Auburn (3-5, 1-4 SEC) is licking its wounds while watching game film on Sunday, less than 24 hours after Saturday’s 41-27 home loss against Arkansas at Jordan-Hare. A lethargic crowd left early while Arkansas took a three-score lead in the third quarter.

Touchdowns by freshman Camden Brown with 5:28 left in the fourth quarter and Jarquez Hunter with four seconds left made the score somewhat respectable. Auburn allowed 286 rushing yards, including 171 from Rocket Sanders. Arkansas had four rushing touchdowns.

Auburn got a strong performance from Robby Ashford. The quarterback led the team in rushing with 87 yards, which would’ve been 102 if not for NCAA policy on adjustment for the 15 yards he lost getting sacked. He also threw for 285 yards with a 73% completion rate.

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Ashford’s best game with no turnovers, and Auburn getting one on defense wasn’t enough. Despite the late tallies by Hunter and Brown, it was clear that Arkansas was the better team.

“We had too many mistakes to win a football game,” head coach Bryan Harsin said. “So all of us, we’ve got to do a better job of eliminating those. Coaching, playing, preparation — it all goes back to that when you’re playing good football teams.”

Let’s look at what happened in the Tigers’ fourth consecutive loss.

Auburn 0 Arkansas 0 1st Quarter 10:52 3rd & nine Ball on Arkansas 22

Auburn kept Arkansas off the scoreboard on the first possession of the game. The Razorbacks won the toss and took the ball. Typically, teams covet getting the ball first in the second half and like to set the tone with their defense. Sam Pittman chose to lead with his offense, but Auburn’s defense held it down.

Auburn is inching close to the red zone on its first possession with a chance to take the lead. Ashford, Tank Bigsby, and freshman Damari Alston had runs of nine, eight, and 11 yards on the first three Tiger plays to get the offense rolling.

Ashford drops back for his first attempted pass after five consecutive rushing attempts by the offense against Arkansas. He was met by a blitzer in the backfield and took a seven-yard sack.

Anders Carlson missed a field goal attempt, and suddenly, the momentum was fading.

— Carlson’s two missed field goals, and a kick out of bounds led to a question about a potential change at placekicker for the Tigers.

“Yeah, we hadn’t up to this point. So, we’ll look at it,” Harsin said when asked if he had considered making a change. “That was, I think, we missed a field goal today. We had one blocked; that was a long field goal. I think one of their kids, I don’t know who it was, but he got his hands up, he got up in the air. You’re trying to drive the ball when it’s a little longer. You can’t put all that lift on it that you normally would if it’s a shorter kick, so Anders is trying to drive it, and their kid got up there and blocked it. The out-of-bounds (kickoff) hurts. That just kills you in field position. So, yeah, everything – we’ll go back and look at everything.”

— One of the reasons why winning is the greatest deodorant is because it can mask miscues. Winning allows mistakes to become learning tools to build upon. Losing means everything matters, from a missed block leading to a sack that forces the field goal attempt to the missed kick taking points off the board and putting the opposing offense in a better field position.

Auburn 0 Arkansas 0 1st Quarter 9:17 3rd & three Ball on Arkansas 36

Auburn entered the game with a -11 turnover margin, which was tied for the worst in FCS. Sometimes, numbers can be manipulated to prove a point without context. There are times when “both things can be true,” but there are also sober facts. And this number is a major factor in why Auburn has a losing record this season.

Harsin often speaks about the turnovers publicly and, more importantly, to his team. Derick Hall was listening and created a big one at midfield by knocking the ball out of Jadon Haselwood’s hands. Auburn gets the ball back after the missed field goal with another opportunity.

— A team that is playing well engages in complimentary football. Auburn could’ve left the first quarter ahead 14-0, but instead, it was a 7-3 Razorback lead. Losing becomes chronic and contagious. Recurring themes of untimely and costly errors stopping drives on offense and a defense that struggles against the run bequeaths losing.

“It hurts bad. It’s something that’s definitely gonna bother the guys for sure,” Hall said. “You get time to reflect and go home and just really think of what you can do to help this team get better and get us back on a winning track. We’ll come back to work tomorrow and just start over again.”

Auburn 3 Arkansas 14 2nd Quarter 3:43 1st and 10 ball on Arkansas 41

Bigsby shows up big time with a 41-yard touchdown run. Auburn trails 14-10, and a game that could’ve gotten ugly sooner than it did remains close because of a classic run by Bigsby. The touchdown capped a 93-yard drive. In this situation, the Tigers picked up teammate Keionte Scott, who mishandled a punt letting the ball drop at the seven-yard line. Scott could’ve caught the ball around the 30 but let it bounce and Arkansas downed the punt.

Bigsby erased the mistake.

Auburn went into the locker room down 17-13 after a 24-yard catch by Camden Brown led to Auburn getting the ball inside the ten for an easy Carlson field goal.

— Arkansas scored the next 21 points after halftime. Auburn trailed 38-13 before Brown’s touchdown with less than six minutes left in the game. Hunter scored a touchdown with four seconds left. The game was over before Brown’s touchdown and while there was resilience shown by Auburn playing to the last second that’s not enough for a fanbase with championship aspirations.

“We’re just not— we’re not good enough,” Harsin said. “That’s just what it comes down to. And, you know, I think that’s something, too, just as a player, as a coach. Even when you win, I still think you always have to self-evaluate. We talked about that. We’re just not good enough. And what are we doing to get better? You can sit there and say that, but it’s really, I think, you know, everybody’s got these intentions of who they think they are. And then you have the actions of who you really are.”

— Auburn’s season took a downturn last season after blowing a 25-point lead at home against next week’s opponent Mississippi State. Auburn entered that game 6-3 coming off a tough loss against Texas A&M but wins against Arkansas and Ole Miss before the Aggie loss.

Auburn looked like a top-15 team seeking to take out its frustrations on an inferior team during the first half of the Mississippi State game. However, the second half saw an Auburn team that couldn’t finish drives on offense and couldn’t get teams off the field on third down on defense.

The Tigers have shown flashes of being that team that dominated the first half against Mississippi State and beat Arkansas and Ole Miss during Harsin’s two seasons on the Plains. However, too often it’s been more like the squad that blew the lead and didn’t win another game that season and is two games under .500 after getting beat at home by the Razorbacks.

“We got to be better, and we need a lot more action then just hope and wanting to, and all that. You’ve got to work for it,” Harsin said. “You’ve got to put in the time, you’ve got to put in the effort, you’ve got to make sure that every little thing you do matters, because it does. You’re playing good teams. These guys, no one we play is gonna roll over and just let you beat them.”

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group.