ARLINGTON, Texas — The University of Arkansas football team will finally get to spend some extended time at home.
After playing its first five games in five different locations, four of Arkansas’ next five games are at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that the Razorbacks’ next four games in Fayetteville are against ranked SEC opponents with a combined 17-2 record.
Arkansas (3-2, 1-1 SEC) began its run of playing ranked conference teams with a 21-17 loss to No. 24 Texas A&M on Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The gauntlet continues when Arkansas plays No. 4 Tennessee (4-0, 1-0) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at home on ABC with the network’s top crew of play-by-play man Chris Fowler, analyst Kirk Herbstreit and sideline reporter Holly Rowe working the game.
While the Razorbacks were suffering their latest soul-crushing loss to the Aggies — who are 12-1 in the series since 2012 with six victories by seven or fewer points with three going overtime — the Volunteers had an open date and should come to Fayetteville rested and ready to continue competing for a spot in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.
Tennessee welcomed No. 19 Oklahoma to the SEC with a 25-15 victory at Norman, Okla., on Sept. 21 in a game it led 22-3. The Volunteers also crushed NC State 51-10 in Charlotte, N.C.
Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman understandably is embracing the challenge and opportunity that awaits the Razorbacks rather than lamenting the strength of schedule for their upcoming games.
“Excited,” Pittman said. “Excited to play the University of Tennessee at home.”
Before playing in Arlington, Arkansas beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Little Rock; lost at then-No. 16 Oklahoma State 39-31 in double overtime in Stillwater, Okla.; beat Alabama-Birmingham in Fayetteville; and won at Auburn.
“It’ll be nice to get back home,” Pittman said. “We’ve got a good football team. We just didn’t score as many (points as Texas A&M).”
Texas A&M, which is tied for No. 25 with UNLV in The Associated Press poll released on Sunday, handed Arkansas its sixth consecutive loss to a ranked team.
Arkansas is 0-2 against ranked teams this season, including the loss at Oklahoma State, which fell out of the AP poll after losing at Kansas State 42-20 on Saturday.
The Razorbacks were 0-4 against ranked teams last season. Arkansas lost at No. 12 LSU 34-31, at No. 16 Ole Miss 27-20, at No. 11 Alabama 24-20 and at home to No. 10 Missouri 48-14.
Arkansas last beat a ranked team in 2022 with their 42-27 victory over No. 14 Ole Miss in Fayetteville.
If Arkansas is to qualify for a bowl game this season and finish no worse than 6-6, the Razorbacks have to beat at least one ranked team along with Mississippi State and Louisiana Tech.
Arkansas has an open date after the Tennessee game, then is home against No. 13 LSU, plays at Mississippi State and is back home against No. 12 Ole Miss and No. 2 Texas.
The Razorbacks then play their last nonconference game against Louisiana Tech in Fayetteville and finish the regular season on the road against No. 9 Missouri.
The losses to ranked teams last season resulted in a 4-8 record.
“I feel like we’re a lot closer this year,” said Arkansas senior defensive end Landon Jackson, who had two sacks against the Aggies. “We’re a really tight-knit group. I feel like we can’t let a game, a tough loss, a really close game that we wish we could have had, we can’t let that tear us apart.
“We’ve got to stay together and continue to fight. SEC play is brutal.
“You’re playing ranked teams and then crap, I mean, there’s teams in the SEC that aren’t ranked that are better than ranked teams.
“Every week’s a tough game, so we’ve got to stay together and continue to fight.”
Senior receiver Isaac TeSlaa had his best game in two seasons as a Razorback with five catches for 120 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown.
“You hate to play the comparison game, comparing last year to this year, just because there’s so many different pieces,” TeSlaa said. “But I would definitely say there’s a lot of camaraderie within the team.
“Obviously, as an offense and as a defense, but both as the team as a whole, I think there’s a lot of support going both ways.”
Arkansas fell to 6-16 under Pittman in games decided by eight or fewer points, including 1-7 since last season. The Razorbacks’ lone one-score victory in that span was 39-36 in overtime at Florida last season.
“We’ve got to figure it out,” Pittman said. “We’ve got to continue to work on how to win these games.
“I expect our team to be ready to play and our fans to be ready to support us and help us with crowd noise and all that, but it’ll be nice to get back home.”
