It has been a tough 2023 season for the Arkansas Razorbacks, but on Saturday it may have fallen to its lowest point. The Razorbacks have battled in every game this season, but the team had no fight against the Auburn Tigers in the 48-10 loss.

The rushing defense as the biggest issue on Saturday, as the Razorbacks gave up 354 rushing yards to the Tigers. Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne threw for 163 yards and 3 touchdowns, while also rushing for another 88 yards and another touchdown.

This was about as low as a season can get, and the Razorbacks still have Missouri on the schedule in 2 weeks.

Player of the Week: QB Jacolby Criswell

There weren’t many standout performances this week for Arkansas, but backup quarterback Jacolby Criswell was able to come in and salvage the day with a touchdown. He was 2-of-4 for 19 yards and 1 touchdown, but it was when he used his feet that he did hist most effective work.

Criswell rushed the ball 6 times for 64 yards, showing that he is capable of making plays. Who knows what Arkansas will do the final couple of weeks at the quarterback position, but Criswell will be in contention for the starting spot entering next season.

Freshman/Newcomer of the Week: DB Alfahiym Walcott

Walcott played his first 3 seasons at Baylor, but has become an important part of the Razorbacks secondary this season. On Saturday, he had 8 tackles, which is tied for the most he has had in a game this year.

With the struggles against the run yesterday, Walcott had to make more plays at the line of scrimmage than he usually does, but he was solid in the pass defense as well.

Biggest surprise: Defense gives up 48 points to Auburn

The Auburn Tigers are playing much better football as of late, but this isn’t a team that has been lighting up scoreboards to the tune of 48 points. The previous season-high for points against an SEC opponent was the 31 Auburn put up against Vanderbilt last week.

The fact that Auburn scored 48 points shows how bad of day it was for the Arkansas defense. Payton Thorne threw for only 161 yards, but he was able to get the ball in endzone 3 times.

Biggest concern: The Razorbacks for the first time showed signs of being done

Arkansas hasn’t won as many games this year as the team would have liked, but it hadn’t been due to a lack of trying. In the previous six Razorbacks losses, only one of them had been by more than 7 points and that was to Texas A&M (34-22). The Razorbacks have battled great teams such as Alabama (24-21), Ole Miss (27-20) and LSU (34-31) to the absolute wire.

However, Saturday was the first time it appeared the team quit. Auburn has been playing much better, but for the Tigers to have that type of offensive day shows that the Razorbacks players are starting to be done with the 2023-24 season.

Developing trend: 3rd down difference was huge in this game

Both Auburn and Arkansas had 12 3rd downs in this game, and as you can guess, Auburn won this statistic in a big way. Auburn was 7-of-12 on 3rd downs, while Arkansas was able to convert only 1-of-12. A big reason why was the Tigers were in 3rd and short all day, while the Razorbacks had much longer 3rd down attempts.

Not being able to get off the field on defense or stay on the field on offense just hurt the Razorbacks all day. Auburn was able to have the ball for 38:15, compared to only 21:45 for Arkansas.

Key Stat: 354 rushing yards allowed

Simply put, if you are going to allow the other team to rush for 354 yards, then you don’t have a chance to win the game. The Razorbacks were a great rushing team last year, but they have struggled in that part of the game the entire season. On Saturday, they were able to rush for only 120 yards, with 114 of them coming from the quarterback position.

Passing the ball and big plays are a huge part of the game, but still, the team that is able to dominate the line of scrimmage and run the ball is still going to win the game the majority of the season.

First impression about Week 11

Arkansas will be out of conference next weekend when the Razorbacks host Florida International University. FIU enters this game with a record of 4-6, and has lost their last two games by a combined score of 81-22. Wide receiver Kris Mitchell is a very talented player for FIU, as he has 50 catches for 845 yards and 6 touchdowns.

This is the last non-conference opponent the Razorbacks will play this year, as they host a very good Missouri team in the final week of the season.