One of the most important — and perhaps unappreciated — parts of any football game is the officiating. They ensure a fair and orderly match despite jeers at every call they make from one fanbase or the other. But sometimes, their calls are truly egregious.
What's worse is when it's certain officials that continually screw up obvious calls, but nothing seems to be done about it. In college football, Hog fans will think of Marc Curles, but on a national level, people might think of the MLB's Angel Hernandez. The point is, if the average fan knows your name as a ref, you're probably wrong a lot.
Arkansas football has seen many of those calls, especially in the last few years. So much so that national media personalities like Josh Pate realize it. Sometimes, fans even joke about how Arkansas's biggest rival is the officiating crew.
only exception is Arkansas Football as these people have legit gripes annually
— Josh Pate (@LateKickJosh) May 11, 2024
Throughout Arkansas's history, there have been a handful of moments that were so obvious and consequential that it has caused some fans to believe that the refs are out to get the Hogs. Here are a few of those instances.
5 Worst officiating moments in Arkansas football history
No. 5 Texas A&M 2014, missed false start
Arkansas's team in 2014 was much better than their record suggested. They played No. 6 Auburn, No. 7 Alabama, No. 10 Georgia, No. 1 Mississippi State, No. 17. LSU, No. 8 Ole Miss, No. 17 Mizzou, and the game in question, No. 6 Texas A&M. For those keeping track at home, every conference game Arkansas played in 2014 was against a ranked team.
The Razorbacks shut out LSU and Ole Miss and lost to Alabama, MSU, and Mizzou by less than a touchdown. But one game that could've gone the other way was against Texas A&M.
The reason this game isn't higher on the list is because the Hogs blew a two-touchdown lead in the fourth to cause overtime in the first place. They also had a chance to extend the game after this play. However, the missed false start on the Aggies' first play that led to the go-ahead score was so apparent that even the announcers were shocked it wasn't called.