FAYETTEVILLE — Flags were flying.

Thousand of cars were buried under magnetic stickers.

Razorbacks were the unofficial state animal.

The only thing missing was the color change of the dense forests, but it was game day, and on a brilliant Arkansas afternoon the mood was beyond good.

That’s the beauty of Razorbacks football. It transcends personalities, politics and even performance.

A boisterous crowd left their tailgates late Saturday, but they came to do their part. In the first quarter, the sea of red roared, giving Auburn fits when it came to hearing the signals, but even the heartiest of fans were somewhat perplexed at the half.

Arkansas and Auburn had a combined three points, 209 yards of total offense, and both teams had more penalties than thirddown conversions.

The visiting Tigers led 3-0, had 112 yards offense and three times as much yardage on the ground as the most powerful running machine in college football, but hadn’t converted a single third down.

Early in the second quarter, it appeared the old mo was going to swing toward home.

Auburn kept the ball 9: 03 in the first quarter, but on the Razorbacks’ first possession of the second quarter, Casey Dick hit a wide-open Peyton Hillis for 29 yards, Darren McFadden burst for 5, Reggie Fish pulled in a pass for 9, and the Tigers were on their heels.

The majority of the 72, 463 in the loud crowd were on their feet with excitement and expectations.

On first-and-10 from the Auburn 29, with the Tigers clearly confused, Dick saw something he didn’t like and took a timeout.

Tommy Tuberville and defensive coordinator Will Muschamp met quickly with the defense, and when play resumed it went like this:

Felix Jones for 2, incomplete pass, Jones for 3 and a missed 41-yard field-goal attempt.

On the next possession, Dick passed to D. J. Williams for 13, McFadden got 5 on two carries, and on third-and-4 from the Auburn 42, the Hogs took another timeout. Then came an incompletion and punt.

A positively slow first half gave way to a slower third quarter that ended with the Tigers missing a chance to double their score on a 36-yard field-goal attempt that was wide right.

There was a bright spot for the home team and their fans when McFadden set the school rushing record on a 13-yard run out of the WildHog, something that again wasn’t seen much.

It was a run around the left end, as in outside, where he can create something. And he needed to with the blocking schemes the Hogs had Saturday night.

Yet, the real question coming in was about the defense. After giving up 67 points in its first two conference games, losses to Alabama and Kentucky, there was some concern.

Saturday night, though, it swarmed.

While it seemed no one tackler could bring down Brad Lester, there was always one or two showing up to help.

Yet, with 4: 29 left, when a second field-goal attempt was wide right, the Hogs had a chance.

They got a pass interference call that moved the ball to the Arkansas 45, and a flea-flicker from Robert Johnson to Peyton Hillis, who made the catch of the year, put the Hogs at the Auburn 41.

Jones got 10 more, a pass to Hillis got 6 and Jones got 17 to the 3, but a motion penalty set them up with first-and-goal at the 13.

Dick dropped back, and Lucas Miller caught his pass at the 1 and fell into the end zone, right in front of the roaring student section.

With 1: 36 to play, and fewer than 200 yards of total offense, the Razorbacks led 7-6 and it seemed all was right in Hog heaven.

Only Auburn had saved its best for last, too, driving from its 47 to the Razorbacks’ 12 on passes of 8, 3 and 30 yards.

Three dive plays put the Tigers at the 3, and after Mathew Motley pulled down the high snap, Wes Byrum made it 9-7 with 21 seconds to play.

One Hogs Hail Mary was incomplete, the other intercepted, and just like that a beautiful afternoon was another SEC nightmare.