Arkansas football vanished from the national consciousness before the leaves even started changing. The Razorbacks’ season effectively ended three weeks into September, and now the Thanksgiving weekend finale isn’t even giving a Senior Day vibe. And when the last game on your calendar is Missouri, and your relevance evaporated months ago, you’re left with optics that sting. 

“Thanksgiving weekend and a 2–9 team, this is what you’re gonna get from the Arkansas student section on Senior Day,” Arkansas reporter Trey Biddy posted on X on November 29. He also posted the picture, taken 22 minutes before kickoff, of a student section so barren you’d think it’s just a practice session. Rows of seats stared back like a silent indictment of everything that’s gone wrong. And that image wasn’t an outlier, it was a pattern.

Arkansas is staring down another unwanted chapter of its own history, now riding a ten-game SEC losing streak, the program’s third double-digit skid in just over a decade. This pattern follows infamous droughts of 17 straight losses (2012-14) and an even harsher 20-game slide (2017-20). What makes this run especially maddening is that the Hogs haven’t been lifeless. They entered the season expecting to be a tough, physical, inconvenient opponent and often played like one. But close losses, blown chances, and maddening inconsistency have left them winless in SEC play with only Missouri standing between them and another unwanted piece of program history.

Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium seats roughly 76,000, anchored by “The Trough,” a student section built to be loud, chaotic, and intimidating. On good days, it’s a roaring pit of Razorback pride. On days like this, it’s a reminder that even the rowdiest fans have limits. Instead of shoulder-to-shoulder energy, Arkansas got empty aluminum and a quiet that could swallow entire drives. And that silence only deepened as the losing streak grew.

This wasn’t the first time fans collectively chose apathy over attendance. Back on Oct. 25, in a rain-soaked matchup with Auburn, Razorback fans thinned out again after five straight losses. The stadium’s official count read 68,922 but anyone in the building knew the reality wasn’t close. It signaled a turning point where even loyalists refuse to pretend.

Now Arkansas enters this Missouri matchup as a slight underdog, dragging a nine-game losing streak and a three-year drought in the rivalry. Bobby Petrino, back in Fayetteville for a surreal second stint, sits at 0-6 as interim coach after last week’s 52-37 loss to Texas. There was at least a pulse offensively. QB KJ Jackson gave the Hogs 206 passing yards and a touchdown after replacing QB Taylen Green, who has 2,655 passing yards, 775 rushing yards, and 27 total TDs this season. But the defense has surrendered 30-plus in five of its last six contests. And that defensive collapse is exactly why Arkansas knows it can’t afford to miss on its next hire.

Arkansas is locked on Alex Golesh 

On Saturday morning’s College GameDay, insider Pete Thamel dropped an update. South Florida HC Alex Golesh, one of the fastest-rising minds in the sport, has a concrete offer from Arkansas. But the Razorbacks aren’t alone. Auburn is lurking, evaluating the same candidate, and both schools know that man won’t finalize anything until after he coaches Saturday night’s game against Rice. This is the part of the carousel where desperation sets the tempo.

Rumors flew earlier in the week when radio host Trey Schaap claimed Alex Golesh had already accepted the Hogs’ job. But USF athletics CEO Rob Higgins moved quickly to clarify. Golesh has been transparent about outside opportunities, but nothing is done yet. The school is preparing for “all potential outcomes,” which is administrator language for “we know what’s coming.” And what’s coming is a bidding war.

Alex Golesh’s resume justifies it. He inherited a 4-29 program and delivered back-to-back winning seasons on his way to a 22-15 overall record. Arkansas, desperate to escape a post-Sam Pittman nosedive, is reportedly ready to more than double his contract of six-year, $15.3 million. The Hogs are reportedly offering a five-year deal worth roughly $35 million. That’s the price of hope in a program that hasn’t won an SEC title since joining in 1992. And hope is exactly what 76,000 empty seats are demanding.