From @masonchoate:
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman and the Razorbacks (6-6, 3-5 SEC) left Columbia, Missouri, on Friday night still winless at Memorial Stadium with after 28-21 loss to the 24th-ranked Tigers in the Battle Line Rivalry on a frigid and snowy afternoon.
The Hogs took a 21-20 lead via Ja'Quinden Jackson's third rushing touchdown of the game with 4:19 left in the fourth quarter, but that didn't last long. Missouri regained the advantage on a 30-yard rushing touchdown by quarterback Brady Cook that was followed by a Cook pass to Luther Burden III on the two-point conversion to make it a 28-21 lead for the Tigers.
Even after all of that, the Razorbacks still had 1:47 left on the game clock with the football and one timeout in their pocket.
It's important to note that Pittman, who will have surgery for a broken hip Tuesday, was not on the sideline Saturday. Instead, he was in the coaches box, while offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, defensive coordinator Travis Williams and special teams coordinator Scott Fountain were on the sideline with the responsibility of calling timeouts for their respective groups.
"Operation, I thought, went really good," Pittman said of being in the coaches box. "I thought about it, starting as early as Monday or Tuesday because I knew I was coming off some of my medication that I couldn’t take for the surgery, but the decision was just what I felt like was best for the team.
"So, the bottom line is Bobby had the timeouts when offense was up, and T-Will had them when he was on defense, and Scott had them when we were on special teams, and I just told them. It seemed to work out fine."
VIDEO: Postgame press conferences - Missouri 28, Arkansas 21
Considering that information, it was Petrino's option to call a timeout if needed on the final drive.
Arkansas ran into 4th and 12 fairly quickly after an intentional grounding by quarterback Taylen Green — which resulted in a 10-second runoff on the game clock — but Green then completed an 18-yarder to receiver Isaac TeSlaa to keep the drive alive with 50 seconds to play.
Two plays later, Green found Andrew Armstrong for a 25-yard completion down to the Missouri 32-yard line with 25 seconds to go. After taking 19 seconds to run the next two plays — a pair of incompletions to Isaiah Sategna — the Hogs were left with just six seconds and 32 yards to go.
Asked postgame if there was a convenient time to call that final timeout, Pittman said there was not. The first two timeouts were burned on the previous Missouri possession to ensure the Hogs had time on offense.
"I called timeout when Missouri had the football and was trying to use the two-minute (timeout) as well on that," Pittman said. "I didn’t want them to run a touchdown down the middle. I was hoping that they might miss a field goal.
"But no, as I look at that last drive, it just happened and it really wasn’t a time because it was a first down and you know so there really wasn’t a time until it got down and I even told Bobby there I said, 'There’s six seconds left I can use a timeout if you want me to.' He said, 'No no no I got the play I want.' Yeah you hate to go home with one but I didn’t really feel like there was another time I could use one."
The reality is, Arkansas had two turnovers and Missouri scored 14 points off of those. According to the SEC Network broadcast, the Hogs' 28 fumbles this year lead the nation. The Razorbacks also had 10 total penalties that combined for a loss of 72 yards Saturday.
"It’s very frustrating," Pittman said of turnovers. "We work ball security every week and put an emphasis on it. It’s part of our ways, the keys… Our ways we can win. Especially, we knew today with the weather how it was, whoever turns the ball over less is going to win, and that’s kind of exactly what happened."
Arkansas will now await its bowl destination, which will be revealed Sunday, Dec. 8.
