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FAYETTEVILLE — Two days later, message boards, social media and sports talk radio shows are still abuzz about the way Arkansas’ loss at No. 13 Auburn ended.
The controversial call that seemingly ripped an upset win away from the Razorbacks will likely be discussed in the years to come, but Sam Pittman has already started the process of shifting the team’s focus to Saturday’s game against Ole Miss.
The first-year coach said he doesn’t even plan on addressing the play with players.
“No matter what happened, the outcome was the outcome and we can’t change it,” Pittman said. “Even if there was a mistake made, even if whatever, we can’t change it. I never spoke to our team one time in the locker room about officiating, not once, and will not today. It is what it is.
“We’re 1-2 instead of 2-1 and we have to go play a heck of an Ole Miss team. I’m not going to mention it to them because what good is it going to do? So we’re going to leave it at that.”
If his mood during Monday’s weekly Zoom videoconference was any indication, it seems like Pittman himself isn’t dwelling on the call. In addition to his typical even-keeled demeanor, he cracked jokes and teased reporters throughout the 25-minute interview.
Only when specifically asked about the call did Pittman bring it up. At one point, he was asked about his conversations with the SEC, which he declined to go into detail about but confirmed happened.
“Yes, I have heard from head of the officials and I'm at peace with it,” Pittman said. “I don't want to go into it, but I heard from the head of the officials and I understand what happened now, so we'll move forward on it, but I'm disappointed in the outcome. I can tell you that.”
With Sunday being the team’s scheduled off day and Monday’s meetings and practice scheduled for later in the day, Pittman said he hasn’t been around the team much since getting back to Fayetteville.
However, he sounded confident that his players wouldn’t obsess over the call, but rather focus on improving tackling, getting off to better starts offensively and fixing its special teams mistakes.
“I truly believe that our players will react like we do,” Pittman said. “We’re going to show the good, the bad and the ugly today, learn from our mistakes, get better from our mistakes. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Kickoff against Ole Miss is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday and will be televised on ESPN2.
