DALLAS — Interim coach Reggie Herring thought he had Arkansas ready for Tuesday’s Cotton Bowl against Missouri.

Arkansas’ players certainly appeared to be on the same page with Herring, the team’s former defensive coordinator who was named interim coach after Houston Nutt resigned on Nov. 26.

Then came Tuesday’s Cotton Bowl against a Missouri team intent on showing it belonged in one of the Bowl Championship Series games.

Herring’s Razorbacks were embarrassed, losing 38-7.

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“Our preparation, I thought, would result in better things during the game,” said Herring, who is now likely to accept an offer to coordinate the Texas A&M defense after spending three seasons in Fayetteville.

Herring had motivational speakers like Dallas Cowboys owner and Arkansas alumnus Jerry Jones and 50-year Arkansas icon Frank Broyles address the team. On the eve of the game, he yanked a sheet off a mannequin to show the team’s attire for the Cotton Bowl: red jerseys over red pants, with player-favorite black socks and black shoes.

But once the game began, things did not go as planned for Herring, the fifth interim coach to walk the sidelines during the bowl season and the fifth one to lose. West Virginia’s Bill Stewart will be the sixth interim coach in action tonight in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma.

Herring’s first critical on-field decision near the end of the first quarter appeared to be a successful one. Arkansas trailed 7-0 when it faced fourth-and-4 at the Missouri 35. Arkansas lined up in punt formation, but fullback Farod Jackson took the snap and handed it to wide receiver Reggie Fish on a reverse that appeared to be good for a first down.

But a timeout was called from the Arkansas sideline just before play went off, negating the play.

Arkansas then tried another fake punt, this time with Jackson carrying the ball instead of handing it to Fish, and Jackson was stopped for a 1-yard loss at the Missouri 36.

Who called the timeout ?

“That’s useless information right now. It wasn’t me,” Herring said, smiling. “I’m thinking of a Dr. Seuss poem right now, It was Who. Who was Mr. Who ? It was Who. Who’s on third ?”

Herring defended the decision to go for another fake punt after the timeout.

“At that point in time, we felt like we had it,” Herring said. “We knew they were going to be set up.... so we went with a counter fake.... They did a good job defending it.

“ We needed about 5 yards. It was early in the game. I was trying to create something, and it didn’t work out.”

Another move that did not work out was an apparent onside kick by Brian Vavra to start the second half. Missouri recovered Vavra’s kick at the Arkansas 48, and the Tigers scored six plays later on a 4-yard run by Tony Temple to go up 21-0.

Herring said the intention was not to go for an onside kick but to squib it down to the 20 to prevent a big return from Missouri’s Jeremy Maclin.

“When you call a squib, squib is to squib it deep, not to hit the frontline player and get the ball at midfield,” Herring said. “That was a huge mistake as far as field position starting the second half.... We gave away some gifts there in the second half.”

Herring said he had no other focus but to prepare Arkansas, which has lost five of its past six bowl games.

“That’s what I want everybody to understand, that as an interim football coach we had this thing going, and I just expected to play better,” Herring said. “This is a proud program. We had the people in place to play well, and we didn’t get it done.”