knew they had a very good football team, physical football team. They played a really good game today. Obviously, we did not. Congratulations to them and they were a physical team. Running back is really good and we had a really hard time stopping him.For all the talk about the rivalry, Friday's game came down to pure talent.”

The show belonged to Missouri running back Cody Schrader, who came into the game leading the SEC in rushing. Schrader used both running sideline to sideline and between the tackles to torch the Arkansas defense on 27 carries for 217 yards.

After the team exchanged opening shanked punts, the Tigers dominated, moving the ball up and down the field at will. Schrader cashed in with a 2-yard rushing touchdown after his own 36-yard sprint put the Tigers on the doorstep.

For a fleeting moment Arkansas had hope as starting quarterback KJ Jefferson broke open for a 22-yard run just short of midfield. But then it all came crashing down. Not only did Jefferson fumble, but Missouri recovered it while the Hogs quarterback had his leg bent awkwardly, resulting in a hyperextended left knee that put him out for the rest of the game. Back-up Jacolby Criswell didn't fare much better. The Hogs did not get their first offensive first down until the second quarter.

“It’s sad to see (KJ injured),” safety Hudson Clark said. “He was our leader, and so it’s definitely sad to see. But he’ll bounce back.”

Even though Arkansas was getting beat on the field, there was no love lost between the two teams, as a fight broke out on the field leading to three players getting ejected.

Extracurriculars aside, the Hogs continued to have no answer for Schrader and the Mizzou ground game. The only solace for the Hogs was Mizzou had to settle for field goals on two of its drives. The other touchdown was set up by a 43 yard dash by Schrader down the left sideline. Quarterback Brady Cook then punched it in from 2 yards out. By halftime, the Tigers led Arkansas 20-0, with the Razorbacks generating only 50 yards of offense.

“We didn’t put the offense in good situations to be successful,” guard Josh Braun said. “That put a lot of stress on our defense and special teams. So definitely something needs to change, and we need to take it upon ourselves to get better every day this offseason so that next year we can have success.”

Nothing changed after halftime. After one first down on the opening drive, Criswell fumbled, setting up Missouri with prime field position. Cook showed off the arm with a passing touchdown to a wide-open Brett Norfleet to make the score 27-0.

Following the muffed punt which led to another score, a three-and-out appeared like clockwork as the Tigers continuously got the ball back at will. Another strip-sack fumble allowed Jay Jernigan to score again, 41-0.

Finally, Criswell found Andrew Armstrong in the corner of the end zone in the fourth quarter to not only avoid avoid a shut out, but also post the first offensive touchdown against an SEC opponent at home all season. By then the interest had long left the building and only mostly the Black and Gold remained. Isaiah Augustave added his first career touchdown to make the score look slightly less lopsided.