No. 17 Arkansas came into AT&T Stadium looking to rewrite their history of losing exciting, but disappointing games against No. 10 Texas A&M in the Southwest Classic. The Aggies (4-0) moved to 2-0 in the SEC by beating the Razorbacks for the fifth consecutive year.
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Texas A&M is strong offensively and quarterback Trevor Knight could be in for a big game on a neutral site. A fourth quarter touchdown pass from Allen to Cornelius was the only score for the Razorbacks after the 17-point first half.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Texas A&M. They’d also like to end their skid of four straight losses to No. 10 Texas A&M (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference), the last two of which have come in overtime fashion.
Most of those things were missing the last two times the Aggies shot out of the gate so quickly.
Skepticism about Texas A&M being a legitimate contender is more than justified after what the Aggies have done after September over the past three seasons.
3 TD receptions in three games for Arkansas TE Jeremy Sprinkle. Arkansas plays host to Alcorn State before welcoming Alabama to Fayetteville the following week.
On offense, Texas A&M has an experienced starting quarterback for the first time since Johnny Manziel left in Knight.
Quarterback Austin Allen was stopped twice from the 1, though officials reviewed the third-down run before ruling the play stood. The goal-line stand gave the Aggies new life, and their first lead at 24-17 followed late in the quarter. He was completing 52 percent of his passes going into Saturday night’s game and wasn’t much different in that regard (he was 12-for-22 passing, a 54.5 percent completion rate). Knight was 24-40 with 247 passing yards and a touchdown.
Both teams squandered great scoring chances to start the second half.
On Saturday night? The Aggies held the Razorbacks to a mere 120 rushing yards and a pedestrian 3 yards per carry.
Williams has rushed for 354 yards in the first three weeks of the season, good for third best in the SEC, and is poised to become another of the patented hard-nosed running backs to have played for Bret Bielema.
A&M turned the fumble into a 10-10 tie on a 48-yard field goal by Daniel LaCamera who had missed a 36-yarder on the Aggies first possession. The drive started after Myles Garrett recovered a fumble in the Arkansas backfield.
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Whether it’s Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith and the defensive assistants projecting the plays that senior defensive linemen Deatrich Wise and Jeremiah Ledbetter make, or Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos counting on the line opening holes for running back Rawleigh Williams III to establish the ground game opening Allen for eventual play-action passes to Sprinkle, Hatcher and wideouts Drew Morgan and Dominique Reed, the Hogs’ brass will have some numbers in mind. Williams’s 55-yard scamper set the Hogs up at the Texas A&M 2-yard line.
