Arkansas football defeats Tennessee, ranked fourth, in WholeHogSports’ Game of the Year.
Tennessee appeared to dominate the first week of the NCAA football season, while playing against far weaker opposition.
With a cumulative score of 216-28, the Volunteers easily defeated their first four opponents. In Charlotte, North Carolina, they defeated then-No. 24 North Carolina State 51-10, and then defeated then-No. 15 Oklahoma 25-15 in front of a hostile crowd.
Tennessee had the nation’s best scoring offense, third-ranked overall offense, second-ranked scoring defense, and a No. 4 national ranking going into their Oct. 5 matchup with Arkansas.
The Razorbacks, however, had just lost to Texas A&M in Arlington, Texas, 21–17. Despite having a 3-2 record, Arkansas blew fourth-quarter leads in each of its losses.
It looked like the two teams were going in different directions. Arkansas couldn’t wait for an open week after the game, while Tennessee entered Reynolds Razorback Stadium freshly off a bye week.
The game received a 6:30 p.m. kickoff time on ABC on Saturday because there were no other significant games scheduled. The call was given to ESPN’s top broadcast crew, which consists of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Holly Rowe.
And once again, what seems to be a constant in college football came to pass: chaos will reign for at least one week of the season.
Arkansas was a part of the mayhem during a crazy Week 6 in college football.
The Razorbacks beat No. 4 Tennessee 19–14 to continue the SEC shakeup Saturday, hours after Vanderbilt swept the field in Nashville after defeating No. 1 Alabama.
Our WholeHogSports team decided that the win was the best game of 2024.
Two top-five teams from the same conference suffered losses on the same day for the first time since 2012. A pair of top-five teams losing to unranked opponents on the same day was also the first since 2004.
The Razorbacks overcame a 14-3 hole in the third quarter, but the unexpected win wasn’t without drama. Before a game-winning drive, Arkansas also recovered from injuries to two of its best players.
Starting quarterback Taylen Green was replaced early in the fourth quarter by backup quarterback Malachi Singleton after Green sustained a minor knee injury after taking a low hit from Tennessee defensive tackle Omar Norman-Lott.
Lately, star tailback Ja’Quinden Jackson left due to an injury, throwing rookie running back Braylen Russell into the mix as well.
With just over three minutes remaining in the game, the Arkansas defense forced a punt, which allowed Singleton and the offense to take over from the Razorbacks’ 41.
Russell had consecutive rushes of 24 and 11 yards after Singleton started the drive with a 13-yard connection to Isaiah Sategna. With 1:17 left, Singleton maintained the ball on a read play and sprinted into the end zone for the game-winning score against the Tennessee 11 on a first-and-10.
Wasn’t that fantastic? “Pittman said.” The children came together to support him. He did a fantastic job with his legs and produced a terrific throw. This victory for the University of Arkansas is huge.
The game’s tone was established by the Razorbacks’ defense, which made a final stop after holding Tennessee scoreless in the first half.
With 35 seconds left, Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava completed a 42-yard pass to Dont’e Thornton, putting the Vols ahead 25 points against Arkansas. However, Iamaleava was forced to make two mistakes by the Razorbacks after that. Quincy Rhodes flushed Iamaleava out of the pocket on the game’s last play, and Eric Gregory eventually knocked him out of bounds on a keeper.
As time ran out, there would be no stopping the supporters from the field.
Arkansas’ first home win over a top-five opponent since defeating then-No. 3 Tennessee 28-24 in 1999 came thanks to 16 consecutive points. Fans flocked to the pitch to celebrate on both occasions.
In an attempt to provide readers with tales to gorge themselves on upon awakening, our WholeHogSports staff almost worked through the night.
As reporter Matt Jones wrote in a column at 1:51 a.m. on Sunday, the $250,000 check that Arkansas owed Tennessee as a result of the field storming arrived cheerfully.
