FAYETTEVILLE — One victory in a game that decided which team would not be in last place in the SEC standings isn't something you want to celebrate too much.

However, a win is a win and over the past two weeks, there is evidence that Arkansas is on the verge of turning the corner as a program. On-field momentum is vitally important to the overall health of any locker room, and that can bleed over to the recruiting side if the Razorbacks continue on a positive trajectory moving forward.

"When we walk into these high schools, we've got a lot of momentum heading right our way," Silverfield said on Wednesday. "And, again, the future is so very bright here. A lot of people want to be a part of what we're building."

There have been some missteps along the way, and that's tough to ignore, especially when an in-state prospect de-commits such as Jeremiah Dent, because he's not necessarily seeing the vision play out at his position. Winning can cure a lot of things, and that can certainly be the case on the recruiting trail

"I think that some of the players that are committed to us are just, 'Man, it's just fun to watch and see the improvement,'" Silverfield said. "We're hearing that from a lot of coaches throughout. Like you can just see the gradual improvement and the faith in those things.

"People I've known from back in the history, like 'Oh, there you go. Looks like one of your old teams,' and that's kind of pleasing. But listen, our coaches are going to go on the road, and we know how much this logo means to our fans, but also to the recruits out there."

One of the biggest black clouds hovering over the football program was the 14-game SEC losing streak that began nearly two years ago. The wildest stat of all from that streak is six of those 14 games saw Arkansas leading at some point in the fourth quarter.

The perception since 2012 following Bobby Petrino's ouster hasn't been good for the Razorbacks and that's a given anytime when an overall record sits at 72-107 overall and 28-90 in SEC play. The drop off from back-to-back 10-win seasons would've been understandable, but Arkansas fell off the side of a cliff and hasn't been able to recover.

Arkansas has seen random spurts of competitiveness under former coaches Bret Bielema and Sam Pittman, but each of them struggled when it came down to crunch time with an astounding 20 combined blown fourth quarter leads.

While Silverfield's team wasn't able to close out the Tennessee game in the fourth quarter, the win over Vanderbilt provided a sigh of relief for everyone involved with the program.

"That win, for me, had absolutely nothing to do with my own emotions or feelings," Silverfield said. "Like yes, I'm a happy, but more so, truly, for the fans. I don't mean to keep being dead horse, but it's so true. Like the fans, when people are like, 'That was monumental, like we needed that.'

"The players that were part of this thing last year, sitting there saying, 'Oh,' it's almost like a sigh of relief for so many people. But again, the whole the whole deal is to display and go out there and continue to perform at a high level, so we're not talking about, 'It's been this bad streak.'"

The relief of finally winning an SEC game was obvious for Arkansas fans and players alike. But if Silverfield can turn that feeling into sustained improvement and recruiting momentum, the victory over Vanderbilt might eventually be remembered as the turning point instead of just ending a streak.