If you were wondering if Arkansas could build on a promising win at Vanderbilt before the open week, the answer was a resounding no. If you were wondering whether Eli Drinkwitz’s desire to beat his home-state school would be any less since the game was moved away from its usual spot in the final week of the season, the answer was also no.

Missouri made short work of the Hogs on Halloween night in Fayetteville, winning 34-10. It’s the same story we’ve seen all season: the defense played well early, the offense looked atrocious out the gates, and everything sort of unraveled as the game went on. Missouri’s lone first-half touchdown was a fumble return, but it was enough to deliver a 13-7 halftime lead. Back-to-back touchdowns to open the second half pushed the lead out to 27-7 and that was all she wrote.

Arkansas once again failed to gain even 300 yards. It’s clear that Tim Cramsey cannot return next season. This season has been a pitiful display of offensive football from a program that historically does well on offense. As we’ve discussed plenty on this site, it’s fairly rare for Arkansas to field a truly bad offense, and those seasons usually end in a firing (2019) or a major staff shakeup (2005, 2023).

So Cramsey’s gone… but should Ryan Silverfield get another year? It seems crazy to fire a coach after one season, but the ingredients are there: athletic director who is almost certainly in deep trouble, a hire widely panned from the beginning, and now a non-competitive product that leaves fans (and perhaps more importantly, donors) with absolutely nothing to look forward to.

Potential good news

Actually, I think Silverfield got some potentially good news on Sunday when Florida State finally fired Mike Norvell. Norvell seems like a fairly obvious candidate for offensive coordinator – he hired Silverfield at Memphis, played at UCA, and got his coaching career start under Gus Malzahn, who is currently retired in Springdale, and his wife is from Fort Smith – and that hire might be enough of a splash to infuse some hope.

There are still issues there. If Norvell has any kind of success, he’ll be gone in a couple years for a fresh head coaching opportunity. Then Silverfield would again have to nail the replacement hire or we’ll be in the same boat. That’s what wrecked the Sam Pittman era: his initial coordinator hires were amazing, but his replacement of Kendal Briles with Dan Enos was tenure-destroying. That’s the risk when the head coach is merely a figurehead. You’d rather employ the actual brains of the operation as your head coach so you don’t have to worry about constant coaching churn.

And of course, would Norvell take the job? He’ll likely have other offensive coordinator opportunities and maybe even some smaller-school head coaching offers. He might (understandably) want to avoid what he perceives as a sinking ship.

Anyway, that’s what we have to talk about on Sunday since the game is hardly worth talking about. Drinkwitz – who is equal parts goober, jerk, and good football coach – took shots at Silverfield after the game by complimenting Arkansas’ light bulbs.

Eli Drinkwitz after Mizzou won at Arkansas 34-10

"I'd like to tip my cap to the Razorbacks, all those new lights they put in.

"Those lights look good."

"I know it was a big deal for them to get their lightbulbs changed out."

💀 pic.twitter.com/bHfNz5nkbz

— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) November 1, 2026

Since 2023, Mizzou has three wins in Razorback Stadium. Arkansas has one. Missouri is probably the best measuring stick for how embarrassing this program has become.

Advanced stats

I’m keeping this part short because I doubt anyone cares.

Arkansas actually threw the ball just fine. Mizzou has an elite pass-rush and the Hogs allowed an 11% pressure rate and only one sack. KJ Jackson completed passes with decent accuracy (having Antonio Jordan as his primary target helped), and the end result was a decent 6.4 yards per dropback with 16 successful attempts.

The Hogs also defended the Mizzou pass game pretty well. They didn’t get much pressure, but they limited explosive passes, just as our Keys to the Game from the preview talked about.

However, it didn’t matter:

We’ve been over this repeatedly, but you can’t run the ball like this at Arkansas. This is the school of Barry Foster, Fred Talley, Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, Peyton Hillis, Alex Collins, Rocket Sanders, and so many more. Even bad Arkansas teams could run the ball: Rakeem Boyd and Mike Washington were both 1,000-yard rushers on 2-10 teams, while Collins topped 1,000 yards on the 2013 team that finished 3-9.

What we’re seeing this year is a combination of everything. Conservative zone run schemes are ugly: they produce some successful runs, but those runs are barely successful, and there’s absolutely nothing at the second level. Arkansas failed to generate a run of 15-plus yards for the fourth time this year. Remember, the Hogs led the nation in that stat last season. Arkansas’ run blocking is poor, with linemen failing to reach the second level. The backs aren’t good at reading the hole quickly so they aren’t really creating any big runs on their own.

Any rethink of the offense this offseason has to involve finding a way to run the football. Norvell, coming from the Malzahn coaching tree, would be a pretty good start. There has to be more creativity than just trying to cram outside zone down the throat of SEC defenses with an inferior offensive line.

Up next

Arkansas is at Auburn on Saturday. That’s probably the best remaining chance of a win, although South Carolina at home the following week is gettable.