Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium was filled with a sea of red Saturday night as fans stormed the field after Arkansas football’s defense came up with the stop to knock off then-No. 4 Tennessee.

But the celebration came at a cost, a hefty one.

On Sunday afternoon, the Southeastern Conference announced that Arkansas would be fined $250,000 for violating the conference’s access to competition area policy. The press release mentioned that it is the second time that Arkansas has violated the league’s policy, explaining why the Razorbacks were fined more than Vanderbilt, who also had a field storming after knocking off then-No. 1 Alabama.

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As noted by The Athletic, Arkansas’ first violation of the SEC’s access to competition area policy came during last year’s men’s basketball season when the Razorbacks defeated No. 9 Duke 80-75 in the SEC/ACC Challenge.

By the rule of the conference’s policy, which was revised in 2023 at the SEC Spring Meeting, the Razorbacks will pay $250,000 to Tennessee.

Behind Andrew Armstrong’s game-high 132 receiving yards on nine receptions, the Razorbacks not only picked up their biggest win of the Sam Pittman era in Fayetteville but also their first win over an AP top-five team since 1999, which ironically also came against Tennessee.

SEC football field storming violation policy, fines

Here’s the SEC’s access to competition area policy, i.e. the conference’s field storming policy

“Institutions shall limit access to competition areas to participating student-athletes, coaches, officials, support personnel and properly credentialed or authorized individuals at all times.  For the safety of participants and spectators alike, at no time before, during or after a contest may spectators enter the competition area.“

As noted by the SEC, financial penalties range from $100,000 for a first offense, $250,000 for a second offense and $500,000 for a third and more offenses.

Josh Heupel’s No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday night in Fayetteville, AR, with a 19-14 loss to the unranked Arkansas Razorbacks.

Tennessee only trailed by a field goal at halftime despite an awful first half offensively and even jumped out to a 14-3 lead just a few minutes into the third quarter with back-to-back touchdowns from Dylan Sampson. It was Arkansas, though, who was able to come in clutch during crunch time with a 16-0 run to close the game over the Vols.

After the contest, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel met with the media to give his reaction to the game. Heupel was followed by three Tennessee players including QB Nico Iamaleava, RB Dylan Sampson, and LB Keenan Pili.

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Check out all four postgame interviews below:

Tennessee HC Josh Heupel

Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava

Tennessee RB Dylan Sampson

Tennessee LB Keenan Pili

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Josh Heupel said Tennessee’s defense let Arkansas score the go-ahead touchdown with one minute, 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter Saturday night to give the Vols a chance to win the game on the following possession.

Arkansas backup quarterback Malachi Singleton ran for an 11-yard touchdown on the first play after a timeout to put the Razorbacks up for good in the 19-14 stunner against the fourth-ranked Vols.

“Yeah, at the very end of it, just with the clock timeout situations that we had,” Heupel said during his postgame press conference, “trying to give ourselves a chance to go answer.”

Tennessee (4-1, 1-1 SEC) had two timeouts left when Singleton scored. The Vols used their first timeout on the opening possession of the second half. 

The Arkansas game-winning drive went 59 yards in just four plays, with Singleton throwing for 13 yards on first down and Braylen Russell running for 24 yards on second down. Russell rush for 11 yards on the next snap, getting the Hogs down to the 11 before they took a timeout. 

Singleton scored on the following play. 

‘That situation, you can’t keep the ball in your hands’

Tennessee got the ball at the 25 after the ensuing kickoff. Nico Iamaleava threw incomplete on first down, ran for eight yards on third down and threw a 42-yard pass to Dont’e Thornton on third-and-2.

Dylan Sampson ran for five yards after he caught a bobbled snap on second down, after an Iamaleava incompletion on first-and-10 at the Arkansas 25. He threw incomplete to Chas Nimrod on third-and-five.

On fourth-and-five with six seconds left, Iamaleava was flushed left out of the pocket and was ran out of bounds at the 16-yard line as time expired. 

Heupel said the final play was “a full concept read” for Iamaleava. 

“He ended up scrambling off of it,” Heupel said. “End of the day, in that scenario, you got to get the ball up and give one of your guys an opportunity to go make a play. Nico, just like me, and just like our football team, wishes that we had played better. 

“That situation, you can’t keep the ball in your hands. You want to give somebody an opportunity to go make a play.” 

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Iamaleava completed 16 of 28 passes for 156 yards. The Vols rushed 36 times for 176 yards, with Sampson going for 140 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.

Tennessee trailed 3-0 at halftime after gaining just 76 total yards in the first half. The Vols went on a 75-yard scoring drive to start the second half, sparked by a 53-yard Sampson run. They went 60 yards on six plays for another Sampson touchdown after forcing an Arkansas three-and-out. 

From there, the Vols ended the game with four straight punts and turnover on downs when time expired. 

“(Iamaleava is) disappointed with it,” Heupel said, “but he’s got to come back and bounce back from it. He’s played way too good not to respond the right way. And I know he will.”