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Arkansas Razorbacks interim coach Bobby Petrino during the third quarter against the Auburn Tigers at Razorback Stadium. Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Razorbacks see familiar pattern in another loss, this time to Auburn

Originally posted on Arkansas Razorbacks on SI
By Andy Hodges | Last updated Oct 25, 2025 7:50 PM ET

FAYETTEVILLE — Thing were looking good for the small number of Arkansas fans at halftime against Auburn.

The crowd was announced at just over 68,000 and there was probably just over half that number actually in the stadium. There were empty parking spaces in every parking lot I ever saw and it's hard to gauge the crowd if you were around before all of the expansion to Razorback Stadium.

Bad weather had an awfult lot to do with that. So did a starting kickoff before noon. There's also not a lot of excitement about going to a football game these days for most Arkansas fans.

For the folks in attendance, though, there was hope with the Hogs having a 21-10 lead at the break after a first half that saw a momentum-shifting 89-yard interception return by Kani Walker. The defense, deeply questioned all season, had limited Auburn to only one touchdown before halftime.

What followed was an all-too familiar narrative. The Razorbacks’ offense stalled, the defense retreated into mistakes, and an 11-point lead melted as Auburn unleashed 23 unanswered points in the second half.

This game, more than just a single defeat, feels like a snapshot of a team that still hasn’t resolved its foundational issue. It can’t finish.

Defense offers mixed signals

Arkansas’ defense entered the game with as many questions as answers, yet early on it fulfilled the “bend-but-don’t-break” version of itself.

While yards didn’t always translate into points, the unit’s performance up to halftime allowed Arkansas to believe a win was within reach.

After the change under interim coach Bobby Petrino, defensive end Quincy Rhodes Jr. framed the effort modestly but positively: “I believe in our defense.

The only person who could beat us is us.” That mindset reflects growth, but it also underlines how the defensive side has been tasked to over-deliver repeatedly while the offense wobbles.

Still, the second half illuminated the subtle erosion of the unit’s contributions. While Auburn’s offense settled for field goals early in the third quarter, time of possession slipped away, and Arkansas’s offense handed the ball back too often.

The defense held the Tigers to zero offensive touchdowns after the break, yet the damage had already been done through situational and field-position mistakes.

Offense falters where it counted

It was never going to be enough for the Razorbacks’ defense to simply hold serve; the offense needed to sustain drives, run the football, and protect the ball. On none of those metrics did Arkansas deliver in the second half.

“We weren’t able to establish and drive the ball and run the football the way that we could,” interim Hogs coach Bobby Petrino said later. “We turned the ball over in the fourth quarter, and you’re not going to win games when you turn the ball over in the fourth quarter.”

The outcome was just three points in the second half, 28 rushing yards and four straight turnovers to close the game.

“I’m disappointed in the offense, in the entire game really,” Petrino said. “Even in the first half we weren’t able to establish and and drive the ball and run the football the way that we could.

“We made some errors in protections that didn’t allow us to convert a few third downs early in the game. But we were getting chunk plays, we were making big plays throwing the ball.”

Quarterback Taylen Green finished 14 of 22 for 268 yards and a touchdown, but also threw three interceptions, two of them in succession late in the game.

Meanwhile, the rushing attack hovered far below its season average, contributing anemic second-half yardage that allowed Auburn to control the clock and limit Arkansas’s opportunities.

In short, the offense flipped from promising to punishing. A team that came in averaging over 500 yards of total offense was held to 331 on Saturday.

Momentum swings and leadership gaps

The pick-six returned by Walker just before halftime, with the score 21-10, should have been a launching pad for the Razorbacks.

The third quarter began a decline. The Tigers responded early in the second half with three straight scoring drives, all ending in field goals, trimming the lead to 24-19 before the knockout punch, a 49-yard interception return for a touchdown by Rayshawn Pleasant with 9:15 remaining sealed the deal.

Time of possession told the story as Auburn held the edge by over 13 minutes. Arkansas’s inability to stay on the field widened the door for a comeback that felt inevitable once the momentum flipped.

Leadership-wise, the Razorbacks looked flat when the stakes rose. The run game’s inefficiency invited riskier passing situations.

The defense — looking better against a disorganized — could not offset repeated mistakes by the offense. The Hogs' recent history of second-half fadeouts in pivotal games now feels less like a trend and more like a symptom of some deeper issues.

What’s next and what it signals

Arkansas now sits at 2-6 overall and 0-4 in the SEC following Saturday’s loss.

The next opponent is the Mississippi State Bulldogs at home had a marquee game against Texas that shocked a lot of folks. That's followed by a brutal three-game stretch that includes LSU, Texas and Missouri.

For Petrino and his staff, the immediate goal is to find a way to transform first-half promise into full-game execution. It will require the run game to awaken, turnovers to stop, and situational awareness, especially in the fourth quarter, to improve.

The defense has shown signs of return. But pride alone won’t win a game.

Ultimately, this loss just shows the Razorbacks’ current reality.

Until the Razorbacks get rid of self-inflicted wounds, this kind of collapse — leading at halftime, losing in the end — may keep happening.