Arkansas' Descent from Dark-Horse Contender to Fighting for Its Bowl-Game Life

Two weeks isn't that long of a time.

But that's been more than enough for Arkansas to fall from a dark horse in the SEC to a squad facing back-to-back home nonconference losses and a whole host of issues.

"Wish I could say something to make people feel better," Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema said after the game, per radio host Bo Mattingly. "We're just not good enough to win without playing a perfect game."

The Razorbacks fell 35-24 on Saturday evening to Texas Tech in Fayetteville, failing to bounce back from last weekend's crushing 16-12 loss to Toledo in Little Rock.

In just two weeks, Arkansas has fallen from the No. 18 team in the land to a team that will have to go at least .500 in SEC play just to make a bowl game.

Two weeks is a lot shorter than 10 months, and that's about the length of time the Razorbacks spent as one of the SEC's new "it" teams.

Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

Last November, Arkansas posted consecutive shutouts over ranked divisional foes LSU and Ole Miss. The next month, it held Texas to just 59 yards of offense in a blowout postseason victory.

But that momentum the Arkansas defense generated seems like ancient history after Saturday's loss to Texas Tech.

One week after giving up 318 yards to Toledo, Arkansas' defense surrendered 486 to the uptempo Red Raiders, who averaged 8.6 yards per play.

Before Texas Tech worked the clock in the fourth quarter, Bob Holt of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette noted how much the Red Raiders moved the ball in less than 16 minutes of possession:

Texas Tech had two turnovers and missed a short field goal late, but its offense never punted. Every other drive resulted in a touchdown for the Red Raiders.

While the Arkansas offense can point to several injuries as part of the reason for its slow start to 2015, the defense simply can't.

The Razorbacks have had too much turnover from the defense that handled Texas Tech last season, and the replacements simply haven't lived up to expectations.

Even worse, one of the areas in which Arkansas returned the most starting talent—the secondary—was overmatched for the most part Saturday.

Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes finished 26-for-30 passing for 243 yards, and those numbers included a pair of Mahomes interceptions.

According to CFBStats, Mahomes' completion percentage of 86.7 percent was the best against Arkansas since Auburn completed eight of nine passes in their 2013 matchup. Before that, one would have to go back to Texas' 91.3 percent clip against the Razorbacks in 2008.

Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury rubbed some more salt in the wound for Arkansas after the game by calling out Bielema, according to Ken Bradley of Sporting News.

"That's a program that prides itself on being physical," Kingsbury said. "At the Texas High School coaches convention this summer he stood up and said if you don't play with a fullback we'll kick your ass, if you throw it 70 times a game we'll kick your ass and he just got his ass kicked twice in a row and probably next week by A&M as well."

Samantha Baker/Associated Press

While that physical defense struggled Saturday against Kingsbury's pass-heavy attack, Arkansas' offense failed to keep up the pace.

The Razorbacks hit a groove during the first half, scoring touchdowns on three straight possessions.

After the break, though, they scored just three points, turned the ball over twice and had a crucial touchdown called back in the fourth quarter for offensive pass interference.

This inefficient performance came against a Texas Tech defense that surrendered 637 yards and 45 points to FCS program Sam Houston State in its season opener. 

As health continues to be a problem for the skill positions after wide receiver Jared Cornelius' horrific arm injury against Texas Tech, the Arkansas offense must hit a treacherous SEC schedule against some fearsome defenses.

And with a defense that had a hard time getting off the field Saturday and a special teams unit that hasn't impressed early, the road is only going to get tougher for Bielema and his team.

Outside of the homecoming game against UT-Martin on Halloween, Arkansas doesn't have a guaranteed win left on its schedule.

Date	Opponent	Location
Sept. 26	Texas A&M	Arlington, Texas
Oct. 3	Tennessee	Knoxville, Tennessee
Oct. 10	Alabama	Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Oct. 24	Auburn	Fayetteville
Oct. 31	UT-Martin	Fayetteville
Nov. 7	Ole Miss	Oxford, Mississippi
Nov. 14	LSU	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Nov. 21	Mississippi State	Fayetteville
Nov. 28	Missouri	Fayetteville

Now, after the two losses to Toledo and Texas Tech, Arkansas now has to win at least half of its SEC games in order to be eligible for the postseason—a far cry from the heights of the preseason hype that surrounded this program.

With nine games left in the season, there's still room for Arkansas to get healthier on offense and improve on defense. 

But the buzz surrounding these Razorbacks has quickly changed for the worse.

If Arkansas continues its inconsistent play in all three phases of the game, Bielema could go from preseason hog heaven to postseason hot seat in just a few months.

All game stats courtesy of Arkansas' StatBroadcast.

Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.