FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks could get no satisfaction on a sun-splashed, gorgeous fall day on Saturday.
No revenge for last year's badly officiated ending at Auburn, no breaks on more disputed calls and no good outcomes on their risky decisions.
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The University of Arkansas also had a hard time stopping Auburn quarterback Bo Nix.
Auburn turned the game around with a defensive score, a fourth-down stop and Nix's long-bomb touchdown pass to Demetris Robertson in short order in the third quarter and pulled away for a 38-23 win before 73,370 fans at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
The Tigers (5-2, 2-1 SEC) won their series-best sixth game in a row against Arkansas (4-3, 1-3) and their eighth in the last nine meetings. It was the third consecutive loss for the Razorbacks.
"They outphysicaled us on both sides of the ball, they outplayed us and they outcoached me," Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said.
"That was a fun game," Auburn Coach Bryan Harsin said. "I think Arkansas is a really good team, lot of respect, I like the way they play. ... To be on the road and to win and going into a bye week, all these things are big for our program. That gives us a chance to create some momentum going into this bye week and do some things."
Arkansas, which hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Little Rock on Saturday before its bye week, played without three defensive starters in star safety Jalen Catalon, who is out for the year with upcoming shoulder surgery, cornerback LaDarrius Bishop and lineman Markell Utsey.
"I think we all feel like crap," Pittman said. "I think we've got a beat-up team, to be honest with you. Our team is beat up, and this bye week can't get here fast enough."
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Auburn dinked and dunked in the pass game against the Razorbacks' early zone schemes, then ran effectively when Arkansas switched to more man-to-man coverage and connected on some down-field shots.
The Razorbacks, who outgained the Tigers 460-427 in total offense, tried to be aggressive on offense in gambling situations, but they were stopped on a pair of fourth-and-short plays and did not score on a two-point conversion pass when trailing 28-23 on the final play of the third quarter.
"It seemed like everything I was calling or chance I was taking -- tried to kick it, didn't make it, tried to go for it, didn't make it -- wasn't going our way today on some of those," Pittman said.
Arkansas had the momentum for a time late in the second quarter and early in the third, but it did not last long.
The Razorbacks drove 84 yards in a two-minute drill and scored on KJ Jefferson's double-jump 11-yard pass to Treylon Burks with 18 seconds left in the half to pull within 14-10.
Arkansas took the second half kickoff and mounted a six-play scoring drive, seizing a 17-14 lead on Jefferson's 30-yard post pass to Burks.
The game turned midway through the third quarter when Arkansas punt returner Nathan Parodi lost an Auburn punt in the sun and was unable to make a fair catch on the 26. Instead, the ball rolled to the Arkansas 11.
Linebacker Colby Wooden sacked Jefferson on second down back to the Arkansas 6. On third down, end Derick Hall stormed around left tackle Myron Cunningham, hit Jefferson on his blind side in the end zone and forced a fumble that Marcus Harris recovered for an Auburn touchdown and a 21-17 lead.
"He just beat me," Cunningham said. "He just had my number on that play."
Said Harsin, "Derick Hall, that was a big strip-fumble play. ... You know if you score on defense, you have a really good shot of winning the game."
A few minutes after that, the Tigers stopped Jefferson on a fourth and 3 at their 29, went for the throat and made it work on Nix's 71-yard deep ball score to Robertson for a 28-17 lead.
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"It was huge, obviously the play of the game," Nix said of the defensive score. "Those back-to-back were important. That just carried us on ... into the fourth quarter when we got a chance to run the ball."
Nix completed 21 of 26 passes for a season-high 292 yards and 2 touchdowns and ran for a clinching 23-yard touchdown to cap a clock-eating, back-breaking drive with 2:30 remaining to set the final score.
"We have to get a stop there," Arkansas linebacker Bumper Pool said. "There's no excuses, that's on us. We say we want to control the game as a defense, and when we're put in that situation, we've got to get a stop."
Harsin said the Tigers' 12-play, 75-yard drive that took 6:11 off the clock was definitely the way he wanted to finish the game.
"You want to convert, you want to stay on the field, you want to be able to run it at the end of the game," Harsin said. "That was a drive I was very proud of."
Nix, who came into the game completing 57.8% of his passes, converted 81% of his throws against the Hogs. Nix worked over Arkansas' zone coverage early in the game with repeated short throws to his tight ends against sizable cushions.
When the Razorbacks went to more man-to-man looks, Nix completed a few long shots, highlighted by the deep post to Robertson, who had been having trouble with drops this season. Robertson got past cornerback Hudson Clark, who received extensive playing time in Bishop's absence.
"It was very frustrating," said cornerback Montaric Brown, who was voted the Crip Hall Award winner for the top senior on homecoming. "We just had to adjust on the fly. We've just got to regroup and work on our fundamentals."
Jefferson, who accounted for six touchdowns and 411 yards last week, had a more pedestrian showing against the Auburn defense. Jefferson completed 21 of 35 passes for 228 yards and 2 touchdowns and led the Razorbacks with 66 rushing yards.
Arkansas outrushed the Tigers 232-135, with Raheim Sanders running for 64 yards and Trelon Smith chipping in 48.
Razorback fans were incensed by a series of calls that went against their team and booed referee Lee Hedrick and his crew loud and long in the second half.
In the first quarter while trailing 7-3, Arkansas defensive end Jashaud Stewart stopped a third down run and forced a fumble after picking tailback Jarquez Hunter up before bringing him to the grass. Linebacker Grant Morgan recovered the fumble at the Auburn 16-yard line, but the officials determined Hunter's forward progress had been stopped even though the play went to video review.
In the second quarter, trailing 14-3, Arkansas went on fourth and 1 and Sanders was ruled to have been stopped inches short of a first down at the Auburn 18. A replay review confirmed the spot.
In the fourth quarter, with Auburn ahead 28-23 and facing a third-and-6 snap from the Arkansas 30, Clark was flagged for pass interference on a Nix fade route for Robertson that landed well out of bounds and appeared uncatchable.
"Yeah, it gets frustrating," Pittman said. "You'd like to catch a break here and there, but yeah, it gets frustrating."