FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks are promising to make Friday's season finale a fight.
In what has been a trying three-year run, the University of Arkansas must defeat struggling Missouri in Little Rock to prevent a second-consecutive 10-loss season.
The Razorbacks (2-9, 0-7) and Tigers (5-6, 2-5) will kick off at 1:30 p.m. Friday at War Memorial Stadium on the national CBS broadcast.
Interim Coach Barry Lunney Jr. was asked what he told the team after a 56-20 loss Saturday at No. 1 LSU, in which the Razorbacks were within 7-6 in the second quarter before the Tigers erupted.
"If we can capture the heart ... if you give me six more days of that same preparation [on] just grit and heart on a short week, we want to give our guys a Senior Day," Lunney said.
"That Senior Day we had a few weeks ago was not something they want to remember. It's Senior Day 2.0 or Part 2, or do over, however you want to say it. That's my mindset for these guys."
The Razorbacks lost 45-19 to Western Kentucky on Senior Day at Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Nov. 9. Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek fired Coach Chad Morris with a 4-18 record the following day.
The Razorbacks are riding a school-record 18-game conference losing streak and would rather not have an 19-game SEC skid hanging over their hands all offseason.
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"Going out with a bang, it would mean a lot to us, especially getting our first SEC win," said senior linebacker De'Jon Harris. "I ain't won a [conference] game since my sophomore year."
Missouri has won the last three games in the series and lead the Battle Line Rivalry by a 4-1 count since the Razorbacks and Tigers were paired as season-ending opponents in 2014. The Razorbacks lost their 11th consecutive trophy game Saturday at LSU. Arkansas has not beaten a "trophy" opponent -- LSU, Missouri or Texas A&M -- since a 28-3 win over Missouri in the season finale of 2015.
Lunney was quarterback on Arkansas teams that played eight games in Little Rock between 1992-95.
"I want them to have that Razorback War Memorial feel," Lunney said. "I know that's going to be a challenge for us. We haven't done much to give our fans that encouragement, that win, that feather in their cap lately. But I know our people, I know our state is proud, and they're proud of their Razorbacks.
"I sat many a game watching in War Memorial Stadium, watching as a spectator, and obviously some of my greatest memories as a player are in that stadium. We're going to need them to show up and come inside."
Junior tailback Rakeem Boyd thinks the Razorbacks will be ready to perform on the day after Thanksgiving.
"We've got a lot of guys on our team from Little Rock, so we'll be pretty amped up and ready to go," Boyd said.
"It's a trophy game so we've got a lot to play for," junior safety Kamren Curl said. "We've got to go out there and fight to the finish."
Arkansas dropped its eighth consecutive game at LSU in Lunney's debut. The Razorbacks were within 7-6 with less than eight minutes left in the second quarter before the Tigers scored seven unanswered touchdowns, three each in the second and third quarters.
Arkansas scored the final 14 points with reserve quarterback Jack Lindsey on the field.
Lindsey found Mike Woods for a 24-yard touchdown to complete a 75-yard drive with 8:35 left in the game.
Then, after Simeon Blair recovered an onside kick that caromed to the LSU 11, Devwah Whaley added a 2-yard touchdown run with 7:02 remaining.
Sports on 11/25/2019