Each one of the five losses for Arkansas (5-5, 3-4 SEC) this season featured critical turnovers that the team could not overcome.
The Razorbacks, who lost 20-10 to Texas on Saturday, are now 0-5 on the season in games in which they lose the turnover battle to their opponent.
Saturday's home loss to the third-ranked Longhorns, which was the third-straight loss at home for Arkansas, featured two costly turnovers for the Hogs' offense and none for the Texas offense. A strong performance from the defense, which held the Longhorns to 315 yards of total offense and 4.3 yards per play, makes the close loss even tougher to swallow.
ALSO READ: Arkansas defense does its job in loss to No. 3 Texas
"Obviously we lost the turnover battle 2-0 and ended up losing by 10, so that had something to do with it," head coach Sam Pittman said postgame. "But I was proud of the improvement that we made defensively, and we've got work to do offensively, but it certainly wasn't an effort problem.
"I thought we went out there and played extremely hard. To beat the third-ranked team in the country, you certainly can't turn the ball over or you've got to get them. It was 2-0 and that's what happened, but congratulations to Texas. Sark does a great job over there and they've got a really good football team."
The first turnover came in the first quarter when quarterback Taylen Green tried to thread the needle and hit receiver Tyrone Broden in tight coverage, but the ball hit off Broden's hands and Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron picked the pass off.
VIDEO: Postgame press conferences - Texas 20, Arkansas 10
"Obviously we had the one pick, but that wasn’t his fault," Pittman said. "That was a dart on the line. I mean, that was a great throw."
After that play, the Longhorns drove 61 yards on six plays to punch in a touchdown on a busted coverage by the Arkansas secondary to take a 7-0 lead early on.
"That just speaks to the season and when we win the turnover battle or even, we win," Green said of turnovers. "It’s really a big emphasis on that but even if we turn the ball over, we have to do a better job responding. Whether that’s on the sideline or next play mentality, that’s something that we can do better for next week."
Arkansas again turned the ball over on its final offensive possession of the game. With the ball in Texas territory, Green hit freshman receiver CJ Brown for a completion and Brown then had the ball punched out and recovered by Texas. It was rather surprising to see Brown in the game with the team driving down 20-10 in the fourth quarter, as he had logged just 41 offensive snaps all year prior to Saturday.
"We believe in CJ," Pittman said. "If they're out there, we believe in him. We knew the ball was specifically going to go to him. We've ran it in practice and we believe in him. Just unfortunately it happened. And unfortunately the ball went to the hash and stayed inbounds, where their ball went out of bounds. But no, we believe in him. If he's out there, we certainly believe in him. Just unfortunate he fumbled."
RELATED: Social media reacts to Arkansas' 20-10 loss to Texas
The Razorbacks never got the ball back after that, as Texas was able to milk the clock and run the rest of the time down.
"So if, and’s and buts, we got to hang on to the football, and if we do we’ve got a pretty good team," Pittman said. "I think we showed it out here today. But that’s kind of been the story of all our losses and all our wins, you know depending on what we do with turnovers. Even today it was ugly but then it looked good and it was ugly then it looked good, if we hang on to the ball I don’t think it’s a 20 to 10 game, I don’t know if we but we sure as hell would’ve had a much better opportunity."
Winning the turnover battle is clearly key for Arkansas, as the Hogs have proven they can't overcome mistakes.
"I was proud of how hard our team played," Pittman said. "Just the two turnovers really kind of made the difference. Our defense didn't allow them to do a whole lot today either. The disappointing thing was the last drive when we were down three and then the very last drive, that we couldn't get the ball back. Other than that, I thought the kids played extremely hard. Especially the defense showed a lot of improvement."
Up next, Arkansas will host Louisiana Tech next weekend at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. The game will kickoff at 3 p.m. CT and it will be streamed on SEC Network+.
The Razorbacks, who lost 20-10 to Texas on Saturday, are now 0-5 on the season in games in which they lose the turnover battle to their opponent.
Saturday's home loss to the third-ranked Longhorns, which was the third-straight loss at home for Arkansas, featured two costly turnovers for the Hogs' offense and none for the Texas offense. A strong performance from the defense, which held the Longhorns to 315 yards of total offense and 4.3 yards per play, makes the close loss even tougher to swallow.
ALSO READ: Arkansas defense does its job in loss to No. 3 Texas
"Obviously we lost the turnover battle 2-0 and ended up losing by 10, so that had something to do with it," head coach Sam Pittman said postgame. "But I was proud of the improvement that we made defensively, and we've got work to do offensively, but it certainly wasn't an effort problem.
"I thought we went out there and played extremely hard. To beat the third-ranked team in the country, you certainly can't turn the ball over or you've got to get them. It was 2-0 and that's what happened, but congratulations to Texas. Sark does a great job over there and they've got a really good football team."
The first turnover came in the first quarter when quarterback Taylen Green tried to thread the needle and hit receiver Tyrone Broden in tight coverage, but the ball hit off Broden's hands and Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron picked the pass off.
VIDEO: Postgame press conferences - Texas 20, Arkansas 10
"Obviously we had the one pick, but that wasn’t his fault," Pittman said. "That was a dart on the line. I mean, that was a great throw."
After that play, the Longhorns drove 61 yards on six plays to punch in a touchdown on a busted coverage by the Arkansas secondary to take a 7-0 lead early on.
"That just speaks to the season and when we win the turnover battle or even, we win," Green said of turnovers. "It’s really a big emphasis on that but even if we turn the ball over, we have to do a better job responding. Whether that’s on the sideline or next play mentality, that’s something that we can do better for next week."
Arkansas again turned the ball over on its final offensive possession of the game. With the ball in Texas territory, Green hit freshman receiver CJ Brown for a completion and Brown then had the ball punched out and recovered by Texas. It was rather surprising to see Brown in the game with the team driving down 20-10 in the fourth quarter, as he had logged just 41 offensive snaps all year prior to Saturday.
"We believe in CJ," Pittman said. "If they're out there, we believe in him. We knew the ball was specifically going to go to him. We've ran it in practice and we believe in him. Just unfortunately it happened. And unfortunately the ball went to the hash and stayed inbounds, where their ball went out of bounds. But no, we believe in him. If he's out there, we certainly believe in him. Just unfortunate he fumbled."
RELATED: Social media reacts to Arkansas' 20-10 loss to Texas
The Razorbacks never got the ball back after that, as Texas was able to milk the clock and run the rest of the time down.
"So if, and’s and buts, we got to hang on to the football, and if we do we’ve got a pretty good team," Pittman said. "I think we showed it out here today. But that’s kind of been the story of all our losses and all our wins, you know depending on what we do with turnovers. Even today it was ugly but then it looked good and it was ugly then it looked good, if we hang on to the ball I don’t think it’s a 20 to 10 game, I don’t know if we but we sure as hell would’ve had a much better opportunity."
Winning the turnover battle is clearly key for Arkansas, as the Hogs have proven they can't overcome mistakes.
"I was proud of how hard our team played," Pittman said. "Just the two turnovers really kind of made the difference. Our defense didn't allow them to do a whole lot today either. The disappointing thing was the last drive when we were down three and then the very last drive, that we couldn't get the ball back. Other than that, I thought the kids played extremely hard. Especially the defense showed a lot of improvement."
Up next, Arkansas will host Louisiana Tech next weekend at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. The game will kickoff at 3 p.m. CT and it will be streamed on SEC Network+.
