KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Sometimes writing a column is fun.

Sometimes it’s not.

Saturday was a not day.

At this point, after a 34-13 thumping by a Tennessee team that might have been the weakest ever to face Arkansas, it would be easy to be nothing but critical.

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Yet, watching those kids in the cardinal-colored helmets on the sidelines Saturday was sad. The disappointment, shock and hurt were as obvious as the lopsided score.

They are young men who came to Fayetteville with the hopes of carving a place in the Razorbacks history books.

Instead, they have found themselves embroiled in one offfield drama after another. Some of them have orally struck out at fans, questioning their loyalty.

Saturday, while execution seemed to be outlawed for visiting teams, there was no doubt how deeply the pain of surprise and hurt was carved in their faces.

However, there is no questioning the same passion by the fans.

All of the Arkansas allotment of tickets appeared to be in use, and in the upper deck in the South end zone was a wide stream of cardinal-wearing faithful who came to see their guys take on the once-great Volunteers.

None, though, could have expected what they saw.

Coming off its best game of the season, Arkansas couldn’t have been more flat if it had taken last week off.

It was more reminiscent of Danny Ford’s final year than what has been seen in the past decade.

There might not have been anything the players could have done to change the tempo, either.

It doesn’t matter now if it was David Lee, Houston Nutt or Mike Markuson who called the plays — and most likely it was all three — they were predictable and basically ineffective.

The Razorbacks didn’t convert a third down until there was 4: 28 to play in the third quarter. For the day, they converted only two of 12 and they were 1 of 3 on fourth downs.

On one of those fourth-down attempts, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones watched from the sideline when Peyton Hillis ran up the middle, where he found six Volunteers waiting to stop him for no gain.

That’s inexcusable.

Yes, there were some injuries throughout the game, and this season, but Saturday they occurred after Tennessee had scored 27 points, more than enough to secure a victory.

As for the season, after 10 years of a run-oriented offense it would be hard for any coach to have many receivers or quarterbacks on hand.

And the best quarterbacks recruited have transferred. One is now starting in the NFL, and the other is sitting out his transfer year at Southern Cal.

Houston Nutt spent most of the game pacing the sidelines alone.

Before the game, as the players walked around the field, he sat slumped in a chair.

No one would have guessed that five hours later his team would not have looked as good against Tennessee as Arkansas State.

That statement will upset some, but the fact is, it is true. The Indians lost 48-27, but they did have 377 yards of offense. Unfortunately, they gave up 523.

Obviously, you cannot compare the Arkansas D-I programs, but it was obvious the Razorbacks were not inspired to perspire Saturday.

In addition to the problematic play-calling, the Hogs shot themselves in the foot with penalties that were clearly a lack of focus.

A still-banged-up McFadden ran as hard as ever, and he got 117 yards, but the truth is, he played when he was hurt against opponents like Tennessee-Chattanooga and Florida International and he’s now a long shot to win the Heisman Trophy.

Winning games was more important than winning football’s most coveted award.

Now, though, those victories seem insignificant.

Best-case scenario is this is an average year, and for that to happen, the Hogs would have to beat Mississippi State in the Rock and LSU in Baton Rouge.

Seeing the sadness in those young men made Saturday one more day that wasn’t fun.