Copyright Arkansas Online
FAYETTEVILLE -- Bobby Petrino, who had been incensed on the sidelines hours earlier despite his team holding a 14-point lead, wore a look of defeat after a 38-35 loss to Mississippi State on Saturday. Petrino, the University of Arkansas football team's interim coach, directed his ire at the referees for not throwing a penalty flag after a hit to quarterback Taylen Green as he released a shovel pass to tight end Rohan Jones. The successful two-point conversion put Arkansas ahead 28-14 with 6:18 left in the third quarter. Arkansas safety Larry Worth III drew a penalty for coming onto the field from the bench during the brief scuffle involving Green. Petrino was also flagged for his arguing, which sparked a chain reaction of disastrous penalties; Arkansas drew 18 on Saturday for 193 yards, both program-record totals. With Kentucky's 10-3 win at Auburn, Arkansas (2-7, 0-5 SEC) is the only winless team in SEC play. The Razorbacks were knocked out of bowl-game eligibility with a seventh-straight loss, which looked won when they held a 35-21 lead with 13:43 left in the fourth quarter. Petrino said he felt a win. He thought his players did. "It's hard," Petrino said. "I mean, it's hard. The locker room is pretty down. We put it all out there on the field. We're waiting for good things to happen and they just haven't happened yet." Arkansas entered short-handed offensively and lost a couple more players during the game. Kash Courtney and Shaq McRoy made their first career starts in place of center Caden Kitler and right tackle E'Marion Harris, respectively. Two plays in, McRoy got hurt and Kavion Broussard took his place. Green was injured on the game's final play. Early in the fourth quarter, defensive end Charlie Collins couldn't put weight on his right leg. He came up with his first tackle for loss of 2025 on Saturday. Late in the third, Jordan Young caught first interception of the season and was injured while being tackled. Five teammates, including Bradley Shaw, Justus Boone and Julian Neal, carried Young off as he grimaced. Cam Ball, Collins, Xavian Sorey Jr. and Quincy Rhodes Jr. then led him into the medical tent. "No, man, I haven't," Ball said when asked if he's done that before. "He wanted to celebrate, but he couldn't at the time after he caught his interception. He was in pain and we knew we had to get him off the field and get him the good attention that he needed. So, man, that was a moment we'll joke and laugh about 10 years later, just how close of a brotherhood we are." Ball, a defensive tackle and captain, didn't play with an undisclosed injury in the previous week's 33-24 loss to Auburn. The redshirt senior, who has spend his entire college career at Arkansas, logged his first solo tackle for loss against a Power Four team this season and did the popularized 6-7 celebration to the student section, who frantically waved their arms back on a brisk day at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. The Razorbacks tied a season-best 10 tackles for loss, also their most against a Power Four team. In a game full of positive firsts, the defense didn't have a final stop left in it. Mississippi State (5-4, 1-4) got the ball back with 3:08 left, trailing 35-31, and converted a pair of fourth downs. The second was an 18-yard touchdown pass from Blake Shapen to Anthony Evans III for a 38-35 lead. "It was heartbreaking," Ball said. "These one-score losses, man. It really gets to us." A rotation of Arkansas defenders pitching in to securely hoist up Young could be an analogy for how the Razorbacks must lean on each other now that a bowl game is off the table. They were swept in a three-game homestand, the final two against opponents that entered winless in SEC play -- Auburn and Mississippi State. Arkansas let fourth-quarter leads slip in each of those matchups. The Tigers forced four fourth-quarter turnovers in rallying from down 21-10 at halftime and 24-16 entering the final period. Auburn fired Hugh Freeze eight days later following the loss to Kentucky, making him the fourth SEC coach fired this season and third in the last three weeks, joining Florida's Billy Napier on Oct. 19 and LSU's Brian Kelly on Oct. 26. Arkansas was the first of that bunch, parting ways with Sam Pittman on Sept. 28 following a 56-13 loss to now-No. 10 Notre Dame. The Razorbacks have gone 0-4 since with Petrino in the interim role. Arkansas' last three games are on the road against LSU and No. 13 Texas, then at home against No. 19 Missouri in the season finale. "You're playing for pride," Petrino said. "You're playing because you're a football player and you want to go out and win the game. We've got a number of guys that are playing to see if they have a future in the NFL. Everybody else is playing for what happens after this season, whether that's here or transfer or the realities of where we are in college football right now." But first, Arkansas gets a much-needed chance to recover during the upcoming bye week. Matt Byrne is the Bob Holt Razorback Reporter, named in honor of the longtime reporter who covered University of Arkansas sports. This position is funded by the ADG Community Journalism Project.
