Sam Pittman was livid.

He paced the sideline, imploring the referee to reverse the call. The Arkansas Razorbacks should have won their second game Saturday against Auburn, and Pittman, along with anyone who watched the final seconds unfold, knew it.

With time ticking, Auburn quarterback Bo Nix fumbled a snap and recovered, trying to spike the ball to end the play quickly. However, the replay revealed Nix had actually thrown a backward pass. Arkansas realized this during the play and pounced on the ball, meaning it should have been a fumble and Razorback ball.

But the referee crew watched the replay and apparently didn’t think so. It charged only an intentional grounding penalty to Nix. That set up the eventual game-winning field goal for Anders Carlson, giving the Tigers a 30-28 victory.

Pittman kept it brief when talking about the play postgame.

“I saw what you guys saw,” he said. “I saw a backward pass and a fumble.”

So Arkansas sulked away, feeling robbed of a chance to start the season 2-1, with both victories against ranked opponents.

It didn’t seem there was much more they could have done to win the game. A missed PAT and two failed 2-point conversions left points on the board, but the Hogs otherwise played well.

Feleipe Franks stepped up to finish 22-of-30 for 318 yards and 4 touchdowns. He made the right passes all game, including a 30-yard touchdown to De’Vion Warren to go ahead with 5:29 remaining.

“He played tough,” Pittman said. “He got hit a few times, but he just gets better every week. He’s a little banged up, but it would be hard not to be proud of his performance tonight.”

Franks is the clear difference from last season, as Arkansas finally has a quarterback it can trust. The Razorbacks needed one on Saturday as they were missing top receiver Treylon Burks and running back Rakeem Boyd. As was the case last week, players below them on the depth chart filled in nicely.

Warren finished just 5 yards shy of his second straight 100-yard receiving game. He also caught 2 touchdowns. Backup running back Trelon Smith was a factor in both the running and passing game. He rushed for 81 yards and added 78 receiving, along with a touchdown.

Sure, the Razorbacks went 3-and-out after getting the ball back with a chance to win the game. But overall, they will have a hard time finding reasons why they cost themselves this game. It seems this is a new football team.

That’s the most encouraging thing to take from this.

Arkansas was down two of their best players and still found a way to nearly knock off No. 13 Auburn. As heartbreaking as this loss was, it doesn’t compare in the slightest to some of the worst blows over the years. This team at least is going to give itself a chance to win this season.

Could this team be even better with the return of Boyd and Burks? You would think so, but one thing seems clear. Although Arkansas may have lost Saturday, they will have more chances than we might have originally thought to increase their win total this season.

“I was proud of them,” Pittman said. “We’ve got a good football team. Times of us going someplace and embarrassing our fans and football team are over.”