KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Arkansas’ lack of focus added up to a lost opportunity on Saturday.

With a chance to improve its bowl position by knocking off the SEC East leader on the road, the Razorbacks couldn’t establish their offensive identity and committed a series of goofs on defense in their most lopsided loss since the 2006 season opener against Southern California.

Tennessee’s 34-13 victory on a crisp fall afternoon on the banks of the Tennessee River included three Arkansas turnovers, a miscalculation on the offensive game plan and a flurry of penalties.

“I think I saw [a lack of focus ] from everybody, including myself,” senior fullback Peyton Hillis said.

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Tennessee grabbed the upper hand with 10 points on its first two possessions, which were aided by four Arkansas infractions: a personal foul on Matterral Richardson, a holding call on Michael Grant and two offsides calls on Malcolm Sheppard.

“We were undisciplined, had too many penalties,” senior linebacker Weston Dacus said. “We weren’t making plays, we weren’t tackling and we didn’t weather the storm, which was our plan coming in to the game.

“ We wanted to hold them in the first half, and it didn’t work out that way.”

Tennessee converted thirddown plays from these distances in the first half: 1, 3, 1, 5, 10 and 14. The Volunteers also gained 9 yards on a third-and-10 and then converted on fourth down, and quarterback Erik Ainge found Austin Rogers crossing for 19 yards on a third-and-12 on the snap before Arian Foster’s 59-yard scoring run early in the third period.

“It was real frustrating,” Grant said. “It was frustrating the whole game, them making plays and us not.”

Richardson was flagged for another personal foul after a second-and-5 incomplete pass on Tennessee’s second series.

“Like Coach says, you’re not going to win against the referees,” Richardson said. “I didn’t know that somebody could cut you from behind, and then I tried to get up and my leg buckled. I guess he thought I tried to kick him or whatever.

“ I’m not going to stop playing the way I play. I play physical. I’m not going to just sit there and let somebody grab my leg when the referee is blatantly sitting right there and just seeing him grab my leg. I didn’t try to kick him or nothing, but he said I did. So I mean, that’s not an argument I’m going to win.”

The Arkansas defense jumped offsides or lined up in the neutral zone six times.

“There’s no excuse for that, no excuse for that,” Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt said. “You can’t do that. He did a good job of mixing up snap counts, but you can’t jump offsides. You can’t line up offsides. That’s ridiculous.”