I do not know if anyone else felt this way, but I was just plain mad for about an hour after the game despite the win. I am not totally sure who or what I was mad about, but I think it was mostly the officials. I do not think I have ever felt that way after a win.
Did anyone else have the same experience or do I need to see my doctor for Behavior Therapy?
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Nope. Felt the same way. Basketball team did little to help either. Just a funk for a bit afterwards. I hear a shower can help.
I was pretty upset too. I went into this game with low expectations. I dislike the Liberty Bowl and I know we weren’t playing with a full roster. The first half went better than I expected and showed we could blow them off the field if we wanted.
Between the ref screw job in the posterior and the horrible coaching on offense, I was pretty pissed. It was shades of the Ole Miss game all over again. A game in which CSP admitted afterward he went conservative too early. He did the same danged thing again. As much as I don’t want to admit it, after thinking about it overnight @pike1205 may be right about CSP handcuffing KB.
I’ve never seen a more incompetent officiating crew. They blatantly were trying to cause an SEC loss.
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They can be incompetent. Or intentionally trying to create an Arkansas loss. But probably not both. Pick one.
A mis-managed win, but I’ll take it. I understand how you feel, it left a bad taste after a good meal.
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As much as I dislike the Liberty Bowl, it was an opportunity for many of our fans to watch & support the Hogs, especially those in the Eastern half of Arkansas. It appeared to be a good turnout by Hog fans in Memphis.
Even with our depleted roster, especially on defense & in comparison to KS, we played competitively & surprisingly well against a good & well coached KS team. We obviously have some talented Freshman who played well against a near full KS roster.
The 2nd half let-down may have left a bad taste for many of our fans, but it would have been a much worse feeling if we had lost.
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I get what y’all are saying. When I left the house for a dinner I couldn’t get out of, we were ahead 31-7. i was upbeat and happy. My wife said “We better score more points”. I laughed and agreed, knowing our history. When I checked a little later and it was 38-13, I thought, well that’s it. Not being able to watch what then happened made it worse. I don’t need to rehash it all, but I was very upset at what happened. I had to check my phone to find out we had won. I’ll call it frustrated relief. In the end, despite the refs, the depleted D, and questionable calls on offense, we made the play that counted and won! Congrats to the team and coaches. But I have to close with this. I AM SO GLAD THIS CRAZY, FRUSTRATING,STRESSFUL SEASON IS DONE! WPS!!!
Oh, they can absolutely be both. I think there were some calls they missed and some the obviously saw and just ignored. The review officials for the non-fumble and non-targeting missed the correct decision on both.
I felt much the same way after the game. More relieved than happy, and a bit PO’d. It was like reliving every awful loss we’ve ever had. Most of which were against the aggies. These games always follow a familiar script. We dominate a big chunk of the game, are poised to put our opponent away, and then disaster strikes. These games are always a harmonic convergence of stupidity on our part, horrible officiating, and just plain ole bad luck. Even though we won, I was P.O.'d to have been put through that experience again. Today I’m feeling better, knowing just how much we had to overcome, to win that game. We started with a depleted roster and reshuffled coaching staff, minimal practice time, and lost two key players early in the game. Then the sons of Preston Watts started doing their dirty deeds. And yet still, somehow, our guys kept it together and found a way to win. I’ll take it and hope we never experience a game like that again.
I was upset following game. I think it’s due to nearly losing after being up by such a large margin. I was really upset about the officiating. I thought we were the much better team but the score made it look like two evenly matched teams.
I didn’t think the play calling was bad at all. The non-fumble was both unfortunate and unfair. So was the targeting call. The on side kick was just luck that sometimes happens but coming when it did made me throw up my hands and think we were fated to lose.
Still, it’s a win and I’m relieved. Going into the game I thought we were too short handed to win.
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Or as a business decision they could have been trying to level the playing field to make a more entertaining game. They would lose viewers with a blowout. An even game would freeze viewers to the point they couldn’t go to the restroom–like me. LB officials are laughing all the way to the bank, and probably paying officiating crew well earned bonuses.
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I don’t think the officials were “bought.” First, there’s no need to ascribe to malice something that can be just as easily be incompetence. Second, paying off an official is a serious crime. Who’d do it? Bookies somewhere? Reps from one of the teams?
Certainly any of that is possible, but it’s unlikely.
The two bad calls were bad, but the officials didn’t cause Landers to lose control of the ball. They didn’t cause McAdoo to dive into that runner. That doesn’t make their calls correct, but it means there had to be a opportunity we gave them—not a phantom call out of nowhere.
Now, human bias is another thing altogether. It’s quite possible even a well-meaning official can have biases that affect how he calls a game. I suspect a lot of them are a bit prejudiced against the SEC. But most likely, they just made bad calls in the instant. I’m much more upset with the replay officials than the on-field officials.
BTW, a fumble like that should not be judged by the “indisputable evidence” standard. Officials are supposed to let the play go as if the ball is live. If that’s the case, the review should be a neutral, “is it or isn’t it” without any consideration for what the call on the field was.
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Yep, that would have been his elbow hitting the ground and not a fumble.
Of course it was the ground. It was a terrible call. But my point was that the ball did in fact come loose. Had it not done so there would have been no call to blow.
I guess I don’t understand what you mean by giving them the opportunity. What did Landers do to give them the opportunity? The ground caused the fumble.
Amen! I thought the same, it was ugly but it’s a win and gave our young guys a wonderful opportunity. I absolutely couldn’t be prouder of our fight, lots of teams would have folded up and this was done by a shorthanded roster. WPS
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Totally agree with this!
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The ground caused him to lose the ball, but that doesn’t mean he could not have held onto it. Players hit the ground with the ball all the time & do not lose it. I’m not criticizing him for it because he might not have been in a position to cradle the ball to his chest, but the fact remains that the ball came out. That allowed the officials to call it a fumble. Ball stays in his hands & there’s no chance for the bad call.
If it were me, I might have a tough decision to decide whether it better to be thought corrupt or thought stupid. Guess I know what I would chose, I would choose corrupt since I already been considered stupid for a real long time, guess it is time to try something new!
There were at least the two bad calls against Arkansas that could have determined the game - and in some sense did even though we won in the end. Had they been called correctly, the game would have ended in regulation with us winning by 15 points - if memory serves me correctly.
There were also some other no calls for some holds against Kansas and at least one or two no calls for premature movement before the snap by Arkansas. But, the two (the “fumble” and the “targeting”) were the most egregious - especially with replay.
Regardless, the entire bowl picture this year seemed to lie under a cloud - a cloud of NIL, transfer portal, player opt-outs, NFL declarations, and coaching carousels. I am amazed that Arkansas fielded a motivated team for a 2nd tier bowl such as they did. It seems to me that in today’s Division I, by the time a team is at the 3/4 point of the schedule and they know they will not be competing for a conference or national championship, the “cloud” starts to descend upon the motivation with effect upon performance. Ole Miss may be an example - not sure. Just a theory.
Happy for the win, but not happy with the give up of 25 points - even if that was perhaps aided by bad officiating.
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