At one point in Arkansas' 51-10 loss to Auburn on Saturday, the Razorbacks ran what might be the worst play we've seen in recent memory.
Arkansas, down 17-0 to the 11th-ranked Tigers in the second quarter, lined up to punt the ball away at its 41-yard line. It was at that moment the team ran an ill-conceived, ill-fated fake punt.
This fake punt from Arkansas might be one of the worst plays we've ever seen in college football.pic.twitter.com/VpKPOKJlQE
— Sporting News (@sportingnews) October 19, 2019
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So, to recap: Arkansas punter Sam Loy received the snap, then chest-passed the ball up in the air like he was in a Dr. Pepper halftime throw competition. The pass was well off the mark, and was intercepted by the Auburn defense. But what makes this play truly disastrous is that, even if the pass was completed, the receiver still had 11 yards to go for the first down.
So what was the intent behind this play? Arkansas coach Chad Morris was asked about it after the game, and actually provided a lengthy explanation. Although he clearly recognizes the play didn't go as planned.
“Yeah, not the result we were looking for,” Morris said after the game. “It was something that they had shown, we have actually been working on that for a couple of weeks. I thought at the time that we needed something to get us kickstarted, just wasn’t moving the chains.
“We needed something to give us a spark and we were going to have to try and steal a possession somewhere. Luckily they missed the field goal so that didn’t hurt us at that point. We were looking for anything to try and get a spark on that one.
“Yeah, it’s just designed to — they had a full-on rush. Let the rush come and kinda touch pass over the top like a basketball shot, right over the top with (Auburn’s player) running under it.”
Expect that play to never make another appearance again for Arkansas.
