Arkansas football: 3 reasons for optimism after loss vs Auburn

The Arkansas football team, reeling from back-to-back losses to Georgia and Ole Miss, couldn’t use a sold-out Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium to help end the losing streak.

Despite great individual performances from wide receiver Treylon Burks and quarterback KJ Jefferson, their brilliance was not enough to propel the Hogs to victory.

Even though losing is terrible, Razorback fans shouldn’t be too down in the dumps—there’s some reasons for optimism. Here are three reasons why everything will be ok.

No. 1: The referees made several questionable calls against the Arkansas football team

The Razorbacks’ secondary got absolutely scorched against the Tigers. The Hogs were without starting safety Jaleon Catalon and his absence was felt immediately on Auburn’s opening drive.

There were several plays in which our defense completely failed. Namely, the opening 39-yard touchdown strike from Bo Nix to Ja’Varrius Johnson.

However, there were a handful of plays that certainly seemed like blown calls by the referees that were called in Auburn’s favor. These calls were made to no fault of the Arkansas defense—poor officiating is incredibly difficult to overcome.

There was a sequence in the first half in which Arkansas defender Jashaud Stewart tackled an Auburn ball carrier and ferociously threw him to the ground. During his fall to the ground, the ball appeared to rattle free and was up for grabs. The referees took a look at it and awarded Auburn the football.

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On the last play of the third quarter, Arkansas scored a touchdown to make it 28-23. Coach Sam Pittman called for the Hogs to go for two. Arkansas wideout Treylon Burks lined up near the sideline and cut towards the middle of the endzone. KJ Jefferson launched the ball towards Burks and an Auburn defender broke the pass up. The crowd and announcers were questioning if pass interference should have been called. It was not.