The day that college football . . .

[Sir Oinksalot]

...bottom line is the SEC is a stinking cesspool of filth and cheating and I hate it, but, we are getting very very rich here AND
we have no where else to go. Imo our AD needs to jump up and down about our schedule imbalance
and the obvious "pecking order" of preferred schools in Birmingham...

[TheRazorback500]

Unfortunately Tony Bua was a factory of late hits.

Good point.

:razorback:

[TheRazorback500]

You know, anything that went against us in the '03 Auburn game was magnified because of how impotent our offense was in that game. It was at Fayetteville for crying out loud. Teams that scored more than Arkansas's 3 points against Auburn that season:

31 LSU
26 Georgia
24 Ole Miss
23 USC
23 Alabama (not a good Bama team)
21 Tennessee
17 Georgia Tech
14 Wisconsin
13 Mississippi State
7 Louisiana-Monroe
7 Vanderbilt

The only other team held to 3 points was Western Kentucky. IIRC Houston Nutt decided to try to power over the Tigers, whose run defense was their chief asset. There was one series where the Hogs moved across the 50. Then Nutt called De'Arrius Howard inside for 7, inside for 2, then Mark Pierce up the gut for no gain, then Howard up the gut again for no gain, turnover on downs.

Nutt wasted possessions over and over. And remember the hit out of bounds we got on a punt return right before half. Typical of Nutt teams. Set up Auburn for its ONLY touchdown of the game.

Later in the game, Nutt kept running inside on first downs and leaving the Hogs in second and 10. We'd get inside the 30, stall and get nothing because Balseiro had already missed a field goal + we'd end up throwing mostly in obvious passing situations. We actually had first and goal at the 7, and Nutt called a screen pass on first down. And on third down. The idea of running screen passes in the red zone is weird to me. He did it twice, and we settled for a field goal.

We had an iffy call on us. Auburn was called for a PI when covering Chris Baker deep, and Baker wasn't exactly a dangerous threat. (That was on second and 10 after another no-gain on a first down inside run.) Next play Matt Jones was running a QB draw and fumbled inside the 10. Yep. Typical.

Our last possession began on the Auburn side of the 50. About 5 minutes left in the game. Jones scrambled for 9, then threw incomplete on one of those darned short sideline pass plays that weren't nearly as high-% as designed. Burned a lot of clock running Ced Cobbs inside for a yard and a first down. Then incomplete pass, incomplete pass, Jones scramble to avoid a sack, and Jones sacked for the only time in the whole game, on fourth and 8. We have a quarterback who ought to be able to run if we stretch the field with formations, and he gets one called run out of seven called plays. Jones stays back in the pocket -- probably as coached to do -- until he is sacked by a linebacker on fourth and 8 at Auburn's 35.

No, the officiating was not what I was thinking about after that game.

Great analysis!

:razorback:

[Justagp]

This was indeed the worst screw job I can remember as a member of the SEC (and there have been many).  Dennis Johnson had the most beast-mode performance imaginable, our guys played their guts out, and the refs took the game out of our hands.  You know it is bad when Vern and Gary are agreeing with us.  I can still hear Gary saying "I don't get that...what's the guy supposed to do...stand there and get hit?" after Malcolm Sheppard got that personal foul.  Not to mention the PI on Broadway I believe where they also agree with us.  A couple of many horrible calls that day.  I will try to find the video.

Edit: short version -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og5SO4XUodk
longer version (penalties start at 2:20; some of them are inherently justified) -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFLQGne3MBc

Thanks for adding the clip - I had forgotten (blocked from memory) those horrific calls!

[Calling All Hogs]

If the SEC had any real intentions of improving referee performance they would have fired Marc Curles.

[Bebop]

Let's not forget that it was so bad that the reffing crew got suspended afterwards:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4583642

[hogcard1964]

If the SEC had any real intentions of improving referee performance they would have fired Marc Curles.

He has to go.

[Cinco de Hogo]

Some people like to throw out the term "conspiracy theorist".

So what do you call a person who see's no evil, hears no evil dispite all the evidence in the world today.

Sheep?

Blind as a bat?

Ugly ninth grader(oops that's a virgin)

The only thing I 'm certain of in this regard is that the SEC front office and in extension the game refs fell a certain amount of latitude to screw Arkansas whenever and wherever it seem aporpriate to help a more favored team.  If you can disagree with that you are indeed blind.  That doesn't mean they want let us beat the Ole Miss, MSU, KY, VU and occasionally a better team but it's funny that the real screw jobs are ALWAYS when we are playing one of the conference elites.

This is something you can perdict before you even play the game,  yes, maybe Bua earned a few penalties but the fact remains, the one we remember was NOT late nor was it out of bounds, it was called because we were playing UF, if we had been playing KY it wouldn't have been called. 

Off the field, in many instances with expansion and schedules changes we have lost a preferable situation almost 100% of the time.  It's no accident(latitude to screw Arkansas)conspiracy or not.

[Biggus Piggus]

What was the year that Bua was called for a BS late hit against Florida that screwed us over?  I think they called some late hit on a Florida QB on an interception that probably would have won it for the Hogs?

That is kind of an exaggeration. Bua was called for helmet-to-helmet against Chris Leak. Would have been an amazing comeback. The Hogs were down 33-7 midway through the fourth quarter. The stadium was more than half empty.

Gosh, if Nutt had let Matt Jones freewheel it the whole game, Arkansas might have scored 70. Do you recall how much Ryan Sorohan played in that game? He played enough to go 4-15 passing. Jones threw two picks, which has a lot to do with why Sorohan played as much as he did. But the main problem was asking Jones to be a dropback passer.

Jones would have ruled the world as a spread option QB. Too bad nobody at Arkansas had the imagination to actually try that, except in desperation like that fourth quarter.

It was a 33-28 final. And yes, Arkansas was favored. And yes, Balseiro missed a field goal.

[Hollywood_HOGan45]

That is kind of an exaggeration. Bua was called for helmet-to-helmet against Chris Leak. Would have been an amazing comeback. The Hogs were down 33-7 midway through the fourth quarter. The stadium was more than half empty.

Gosh, if Nutt had let Matt Jones freewheel it the whole game, Arkansas might have scored 70. Do you recall how much Ryan Sorohan played in that game? He played enough to go 4-15 passing. Jones threw two picks, which has a lot to do with why Sorohan played as much as he did. But the main problem was asking Jones to be a dropback passer.

Jones would have ruled the world as a spread option QB. Too bad nobody at Arkansas had the imagination to actually try that, except in desperation like that fourth quarter.

It was a 33-28 final. And yes, Arkansas was favored. And yes, Balseiro missed a field goal.

Only times Matt was allowed to be matt was against Texas in 03,04 and against Ole Miss in 01.

Vs. Tennessee in 02 he was split out on 4th and 1 with T.Jackson failing on a QB sneak......unreal.

[Hollywood_HOGan45]

You know, anything that went against us in the '03 Auburn game was magnified because of how impotent our offense was in that game. It was at Fayetteville for crying out loud. Teams that scored more than Arkansas's 3 points against Auburn that season:

31 LSU
26 Georgia
24 Ole Miss
23 USC
23 Alabama (not a good Bama team)
21 Tennessee
17 Georgia Tech
14 Wisconsin
13 Mississippi State
7 Louisiana-Monroe
7 Vanderbilt

The only other team held to 3 points was Western Kentucky. IIRC Houston Nutt decided to try to power over the Tigers, whose run defense was their chief asset. There was one series where the Hogs moved across the 50. Then Nutt called De'Arrius Howard inside for 7, inside for 2, then Mark Pierce up the gut for no gain, then Howard up the gut again for no gain, turnover on downs.

Nutt wasted possessions over and over. And remember the hit out of bounds we got on a punt return right before half. Typical of Nutt teams. Set up Auburn for its ONLY touchdown of the game.

Later in the game, Nutt kept running inside on first downs and leaving the Hogs in second and 10. We'd get inside the 30, stall and get nothing because Balseiro had already missed a field goal + we'd end up throwing mostly in obvious passing situations. We actually had first and goal at the 7, and Nutt called a screen pass on first down. And on third down. The idea of running screen passes in the red zone is weird to me. He did it twice, and we settled for a field goal.

We had an iffy call on us. Auburn was called for a PI when covering Chris Baker deep, and Baker wasn't exactly a dangerous threat. (That was on second and 10 after another no-gain on a first down inside run.) Next play Matt Jones was running a QB draw and fumbled inside the 10. Yep. Typical.

Our last possession began on the Auburn side of the 50. About 5 minutes left in the game. Jones scrambled for 9, then threw incomplete on one of those darned short sideline pass plays that weren't nearly as high-% as designed. Burned a lot of clock running Ced Cobbs inside for a yard and a first down. Then incomplete pass, incomplete pass, Jones scramble to avoid a sack, and Jones sacked for the only time in the whole game, on fourth and 8. We have a quarterback who ought to be able to run if we stretch the field with formations, and he gets one called run out of seven called plays. Jones stays back in the pocket -- probably as coached to do -- until he is sacked by a linebacker on fourth and 8 at Auburn's 35.

No, the officiating was not what I was thinking about after that game.

Completely agree.
I was mad at Larry Leatherwood after the game but our offense was so awful and unimaginative. It was possibly the biggest game in Fayettevill in 20 years and that team laid a huge egg vs Auburn and then Florida.

We had some really bad years under Nutt but 2003 may have been his worst coaching job.

[Jborohog09]

Completely agree.
I was mad at Larry Leatherwood after the game but our offense was so awful and unimaginative. It was possibly the biggest game in Fayettevill in 20 years and that team laid a huge egg vs Auburn and then Florida.

We had some really bad years under Nutt but 2003 may have been his worst coaching job.

Only HDN could find a way to lose four games with the 1999, 2003, 2006, and 2007 teams.

[Hollywood_HOGan45]

Only HDN could find a way to lose four games with the 1999, 2003, 2006, and 2007 teams.

Don't even get me started.
1999- Put Clint BACK IN THE GAME vs ULM in a HUGE blowout in WMS. Clint injures his shoulder and wasn't the same vs Bama and Kentucky. Robby Hampton played some vs Kentucky. Ole miss game was a complete massacre. 38-16 wasn't indicative of how that game went. Richie Butler kicked the ball up one of his blocker's rear end.  LSU's ONLY SEC WIN came against us in a 35-10 blowout. LSU was playing with an interim coach. We had a team talented enough to take apart Auburn and Texas then took the defending champion (Tennessee) out of the national title picture yet we couldn't beat Kentucky or a bad LSU team.  Typical

2003- 0- October with a team that won AT #5 Texas...fell all the way to the Indy bowl in Shreveport.

2006- A historic run was ruined by completely unecessary drama at the end of the season. An SEC or even national title season was destroyed because of very small minded men that called themselves coaches. Totally screwed the athletes, students, and fans.

2007- You have McFadden, Felix Jones, and Peyton Hillis but could only score 7 on Auburn and 13 on Tennessee?? You get beat by a Bama team that couldnt beat ULM and you can't beat Kentucky at home? That team was also good enough to beat #1 LSU at LSU.

Sooooo glad we actually have some leadership now. Collins and JW are very good backs but not the calibre of backs we had with Nutt that he pissed seasons away with.

[Theolesnort]

died for me.  Arkansas at Florida 2009.   Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, but i believe six bad calls by the referees.   After that game, college football lost a lot of luster for me.  I thought I was watching the WWE.  When you've got people with no dog in the hunt tweeting about the Hogs getting ripped off, you know it's bad.  I have never in my 40+ years of fandom seen anything as blatant as that. 

There were other games soon after between two SEC teams with bad calls.  I can't recall those, but will never forget ours.  I don't get emotionally charged up any more.  Oh, i still root hard for them but don't let myself get too attached like I used to.

What I don't understand about that Florida game - was the previous year the refs allowed Ole Miss to go to the swamp and win.  But not us, no not the Hogs. 

I'm a big believer in this staff and the direction we're headed.  The question is will we be allowed to get there?  I'm not counting on it. 

As a long time Hog fan welcome to my world as time after time year after year we were shafted in the Texas games. If the truth were told Broyles would have had a outstanding win edge on Royal before the wishbone came into existence. Several games with Baylor also come to mind as well as the SMU game with the pass interference call and then the 1966 Texas Tech the  game that robbed Ark of a Cotton Bowl when Brittenum scored several times on the goal line but the refs spotted the ball in front of the goal line every time. Interestingly even the Texas Tech coach King was quoted as telling several persons after the game Brittenum must have had the ball stuck up in his butt if he really did not score on those plays. Just to be fair though, Ark was not the only SWC team that was shafted by Texas year after year. Sorry to reveal this to you but corruption abounds at every level in life as long as humans run the show. Yep I am cynical and jaded after a long life but I also will acknowledge that part of the human condition is a number of humans can also do amazing self sacrificing and altruistic things that restore trust. So as we live life we get the best and the worst of both worlds.

[presidenthog]

the swindle in the swamp was the reason I felt so good going into 2010 because I knew we had gotten. screwed. that next year they call the fumble play for Greene that wasn't a fumble because the ground can't cause a fumble, which then set up the 2 ints. if we are playing a heavy weight this year we can't have a loss if they don't have a loss because the sec has shown they will screw us.

[Tejano Jawg]

...That was a 31-30 game after which Urban Meyer sent reams of game clips to the league office to complain about calls that helped Ole Miss win...

Didn't know about this. There's a little irony here...

That Florida game didn't get me down on college football in general (although I had no fondness for SEC officiating.) But it DID ratchet up my hatred of Florida several notches. After our game in the Swamp, I remember Urban getting asked in the press conference, "so, what did you think of all those questionable calls?" His reply, "oh, what calls were those?"

For that smug sonofabitch to be so dismissive...that was it. The University of Florida wasn't to blame for the bad calls—they didn't supply the crew—but still I wrap all my ill will from the injustice and direct it at THEM. And Urban.

But yeah, that game still sticks with me. Especially for one that didn't really matter, as in, we had no championship berth on the line. Just pride. And we did play great most of that game. We sacked Tebow more that DAY than he'd been sacked total all season. The refs—pro-Florida agenda or not—certainly got caught up in the favored home team enthusiasm. That's what poor officials do.

[hog_lovin91]

died for me.  Arkansas at Florida 2009.   Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, but i believe six bad calls by the referees.   After that game, college football lost a lot of luster for me.  I thought I was watching the WWE.  When you've got people with no dog in the hunt tweeting about the Hogs getting ripped off, you know it's bad.  I have never in my 40+ years of fandom seen anything as blatant as that. 

There were other games soon after between two SEC teams with bad calls.  I can't recall those, but will never forget ours.  I don't get emotionally charged up any more.  Oh, i still root hard for them but don't let myself get too attached like I used to.

What I don't understand about that Florida game - was the previous year the refs allowed Ole Miss to go to the swamp and win.  But not us, no not the Hogs. 

I'm a big believer in this staff and the direction we're headed.  The question is will we be allowed to get there?  I'm not counting on it.

I will always remember this game. At the time, I was an 18 year old girl who had grown up watching sports with her daddy and was raised to love all things Hogs. Loved winning. Hated losing. But there was definitely something different about this loss. It was clear to me that this game was taken from us. Since then, I've definitely had my moments where I question the 'system.' I will forever love and support my Hogs, though.  :razorback:

[PIGmalion]

died for me.  Arkansas at Florida 2009.   Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, but i believe six bad calls by the referees.   After that game, college football lost a lot of luster for me.  I thought I was watching the WWE.  When you've got people with no dog in the hunt tweeting about the Hogs getting ripped off, you know it's bad.  I have never in my 40+ years of fandom seen anything as blatant as that. 

There were other games soon after between two SEC teams with bad calls.  I can't recall those, but will never forget ours.  I don't get emotionally charged up any more.  Oh, i still root hard for them but don't let myself get too attached like I used to.

What I don't understand about that Florida game - was the previous year the refs allowed Ole Miss to go to the swamp and win.  But not us, no not the Hogs. 

I'm a big believer in this staff and the direction we're headed.  The question is will we be allowed to get there?  I'm not counting on it.

I agree, there were numerous terrible calls in that game, but the one that got me the worst was the no pass interference call that should have been made on florida receiver riley cooper right after the pass interference call on us. Even Gary said that if you are going to call interference on Arkansas for the play earlier, how can you not call that on florida.

[LZH]

Let us (God please) be undefeated going into November (i.e. leading the SEC-W) and watch & see if we don't get the calls that LSU, UF, Auburn, and Alabama have gotten in the past.  That will never change.

[rickm1976]

Im old enough to remember the good ole SWC.  The pass interference vs SMU in what was it 79? 

The "no call" on the Calcagni face-mask in that Texas game sticks out in my mind.  Ron would have scored if he hadn't been grabbed, but at least would have given us 1st and goal if the ref had made the correct call.

[LZH]

The "no call" on the Calcagni face-mask in that Texas game sticks out in my mind.  Ron would have scored if he hadn't been grabbed, but at least would have given us 1st and goal if the ref had made the correct call.

Damn straight.  Good memory.  That probably cost us the National Championship.

[rickm1976]

Damn straight.  Good memory.  That probably cost us the National Championship.

Yes, it probably did.

[NaturalStateReb]

Some people like to throw out the term "conspiracy theorist".

So what do you call a person who see's no evil, hears no evil dispite all the evidence in the world today.

Sheep?

Blind as a bat?

Ugly ninth grader(oops that's a virgin)

The only thing I 'm certain of in this regard is that the SEC front office and in extension the game refs fell a certain amount of latitude to screw Arkansas whenever and wherever it seem aporpriate to help a more favored team.  If you can disagree with that you are indeed blind.  That doesn't mean they want let us beat the Ole Miss, MSU, KY, VU and occasionally a better team but it's funny that the real screw jobs are ALWAYS when we are playing one of the conference elites.

This is something you can perdict before you even play the game,  yes, maybe Bua earned a few penalties but the fact remains, the one we remember was NOT late nor was it out of bounds, it was called because we were playing UF, if we had been playing KY it wouldn't have been called. 

Off the field, in many instances with expansion and schedules changes we have lost a preferable situation almost 100% of the time.  It's no accident(latitude to screw Arkansas)conspiracy or not.

Solid gold.