One college football program didn’t have the end-of-the-season they envisioned during their bowl game on Friday night.
Friday’s schedule featured five bowl games, but only Navy’s 21-20 defeat of Oklahoma in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl was a close contest. Vanderbilt won the Birmingham Bowl 35-27 over Georgia Tech, but the Yellow Jackets scored two garbage-time touchdowns to make the final score close.
The Texas Tech Red Raiders appeared to be more focused on the 2025 season, with numerous players headed to Lubbock via the transfer portal than they did in winning the AutoZone Liberty Bowl over the Arkansas Razorbacks.
College Football: Arkansas Football raced to a 21-3 lead
Arkansas dominance in the game started early, with the Razorbacks finishing the first quarter with a 21-3 lead. The Red Raiders would close the gap to 24-19 by halftime, but Texas Tech started sluggish in the second half.
Related: SEC fans aren’t sure Oklahoma should stay in the conference after loss to Navy
Arkansas scored a total of 18 unanswered points before Texas Tech would add seven points at the end of the game. The Razorbacks would earn a 39-26 win in front of 37,764 fans at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis.
Texas Tech football didn’t play defense
The Red Raiders defense allowed Razorbacks quarterback Taylen Green to do whatever he wished Friday night. The junior from Lewisville, Texas, went 11-of-21 passing for 341 yards and two touchdowns. He added 81 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Texas Tech had trouble covering wide receiver Dazmin James, who caught three passes for 137 yards (including one reception for 94 yards) and a touchdown.
Arkansas outgained Texas Tech 559-497 in total yards.
With the win, Arkansas improved to 7-6 in 2024 and 17-24-3 in bowl appearances. Texas Tech fell to 8-5 on the season and is now 17-23-1 in bowl games.
Per ESPN BET, the Red Raiders entered Friday night’s contest as 3.5-point favorites to beat Arkansas. Unfortunately for Texas Tech, their defense chose not to show up against their SEC opponent, and the Red Raiders didn’t come close to beating the spread.
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