It was a win that in more successful seasons would have been an afterthought, another victory on the road against a bad Arkansas team that had fired its coach weeks earlier in front of a crowd that was half-asleep for much of the game.
For Auburn, though, it was a sense of relief after four disappointing, sometimes controversial, losses that seemed to end with the Tigers finding a way to lose. And, when Hugh Freeze's team fell behind 21-10 in the second quarter, it would have been easy, and almost natural, for a team that sat 3-4 and 0-4 in SEC play to quit.
On message boards and social media, Auburn fans had quit. They were ready to get rid of Freeze, send him packing after two-plus seasons and were already discussing who the next coach should be.
Luckily for Freeze, the fans don't control what happens on the field, and the Tigers —who work their butts off every day, hear the social media discourse, and fight for Auburn —decided not to give up.
"That group of young men and that group of coaches — as disappointing and as hurtful as those four tight losses were — I think there's a lot of people, particularly with the noise that comes with that, that maybe (would have) shut it down," Freeze said after the game.
No one told Xavier Atkins that it was over. No one told Rayshawn Pleasant that their coach was out of chances. And no one told Alex McPherson to look into who his new coach should be.
No, these Tigers came out with a fire that turned into a dominant display in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Razorbacks 17-0 by forcing four turnovers, including the key Pleasant intercept that he returned for a touchdown.
On a dreary, rainy afternoon in Fayetteville with not much other than pride on the line, the Tigers stepped up for their head coach, coaching staff, and most importantly, themselves. The brave keyboard warriors had turned the page on them and the Freeze era, but it was the players who had the last word.