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247Sports · Kevin Bohannon

4d ago
Sunday Rewind: Arkansas 34 Tulsa 6
Summary
Pick/market: The Arkansas Razorbacks (2-2, 0-1 SEC) got a much-needed win to end their losing streak against FBS teams with a 34-6 win over Tulsa (3-1, 0-0 American) on Saturday night at Razorback Stadium.
The Arkansas Razorbacks (2-2, 0-1 SEC) got a much-needed win to end their losing streak against FBS teams with a 34-6 win over Tulsa (3-1, 0-0 American) on Saturday night at Razorback Stadium. The weather ended up being the 12th defender as rain showers made footing difficult at times, but it was the Razorback defense that kept the pressure coming for four quarters. The offense made improvements as KJ Jackson had a good game throwing and running the ball as the Razorbacks outgained Tulsa 441-241 on the night.  Jackson was 24-of 36 for 309 yards and a touchdown plus he scored a rushing touchdown in the first quarter to give his team a 10-0 lead. Jackson iced it with a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter to set the final margin. Max Gilbert was perfect on all four field goal attempts (23, 35, 29, 38). It was Chris Marshall  that stole the show and was the clear stud on the field. He had 9 catches for 195 yards and scored his first touchdown of the season on a slant route in the third quarter.  7️⃣ takes it in @KJ_Jackson_25 pic.twitter.com/gjYKOJUwjq — Arkansas Football 🐗 (@RazorbackFB) September 27, 2026 DEFENSE DOES THEIR JOB The Hogs knew coming into the game that they had to be disciplined against Tulsa's rushing attack as the Golden Hurricane were averaging 220 yards per game. Tulsa also had their backup quarterback Dexter Williams playing for the second straight game. Ron Roberts had a good game plan and the front seven applied pressure all night.  Antonio Sandel-Bascomb forced a fumble in the third quarter as Williams lost the handle trying to escape a sack. Shelton Lewis had a nice strip on a tight end after a long completion. Lewis recovered his own forced fumble. Tulsa ended the night with 65 yards on 23 carries. Ben Bogle played like a mad man once again with Bradley Shaw out for the game. He had a sack and recovered a fumble. Quincy Rhodes saw double teams all night but also had a sack for the second straight game.  Erased 👎@SandelBascomb x @BenBogle3 pic.twitter.com/NtwCx2IsBo — Arkansas Football 🐗 (@RazorbackFB) September 27, 2026 Give us that 💪 @SheltonLewis14 pic.twitter.com/YGoBliEbBR — Arkansas Football 🐗 (@RazorbackFB) September 27, 2026 Arkansas held Tulsa to 241 total yards for the game. The only touchdown drive in the third quarter cut the lead to 16-7 did not come easy for the Golden Hurricane. They had to convert two fourth downs on the drive. Roberts will like the fact his defense won the turnover battle, and Ryan Silverfield will be happy his team played more disciplined with only two penalties for 30 yards. Hunter Osborne was called for a late hit on Williams in the third quarter, and there was an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the Lewis strip and recover. Steven Soles removed his helmet as the entire defense ran down to the endzone to celebrate the turnover.  .@BenBogle3 setting the tone 💪 pic.twitter.com/axUxO1N5SN — Arkansas Football 🐗 (@RazorbackFB) September 27, 2026 GET READY...ITS COMING After Marshall put up another monster game on Saturday to give him 15 catches for 331 yards the last two weeks, the double teams are coming. It is not secret that Marshall is Jackson's favorite target. Marshall did a good job finding the soft spots in Tulsa's zone coverage and also did a great job beating man-to-man coverage. Jackson did a better job scanning the field and getting to his second and third options, when he had time. He also went to the checkdown receiver quite a bit on Saturday.  .@KJ_Jackson_25 x Chris Marshall pic.twitter.com/FGyOAByARv — Arkansas Football 🐗 (@RazorbackFB) September 27, 2026 Jaden Platt caught three passes for 36 yards and Cam Settles caught six passes for 20 yards. Jackson made a couple of mistakes that can easily be cleaned up. He threw an interception into double coverage and took a sack with no timeouts on the five yard line at the end of the first half. Yes, Tulsa blitzed hard from the right side, but Jackson must know that a sack is unacceptable in that situation. Granted, it was the first time Arkansas had been in that situation this season, but the coaching staff gave Jackson the starting job because of his awareness in situations like what happened Saturday. He did a good job of making sure Gilbert had enough time on the clock for a field goal and threw it over Marshall's head to save some clock.  Another thing that's coming is more teams will blitz Arkansas from Jackson's blind side because Bryant Williams is not very good. Whatever Arkansas paid for his services, they need a refund. Tulsa defensive end Thomas Davis beat him repeatedly on speed rushes and bull rushes. Jackson was sacked three times for 22 yards.  RUN GAME WOES CONTINUE Offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey has gone on record multiple times saying it is the running back's job to make one man miss in designed run plays. Well Tim, the problem with that request this year is the running back cannot hit the hole, even the big ones, if the back has to make a man miss in the backfield or at the line of scrimmage.  This offensive line is terrible at zone blocking. It needs to be thrown out the window. Run power, trap, iso and buck sweep rather than the stuff that has been called. The most impressive run of the night was when Arkansas lined up in an "I-formation" with Jackson under center and ran power off the right tackle in short yardage situations. Braylen Russell had a nice 10-yard run in the fourth quarter out of that set.  Earned that one @KJ_Jackson_25 pic.twitter.com/GrrqbS2AUO — Arkansas Football 🐗 (@RazorbackFB) September 27, 2026 Based on experience and talking to former o-line coaches, to be sound in a zone blocking scheme, you need to be good in four areas. One, Linemen need quick, fluid steps (like a 45-degree zone step) to reach leverage points and seal gaps before defenders can penetrate. Second, a team must have communication and move in unison.  Adjacent blockers must move in complete unison, executing double teams on the defensive line before one player cleanly breaks off to block a second-level linebacker. Third, players must instantly read defensive fronts, recognize whether they are "covered" or "uncovered," and decide on the fly when to leave a double team. And the final thing is instead of trying to blow a defender backward with pure force, linemen use positioning to make defenders fight the reach, opening cutback lanes for the running back. Arkansas doesn't excel at these four items at a high level. There is no push so guys can get to the second level. They do not move in unison because there are hardly ever any cutback lanes. If a back is cutting back, it is because there is nowhere to go. The Hogs finished with 132 yards on 43 carries for a putrid 3.1 yards per carry.  If you take away the lost yardage on sacks, they finished with 155 yards on 40 carries. Either change the scheme or change the players in the scheme. The running backs have to do their job in finding the crease when it opens, but this team is not good enough in the passing game to not have a complimentary running game.  WHAT'S NEXT There were a lot of fans that did not think Arkansas would beat Tulsa. This was a good win for Arkansas. It got them them to .500 on the year, which is where a lot of people expected them to be, and more importantly gave them some confidence as they head to College Station (Tex.) next week to take to on an Aggies team that got whipped by LSU on Saturday and is now 2-2 overall and 0-2 in SEC play.  Arkansas can win this game. It sounds crazy, but they can. They have to play clean football and not turn the ball over and get a great game from KJ Jackson. TAMU will be favored by 6-8 points more than likely and they have owned the Hogs since coming into the league. It's not impossible, but it looks better coming off a 28-point win over a previously unbeaten Tulsa team. It feels good to win. Now, they just have to go do it again.

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Teams: Arkansas

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