Arkansas Fans Furious About Officiating In Loss to Florida

Arkansas fans are taking to Twitter, message boards and blogs to vent their frustrations about the officiating in Saturday's loss to No. 1 Florida. They're also posting their evidence on YouTube -- and proving that they have every reason to be upset.

Two bad calls in particular, both on Florida's game-tying fourth-quarter drive, have caused the Razorback rage. The first, which you see above, was a personal foul called against Razorbacks defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard for knocking Florida's Marcus Gilbert to the ground at the end of a play. The call is clearly ridiculous: It was Gilbert who tried to level Sheppard with a late hit, and all Sheppard did was lower his shoulder to absorb the hit. Just because Gilbert fell down and Sheppard didn't doesn't mean Sheppard was in the wrong.

The other call on that game-tying Florida drive, which you see above, was a pass interference penalty. The pass interference call doesn't inspire quite as much outrage as the personal foul -- mostly because pass interference is called so inconsistently that football fans have grown accustomed to bad calls -- but it was still a major gift from the officials to the Gators.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel calls them "two of the worst calls I've seen in quite some time" and notes that the calls were made by the same SEC officiating crew that was heavily criticized for an excessive celebration call that helped LSU beat Georgia two weeks ago. And that doesn't even include this non-call on what should have been offensive pass interference against Florida, on Florida's game-winning drive later in the fourth quarter:

We all know that officials are human beings who sometimes make mistakes, and we'll never have perfect officiating. But it sticks in the craws of Arkansas fans that they had three officiating errors go against them at the worst possible time on Saturday. The SEC has some explaining to do.

UPDATE: The SEC has admitted that the personal foul call was incorrect. The pass interference calls, the SEC says, were judgment calls at the discretion of the referee. For more updates, follow me on Twitter @MichaelDavSmith.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 11)

10-19-2009 @ 1:15PM

dsrimages said...

How do you think Florida wins most of their games? They cheat and pay off refs. They do not deserve to be in the top 25 at all and should be penalized for cheating and not allowed to participate in any bowl games. That would just crush Master Tebow and crew. Team is way overrated as is their head coach and Tebow. Florida sucks and always have!

10-19-2009 @ 1:27PM

Gary said...

Typical poor loser response. Go cry to mommie..or sister...same thing for you. There were bad calls or should I say no calls on both sides of the ball and yes they were recognized by your beloved media too..cry baby sissy boy

10-19-2009 @ 4:36PM

ryanrobinson2 said...

To complain about the calls is ignoring the fact that yall couldnt get points off turn overs i think there were 3 turnovers by florida in the redzone so you take those away they score and this is no close game arkansas had their chance to score and couldn't do it. the first call listed was bad but the second is completely legit and the third as stated in the rules is legit as well because they were both trying to make a play for the ball. i don't like the gators at all but you need to look at the rules then make your judgement. its any given sunday fellas refs includin'. there are bad calls in every game and missed calls in everygame you didn't see the bulldogs here for their excessive celebration against LSU which most likely cost them the game but hey it happens

10-19-2009 @ 4:47PM

aliceapow said...

sour grapes!!

10-19-2009 @ 5:02PM

Sedona Nightshadow said...

One or two questionable/debateable calls by an officials are never to blame for an outcome of a game. Never! Count the numbers of missed tackles, missed blocks, dropped passes, mistakes in general that any given teams makes during the course of the game and the officials 'bad' calls, if you will, doesn't come close in counts. There's no do-overs when a team makes mistakes.

10-19-2009 @ 5:15PM

SirCedricCharles said...

As long as Florida keeps on winning football games they will be the #1 college team. Humans playing a GAME that is officiated by other humans mistakes are bound to happen; but the great teams find ways to overcome. If your team had scored MORE points than Florida you wouldn't be cryin' and moanin' and sniveling and snieveling(sp)! It's over and done with so grow up and move on.
Tim Tebow is a great college football player and he deserves his "props". He exhibits a lot of courageous determination even after suffering that concussion.

10-19-2009 @ 8:16PM

mikedukes1 said...

yea lets see they won the s.e.c championship game and 2 national championship games in 3 yrs

its ok to be jeleous we expect it troll....

gators rule the s.e.c and the nation

10-19-2009 @ 10:07PM

hookmrl said...

look against LSu when no 11 pulled the jersey of the defender and he made a touchdown catch the only touchdown against LSU dont believe me watch the tape

10-20-2009 @ 5:49AM

Kevin said...

Too bad, so sad. Gators are over-rated all the way to #1. Watch and learn, whiner!

10-20-2009 @ 9:59AM

mcd8009 said...

Another child that should neither be seen nor read. OIK OIK OIK...back to the pigsty

10-20-2009 @ 1:16PM

ransummer said...

Yeah, that's it. They pay off the refs and cheat. Has nothing to do with the fact that they are the fastest team in the country with talent at every position. I agree that the calls were bad but that happens in every game. "They shouldn't even be in the top 25." Another brilliant statement. You obviously are just a hater who knows nothing about football. Maybe someday your team will be worth a damn. Till then, enjoy those sour grapes.

10-20-2009 @ 2:53PM

jhisc9999 said...

Florida's 4 turnovers were all due to bad luck. The score would have been very different otherwise. Turnovers, injuries and "bad calls" are all something we have to live with. Get over it. Arkansas played well and deserves better fans than some of the ones here.

10-19-2009 @ 1:42PM

trictruss said...

The Hogs suck!Get over it,bunch of cry babies.

10-19-2009 @ 4:13PM

roy said...

Arkansas was robbed!!! Plain and simple. Why were they using SEC refs?? I thought refs from other conferences are used so charges of favoritism wouldn't be used? I saw the game and it was pretty obvious that something was going on. I'm not saying it was deliberate, but!..........

pacedr said...

Hey Roy,
Last time I checked, Florida and Arkansas were BOTH in the SEC. That's why they were using SEC refs, so don't make any more comments because you are too stupid to understand the system!

10-20-2009 @ 3:38PM

It's because of the system that Arkansas was ROBBED, fecal-brain!!!!!

10-19-2009 @ 1:44PM

jmend25 said...

Arkansas got MAJORLY SCREWED on Saturday. Most people are saying that there is some shady things going on behind the scenes.

10-20-2009 @ 7:08AM

Craig said...

Most people say "something shady". Like who? clueless people like Roy

10-20-2009 @ 3:36PM

I guess I'm not the only one, because Fla. has dropped to TWO!!!!! Who's clueless now, dick!?

10-19-2009 @ 1:55PM

John McKay said...

it is such a babgy thing that ALL teams whine if they lose a close game and it is always the refs fault. There were bad calls on both sides so quick your whining and take it as what it is. A loss