Story and photos by Mike Price
Auburn came in and upset #17 Arkansas 38-23 while handing the Hogs their third straight loss. Bo Nix and the Tigers struck first with a touchdown drive to open the game. Arkansas responded with a Cam Little 44 yard field goal to make it 7-3. After trading several punts and a missed field goal, Auburn struck again with a 1 yard touchdown run by Tank Bigsby.
After the Hogs failed on a 4th down conversion, they got the ball back when Montaric Brown intercepted Bo Nix deep in Hog territory. Arkansas put together a 12 play 84 yard drive capped with a KJ Jefferson touchdown pass to Dominique Johnson from 9 yards out.
Arkansas got the ball to start the 3rd quarter and marched down the field to take the lead 17-14 on a Treylon Burks 30 yard touchdown catch. Several possessions later, KJ Jefferson was sacked and fumbled the ball in the endzone where Auburn recovered for a touchdown to retake the lead for good, 21-17. Auburn added another touchdown on a 1 play 71 yard touchdown drive where Bo Nix hit Demetris Robinson in stride.
Arkansas drove back down the field and scored on a 10 yard Dominique Johnson run but failed to convert on a 2 point conversion on a controversial no call for pass interference. Auburn closed out the game with a field goal and a touchdown to make it 38-23. The crowd really got rowdy on several controversial penalties or no calls by the referees including a pass interference call on Arkansas that kept an Auburn drive alive and resulted in a field goal. It was 3rd and 6 on the play in question at the Arkansas 30 when the penalty was called on Hudson Clark. The student section spent the rest of the game booing at the refs every chance they got. The other questionable call occurred in the first half where Auburn appeared to fumble but the referees ruled forward progress had been stopped.
Arkansas plays the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in Little Rock next week in War Memorial Stadium at 11 am. Arkansas drops to 4-3 (1-3 SEC).
