FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas leads Tulsa 16-0 at halftime as the Razorbacks look to get back to .500 on the season and hand the Golden Hurricane its first loss of 2026. Max Gilbert hit his third field goal of the night, a 28-yard kick, to extend Arkansas' lead as time expired.

Here are three takeaways from the first half of Saturday's game.

Razorback defense was a well-oiled machine

Arkansas' defense was a bright spot in Week 1 against North Alabama, but Ron Roberts' unit was shredded by both Utah and Georgia in Weeks 2 and 3, respectively.

That was far from the case in the first half on Saturday. Tulsa backup QB Dexter Williams II made a couple nice throws on third down but was held largely in check, completing 9 of his 12 passes for 46 yards. Tulsa punted on all five of its first half drives and only had 55 yards of offense.

Run game still struggling

Cam Settles got the start at running back for Arkansas on Saturday, but wasn't a magic pill for a rushing attack that has been stuck in first gear.

Arkansas' run game was marginally better in the first half against Tulsa than it was against Utah and Georgia, though the Razorbacks still only ended up with 21 carries for 72 yards (3.4 yards per carry0 in the first half. Settles had 37 yards on 10 carries, Jackson had 30 yards and Braylen Russell and Sutton Smith had a paltry six and one yards rushing, respectively.

The only particularly good run of the half was KJ Jackson's 10-yard TD scamper, an indicator that getting the QB more involved in the run game could be a way for Arkansas' ground attack to get going. That point was further proven when Jackson scrambled for 20 yards to get Arkansas into the red zone on its final possession of the half.

Chris Marshall is always down there somewhere

The internet has amended the above sentence to have a few other choice words, but the jist is the same: Chris Marshall is always capable of making a big play, and he made plenty in the first half on Saturday.

Marshall hauled in an 18-yard pass to give Arkansas its first first down of the night, then caught a beautiful 44-yard pass from Jackson that put the Hogs in position to score their first touchdown of the night. He also had a 50 yard catch on Arkansas' fourth drive of the game that got Arkansas back into the red zone, though the drive stalled out and the Razorbacks were forced to send out Max Gilbert to kick another field goal.

According to Arkansas Communications, Marshall is the first Razorback receiver with over 100 yards receiving in multiple games since Andrew Armstrong in 2024. He totaled six catches for 136 yards in the first half, while Arkansas' other pass catches only had 60 receiving yards.

Coverage of Saturday's game is available on SEC Network+ and the Razorback Sports Network.

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