It seems all that stood between Arkansas and a second consecutive SEC road victory Saturday was a quick-whistled officiating crew.
Had referee Jason Autrey not blown the play dead after Bo Nix’s lateral pass in the final minute, Arkansas almost certainly would have recovered and been able to run out the clock. Razorback safety Joe Foucha recovered the ball after the whistles blew. Foucha, defensive end Zach Williams and linebacker Grant Morgan immediately realized the fumble (and initial lack of a whistle) and broke for the ball.
Autrey appeared to have committed two cardinal mistakes in officiating: he blew a play dead when players from both teams obviously realized it wasn’t, and assumed Nix’s spike was routine even though everything about the play screamed abnormal.