FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas had more turnovers than points in the second half falling to Auburn 33-24 in a game they had the lead at halftime.
Taylen Green was 14 of 22 passing for 268 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. O'Mega Blake caught six passes for 61 yards, but had a fumble that also stopped an Arkansas drive. Bobby Petrino wasn't happy with the outcome.
"I was disappointed in the offense," Petrino said. "I thought the defense played extremely hard. They came up with stops. Held them to field goals. We had possession where we could go down and score in the fourth quarter and we turned the ball over. We continually turned it over. That’s a bad situation for the offense."
Auburn jumped out to a 10-0 lead early with a Jackson Arnold 23-yard touchdown pass to Cam Coleman and the first of four field goals for Alex McPherson.
But the Razorbacks then scored the next 20 points. Taylen Green hit Raylen Sharpe for a 58-yard touchdown pass with 8:36 remaining in the first half.
Arkansas' defense forced a three-and-out with Quincy Rhodes sacking Arnold on third down. Following a very short Auburn punt the Razorbacks only needed four plays to punch it into the end zone. Braylen Russell covered the final two yards to give Arkansas a 14-10 lead 5:24 remaining before halftime.
Auburn to the Arkansas 15 before Arnold threw a pass that Kani Walker intercepted and raced 89 yards giving the Hogs a 21-10 lead with 40 seconds remaining in the first half. Petrino was pleased with Walker's play on the interception.
"Yeah that was a great job," Petrino said. "He saw the down and distance route and he jumped it, made a great catch then ran all the way for a touchdown. It was what we needed, energy going into halftime. And then coming out we just didn’t do it offensively. And special teams hurt us also giving up a kickoff return and a blocked punt."
Auburn got two field goals to start the second half pulling to within 21-16 with 5:05 left in the third quarter. Arkansas answered with nine-play, 66-yard drive that ended with Scott Starzyk booting a 27-yard field goal to go up 24-16.
Auburn started to take control of the game in the fourth quarter. McPherson added a field goal to pull the Tigers to within 24-19. Auburn regained the lead when Rayshawn Pleasant returned a Green pass 49 yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion was good putting Auburn up 27-24.
It wasn't just the offense on this day. The special teams allowed a long kickoff return to start the second half plus Auburn blocked a Devin Bale punt.
"Yeah, no question about it," Petrino said. "We couldn’t establish a run game. We had some big, explosive plays where we did a nice job. But when you can’t run the ball then you lend yourself to third down and longs. You can’t take anything away from them. They are a very good defensive football team. But I thought our defense performed well enough to go get a win."
The next Arkansas possession ended when Green hit O'Mega Blake who fumbled the ball after a 15-yard gain. Xavier Atkins forced the fumble and Sylvester Smith recovered returning it to the Hogs 34. Arkansas' defense did limit the Auburn offense to another McPherson field goal this one from 47 yards. Auburn took a 30-24 lead with 6:23 remaining in the game.
The Razorbacks one last chance to possibly get the win. Following a first down to the 36, Green was once again picked off by Pleasant. Auburn ended up with McPherson kicking yet another field goal.
Ashton Daniels replaced Arnold at quarterback in the second half. He finished 6 of 8 passing for 77 yards. He also rushed seven times for 35 yards. Jeremiah Cobb topped all rushers giving Auburn 28 carries for 153 yards.
Auburn finished with 380 yards of total offense compared to 331 for the Hogs. Arkansas passed for 268 yards but could only manage 63 on the ground. Auburn passed for 150 and then added 230 on the ground.
Arkansas (2-6, 0-4) will be at home Saturday to host Mississippi State for a 3 p.m. kickoff on the SEC Network.
