2026 Missouri Football Opponent DEEP DIVE: Arkansas Razorbacks

Welcome back to Rock M Nation’s annual opponent preview series of the upcoming season. Each week we will break down one opponent from the schedule in chronological order. Given that rosters are ever fluid – and this is done by a hobbyist rather than a pro – there could be some errors in history and current roster makeup. All mistakes are done on purpose and with ill intent because Nate Edwards doesn’t like you or your team.

Catch up on previous 2026 opponent previews!

There’s an unpopular phrase that gets thrown around on the internet when middle-to-bad programs in a power conference start complaining about stuff:

“Take the checks, take the losses”.

It’s been directed at programs such as Purdue, Mississippi State, Rutgers, South Carolina, Minnesota, and yes, even Missouri at times.

But nowhere does that phrase hit the hardest truth than with Arkansas.

You might remember Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek ripping off a heater back in May when the TV slots and times were revealed for the upcoming season. In the ultimate “I ain’t reading all of that” post, Yurachek whined about the kickoff times and the disrespect that the SEC’s television partners were showing to the Razorbacks.

Well, Hunter, what did you expect?

Since joining the SEC in 1992 the Hogs have never won the SEC and only appeared in the championship game three times: ‘95, ‘02, and ‘06. They have twelve 10+ win seasons total, and only three of those have happened since they became a member of the SEC.

They don’t lack for resources on the whole but certainly compared to the rest of the SEC they rank in the middle, floating closer to the bottom, and their football team has rarely delivered a performance worth consideration on a grander scale than “regionally relevant”.

Obviously NIL and the portal can change these facts quickly but, so far, they haven’t, and their coaching hire for this cycle has not done anything to change the outside viewpoint of what this program can be.

Here’s what Arkansas did last year:

I’m going to say it: Arkansas wasn’t a terrible team last year.

Actually, let me be more specific: Arkansas wasn’t as terrible as a 2-10 record would indicate.

Yes, you are what your record says you are, but the fact of that matter is that many teams escaped their encounter with the Hogs with a win…but they had to escape to do it in the first place, which indicates a higher quality than you might initially project.

Arkansas went 0-6 in one-score games. Read that again. Six games decided by 8 points or less, didn’t win any of them. And that includes Tennessee (#12 at the time) and Playoff teams Ole Miss and Texas A&M, all of whom were lucky to beat Arkansas.

Here’s a fun stat for you: Arkansas won two games while only being outscored by 11 points on the year.

And here’s the higher level view point: if you tally up the postgame win expectancy Arkansas would have finished 5.7 – 6.3, meaning they were much closer to being a six win team than a two win team. Now, that wouldn’t have saved Sam Pittman’s job since he was released after Notre Dame had to call off the dogs to not score 100 points on them, but 6 wins is a much better descriptor of the way Arkansas played throughout the year.

But they still only won two games. Lol.

Coaching Staff

Ryan Silverfield – 1st Year – 0-0 (0-0)

Ryan Silverfield has been a coach nearly his entire life. Go ahead, look at his college graduating year and then see which year he started coaching.

The story goes that Silverfield was a star player at his high school, The Bolles School, but suffered a career-ending neck injury and couldn’t participate on the field ever again. So, in order to stay with the sport, his high school coaching staff let him be an assistant coach for his teammates. And he turned that into an assistant coach opportunity at Hampden-Sydney where he was a student for four years. He then was a high school coach for one year and then a low level assistant for three years in college before joining the Minnesota Vikings coaching staff.

He’s coached both offensive and defensive lines in his time with the Vikings but returned to the college ranks in 2014 before becoming Memphis’ o-line coach under Mike Norvell. Once Norvell left for Florida State, Silverfield was tapped to be the next Tiger head coach.

Silverfield’s Memphis tenure was mostly spoken of as the overseer of the “downfall” (if you’re dramatic), as Memphis fell fromt he loft 12-2 of the last Norvell year to merely 6-8 win years. But Memphis was patient and that patience was rewarded with back-to-back 10+ winning seasons.

Silverfield’s reputation is that of an o-line coach that’s a pretty good head coach despite his lack of experience in the role. But that’s not a level that’s going to wow your fanbase, especially one that just went through a 10-loss season with an o-line coach that was pretty good despite his lack of experience in the role. Add in the fact that Arkansas hit the coaching market early in the year and still had to settle for it’s fourth or fifth choice, and you can see why this hire was met with a lukewarm reception.

Doesn’t mean it can’t work, by the way. Just means Silverfield has a shorter leash to prove his bona fides.

Assistant Staff

As is to be expected when a new staff is hired to replace a 10-loss staff, every position has been replaced with someone new. Silverfield brought with him his quarterbacks coach, wide receivers coach, and an offensive line coach. What he didn’t bring: any of his defensive staff which, given their 75th ranking in SP+, makes sense.

However, I do find it kind of funny the staffs that he poached his guys from. Florida State, Stanford, Florida, Auburn, and Georgia State won 19 games combined in 2025, which gives the impression that he got those specific guys because 1.) they were available, 2.) unwanted, and/or 3.) cheap. That’s just perception, mind you, I’m not reporting on anything.

While bringing Tim Cramsey as OC makes a lot of sense for Silverfield’s offensive continuity, installing Ron Roberts as DC is a head scratcher. Roberts has a ton of managerial experience but his defenses have been on the wane recently, including severely underperforming at Florida over the past two years. I’m not sure that Roberts will be able to do better with less in Fayetteville, but, well, he was available, unwanted, and probably cheap.

Also, I do enjoy the fact that the head coach who spent his career as a coach for both lines made a point to hire two defensive line coaches and two offensive line coaches, including former Mizzou o-line coach Marcus Johnson.

Roster Movement

Of all the opponents on Missour’s 2026 schedule, Arkansas’ 41 portal exits are the most. Every single position except punter and center experienced at least one player leaving the team, including not one but two long snappers. That’s a lot of churn.

But, hey, if you lose 41 players to the portal, you might as well bring in 42 guys to replace them, right? Six Memphis transfers highlight the portal crop for Arkansas, as well as the usual smattering of high performing G6ers and bench relegated P4ers.

Arkansas’ high school recruiting efforts were obviously stymied by the fact that they didn’t hire a new head coach until November 30th, so bringing in a class that ranks 47th in the nation and 15th in the SEC isn’t all that surprising. Silverfield made a point to also sign four JUCO defenders to supplement his non-portal recruiting; given the state of Arkansas’ 2025 defense, it makes sense to find some additional instant impact guys for that side of the ball.

Offense

Ryan Silverfield and Tim Cramsey crafted offenses at Memphis that valued the run and efficiency over passing and explosiveness, which Missouri fans should be intimately familiar with at this point. The extra wrinkle, however, is that they also put a lot of pressure on their quarterback to make checks at the line and give him liberties to change the play or direction based on what the quarterback sees pre-snap. When you have a veteran guy – like Seth Henigan or Brendon Lewis – it can work out really well. If you don’t have a veteran…well, it doesn’t work as well.

So then the question is “what’s the quarterback situation at Arkansas?” And, reader, I don’t believe that they have a Seth Henigan or Brendon Lewis hanging out on the roster. So the Memphis offense that ranked in 12th in rushing, 35th in success rate, 16 in pass completion rate, 21st in points per scoring opportunity, and 7th in turnover margin will have to do so with the Tiger transfers-in and an unproven quarterback.

And while offense wasn’t the problem at Arkansas last year, it was also a completely different system called by one of the best play callers (and worst people) in the game; it’s going to be a big mish-mash of talent and scheme that will most likely need a length breaking-in period to click.

Quarterback

The Razorbacks have two, maybe three options at quarterback for the upcoming year. First is the holdover from last year, K.J. Jackson. You’ll remember him from Missouri’s 2025 matchup with the Hogs when Jackson was clearly the more effective quarterback but was being rotated out with Taylen Green based on the quarter. He did well in the Bobby Petrino system and has some live experience but will be brand new to the Silverfield/Cramsey book.

Then there’s A.J. Hill, Memphis’ backup quarterback last year who has worked within the book but has thrown a grand total of 32 passes in his collegiate career. Probably higher floor, most likely lower ceiling than Jackson.

Then you have the wildcard, former Angelo State Ram Braeden Fuller. Over 12 games in 2024 Fuller threw for nearly 2,400 yards, logged 19 touchdowns to 2 interceptions, and ran for (sack-added) 678 yards, including 187 yards in a single game against West Texas A&M. The dude is scrappy and a good improviser…but did all that in the D-II Lone Star Conference. And, again, that was 2024. Last year he only played in 8 games and while his production was fine, he wasn’t the primary quarterback for the season.

Obviously we’ve seen these types of lower level guys have success when they jump up to FBS: Diego Pavia, Cam Ward, Trinidad Chambliss come to mind. So Fuller might be the answer but we have no idea if he will actually be the answer. It’ll be fascinating to see how this quarterback race shakes out.

Running Backs

Memphis relied heavily on the quarterback running game but also rotated three other running backs into the mix as well, with Sutton Smith being the chief carries earner with 102 carries at 6.6 yards per attempt. Mizzou fans have actually seen Smith before as he was the backup for the 2023 Memphis squad that lost to the Good Guy Tigers in the Dome in St. Louis. Smith has never eclipsed even 700 yards and benefited from a 3+ yards before contact average, but he’s experienced and adds another option to a depleted Arkansas running back room. Holdover Braylen Russell might not have the raw stats to wow anyone but is a beast to bring down, averaging 3.1 yards after contact.

Receivers

Three Memphis pass catchers join the well-traveled Chris Marshall and New Mexico State standout Donovan Faupel in Arkansas’ revamped receiving corps. The Hogs lost 3 of their top 4 pass catchers so the Memphis import was necessary on several fronts. Faupel should be the focal-point as the Z-receiver, where he has typically lined up on the outside for 87% of his snaps but runs short routes about 43% of the time, turning easy throws/catches into bigger 1st downs (60.7% of his catches converted) and very little drops (4%).

Offensive Line

Arkansas’ offensive line last year was good at pass blocking but lacked any positive run blocking chops, so Silverfield in friends went out and grabbed Ohio’s best lineman, imported Memphis’ best guard, and they nabbed thee starters from lower level programs to fill out the depth. Holdovers Kobe Branham and Caden Kitler are experienced but were two of the worst pass blockers amongst last year’s starters. I’m assuming that an o-line head coach and two o-line position coaches should be able to refine and improve on what they already have in their toolkit.

Defense

Arkansas’ defense ranked 99th in FBS last year. It wasn’t the worst power defense out there…but it was close. And was certainly the worst in the SEC.

Because of that, I’m not going to bore you with the things they did poorly because the TL:DR is “everything”. Instead, let’s focus on what they have for this year’s group.

Despite the negative connotations for the Hog defense, tackle Quincy Rhodes, Jr. was a revelation, logging over 18 havoc plays on his own. Bradley Shaw and Miguel Mitchell have a ton of snap experience from last year’s group…and that’s about all the positives I can find on the “returning production” checklist.

Good thing the transfer portal exists, huh?

The interesting thing, though, is that Silverfield did not bring his defense with him. He left his coordinator, position coaches, and all of his players (save young Ian Williams) back in Memphis when he took the Arkansas job. I guess even Silverfield recognized his lackluster Memphis defenses didn’t have much to offer to the SEC.

But, never fear, Silverfield and DC Ron Roberts found plenty of power players to sprinkle into the group. Big names like tackle Hunter Osborne from Virginia, Xadavien Sims from Oregon, Carlon Jones from USC, and Trajen Odom from Ohio State should be looked to slot in as Day One starters. Khmori House was a rare bright spot for the North Carolina Tar Heels last year, and should be a menace as a green dot linebacker or maybe even their version of STAR. Roberts likes to run a 3-man front with a hybrid defensive backfield, so big bodies up front and versatile players in back are the exact sort of guys that will succeed here. And with 10 transfers to the defensive secondary, they should have plenty of options to shore up what was one of the worst power pass defenses of the past five years.

So what does it all mean?

I know Arkansas is Missouri’s rival and all but I can’t help but want more for them.

I want them to be better managed as a department. Scheduling “helmet games” against power competition is admirable, but choosing to play Utah at Utah early in the year is dumb as hell; Utah is good but not perennial Playoff participant good, and it drags your team halfway across the country to play a squad that has no connection to your team. That’s dumb. And, as the tv execs backed up, not worth it to Arkansas to do, even if they were to win.

I want them to be better funded. They brought in some really interesting names from the portal but a good chunk of the guys that fall in the “interesting” category are guys from power programs who couldn’t see the field. We don’t have a lot of data five years into this thing but, for the majority of those types of guys, they don’t magically get better at the lower-level school. And Arkansas targeted a lot of them! And those transfers have a similar quality to the FCS and D-II call ups the Hogs brought in: they are cheap.

I like Ryan Silverfield. I like a lot of the guys on his staff. But I liked them because they shone at lower levels and were able to be creative and punch above their weight. And, yes, I realize writing that out that those qualities might be exactly what an Arkansas needs to stay relevant in the hyper-inflated modern college football game. But that sort of move isn’t going to excite the majority of the fan base, and in the end, you need the fan base to invest in order to get better.

The point is that Arkansas has a ton of ground to make up and while I believe Silverfield will do well given enough time, I’m not sure if that amount of time will be given. He showed at Memphis that inheriting a great program that’s above its peers still requires three years for him to get rolling: will Arkansas give him three years? And after a 2-win season, with this gauntlet of a 9-game schedule that features Georgia and A&M in the first five weeks, and closes with Texas and LSU? It’ll be brutal and a hell of an achievement if they can get bowl eligible! The 2026 season doesn’t set up for a successful Year One and, in this modern era of college football, if you don’t have a successful Year One, the narratives lumped on you are hard to shake.

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