Arkansas Razorbacks’ upset bid of A&M falls short

 

By David Seeley
The Sequoyah County Times

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas. — For the second straight week, the Arkansas Razorbacks played a ranked Southeastern Conference football team tooth and nail. However, just like in the previous game in a 34-31 loss to Tennessee, the Hogs came up just short as they lost 45-42 to the fourth-ranked Texas A&M Aggies last Saturday at Frank Broyles Field at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in a game delayed by two hours due to rain and storms.

Read more: Arkansas Razorbacks’ upset bid of A&M falls short

Down 3-0, the Aggies (7-0 overall, 4-0 in SEC play) scored on their first drive of the game as they went 75 yards in 10 plays, which included a fourth-down conversion, as quarterback Marcel Reed hit Ashton Bethel-Roman on a 24-yard touchdown pass with 6:06 remaining in the period. Randy Bond’s extra point put Texas A&M ahead 7-3 after a quarter.

On the ensuing drive for the Razorbacks (2-5, 0-3), they faced a fourth-and-1 at their own 49-yard line. The Hogs decided to go for it, but after being pressured, Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green threw an incomplete pass to turn the ball over on downs to the Aggies with 2:54 left in the first quarter.

The Aggies took advantage of the gift as they went 49 yards in six plays, as well as being aided by an offside penalty and a holding penalty on the Hogs, as Reed called his own number and went into the far corner of the end zone for a 3-yard TD run. Bond’s PAT upped the Texas A&M lead to 14-3 with 14:49 left before halftime.

On the ensuing drive for the Hogs, they got three big plays to help get them to the Texas A&M 5-yard line — a 33-yard run by Green, a 21-yard run by Braylen Russell and a 15-yard pass from Green to receiver O’Mega Blake. However, just as the last scoring drive for the Razorbacks, the drive stalled, and they had to settle for another 22-yard field goal by Scott Starzyk to cut the A&M lead to 14-6 with 11:17 remaining in the first half.

On Texas A&M’s ensuing drive, the Aggies took advantage of a fourth-down conversion to move 75 yards in 14 plays as Reed hit tight end Nate Boerkircher on 1-yard touchdown pass. Bond’s extra point increased A&M’s advantage to 21-6 with 3:32 left in the first half.

The Hogs finally found the end zone on their ensuing possession. Taking over at their own 25-yard line off the touchback, and aided by a 34-yard pass from Green to tight end Rohan Jones, the Razorbacks went 75 yards in five plays as Green took it down the right sideline 27 yards for the TD. Starzyk’s extra point cut the Arkansas deficit to 21-13 with 1:51 remaining before halftime.

After the Arkansas defense forced the game’s first punt, the Hogs took over at their own 30-yard line with 43 seconds left before halftime.

Thanks to a 57-yard run by Mike Washington Jr. to get the ball down to the Texas A&M 7-yard line, the Razorbacks capped their first-half ending 70-yard drive with Green’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Blake with two seconds remaining in the first half. Starzyk’s PAT cut the A&M lead to 21-20 at the half.

It did not take the Aggies long to score on the opening possession of the second half.
Thanks to Reed’s 46-yard run, Texas A&M went 75 yards in three plays as Reed hit receiver K.C. Concepcion on a 17-yard touchdown pass. Bond’s extra point upped A&M’s lead to 28-20 with 14:12 left in the third quarter.

After forcing a punt on the first possession of the second half for the Razorbacks, the Aggies got the ball at their own 16-yard line with exactly 12 minutes remaining in the period.

Thanks to a 25-yard pass from Reed to receiver Terry Bussey and a roughing the passer penalty on the Hogs, the Aggies drove as deep as the Arkansas 11-yard line. However, the Razorbacks’ defense stiffened and forced a successful 29-yard field goal by Bond to increase the Texas A&M lead to 31-20 with 7:45 left in the period.

Aided by the ensuing kickoff going out of bounds and a personal foul/facemask penalty on the Aggies, the Razorbacks went 65 yards in seven plays as Green sneaked it in from a yard out. Starzyk’s PAT cut the Arkansas deficit to 31-27 with 4:28 remaining in the quarter.

The punch-counterpunch third quarter continued as the Aggies responded with a 75-yard, nine-play drive that was capped by a 14-yard TD run with 25 seconds left in the quarter by Rueben Owens II, who earlier on the drive caught a 20-yard pass from Reed to help march the Aggies down field. Bond’s extra point extended the Texas A&M advantage to 38-27 going into the fourth quarter.

On the ensuing Arkansas possession, the Razorbacks responded with a 75-yard, 10-play drive, that was aided by a personal foul/facemask penalty on Texas A&M, as tight end Jaden Platt caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Green. Green then hit Jones on the two-point conversion pass to cut the Texas A&M lead to 38-35 with 11:30 left to play. The big play on the drive was a 22-yard pass from Green to Blake.

The Aggies answered with a 75-yard, 10-play drive, keyed by Reed’s 37-yard pass to Bethel-Roman, that was capped by a 12-yard TD run by Owens II. Bond’s PAT increased the Texas A&M lead to 45-35 with 6:52 remaining in the game.

The Hogs made it interesting as they took the ensuing possession at their own 7-yard line off a penalty on the Texas A&M punt.

Thanks to a 49-yard run by Green and a 36-yard pass from Green to Blake, the Razorbacks went 93 yards in 12 plays as Green connected with C.J. Brown on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds left in the game. Starzyk’s extra point cut the Arkansas deficit to 45-42.

The Hogs tried the onside kick, but Bussey recovered the ball, and the Aggies did one kneel-down in victory formation to end the game.

The Razorbacks (2-5 overall, 0-3 in SEC play) got the opening kickoff and began the game’s initial possession at their own 25-yard line.

Thanks to a pass interference penalty on Texas A&M and a 48-yard run by Washington Jr., the Hogs got as deep as the A&M 4-yard line, but they had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Starzyk to put Arkansas ahead 3-0 with 11:21 left in the first quarter.

At halftime, Arkansas legendary running back Darren McFadden had his No. 5 jersey retired.

The Razorbacks return to action at 11:45 a.m. next Saturday as they continue a three-game homestand as they will welcome Auburn to town.

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