Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Texas A&M 45, Arkansas 24
Aggies repel several pushes on goal line
Arkansas tight end Jeremy Sprinkle is tackled after a catch in the first quarter of Saturday night’s game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
ARLINGTON, Texas — The last yard was the longest yard for No. 17 Arkansas.
And the defense of those last few inches proved decisive for No. 10 Texas A&M on Saturday.
The Aggies made three goal-line stands, including an Arkansas fumble at the 1, en route to a 45-24 victory before a crowd of 67,751 at AT&T Stadium.
Texas A&M (4-0, 2-0 SEC) won its fifth consecutive game in the series, but this time it did not need overtime as it had in the past two games here.
Arkansas (3-1, 0-1 SEC) lost its sixth consecutive SEC opener and was denied its first unbeaten September since 2003.
Texas A&M Coach Kevin Sumlin improved to 5-0 against the Razorbacks, while Bret Bielema fell to 0-4 in the series against his buddy.
The game swung dramatically on a sequence in the third quarter.
Tied 17-17 early in the third quarter, Arkansas linebacker Dre Greenlaw recovered a fumble by Texas A&M quarterback Trevor Knight at the Razorbacks’ 5-yard line.
Arkansas embarked on a 19-play, 89-yard drive that reached the Texas A&M 2 on tight end Jeremy Sprinkle’s 11yard catch and run. The Aggies held running back Rawleigh Williams to a 1-yard gain on first down, then stopped quarterback Austin Allen’s sneak just outside the goal line.
On third down, Allen’s initial push was stopped, but tight end Austin Cantrell
grabbed his hips, whirled him to right end and Allen held the ball toward the goal line as he fell. The play was ruled down at the inch line on the field, and the replay official upheld the ruling. Arkansas ran an end around to wide receiver Keon Hatcher on fourth down, but Armani Watts stopped the play for a 5-yard loss.
Two plays later, Knight threw deep to wide receiver Josh Reynolds over DJ Dean, and the 6-4 Reynolds hauled in a 92-yard touchdown, the longest pass in a college game at AT&T Stadium.
Texas A&M got another pair of scores, on Trayveon Williams’ 33-yard run and Christian Kirk’s 9-yard catch, which came after Daeshon Hall’s sack forced an Allen fumble at the Arkansas 15.
The Aggies won the turnover battle 3-2 and cashed in 17 points from three lost fumbles by Arkansas.
Allen took several big hits and suffered a bruised chest muscle in the second quarter. The junior completed 28 of 42 passes for a career-high 371 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Knight, a graduate transfer from Oklahoma, played to form. He was erratic with his passing — going 12 of 22 for 225 yards and 2 touchdowns — but produced huge plays with his legs and arm.
Knight rushed for 157 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Williams had 153 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Razorbacks now lead the all-time series 4129-3. The series is tied 3-3 in games played at AT&T Stadium since the series renewal in 2009.
The former Southwest Conference rivals met as ranked opponents for the first time in five years, when No. 18 Arkansas notched a comefrom-behind 42-38 victory over No. 14 Texas A&M on Oct. 1, 2011.
The Razorbacks had not played a game as a ranked team against another ranked opponent since the 2011 team dispatched Kansas State 29-16 in this venue at the 2012 Cotton Bowl.
The score was tied at 1717 after a wild first half filled with penalties, turnovers, big plays an injury scare for Allen and a pair of goal-line stands by the Aggies.
Arkansas caught the first break after a three and out on its first series. Texas A&M punt returner Christian Kirk spilled the ball on a hit from Santos Ramirez, and Jared Collins, then Cody Hollister pounced on the ball at the Aggies’ 16. Two plays later, Hatcher beat cornerback Nick Harvey on a corner route, and Allen laid the ball in perfectly for a 7-0 Arkansas lead less than three minutes into the game.
Texas A&M’s Daniel LaCamera, who went 5 for 5 on field goals last week at Auburn, missed a 36-yard attempt inches to the right to cap the Aggies first series.
Arkansas had driven to the Aggies’ 43 late in the first quarter after Hatcher’s 18-yard catch and Sprinkle’s 23-yard catch. But Dominique Reed couldn’t get hold of an end around handoff on the next play, and Myles Garrett recovered for Texas A&M.
The Aggies capitalized on Knight’s 42-yard keeper off left guard on the first play of the second quarter to tie the game.
Williams burst through a gap at left guard for a 55-yard run to the Texas A&M 2-yard line on Arkansas’ next series, but the Hogs had trouble getting a push from their run game. After a defensive holding call on the Aggies, Williams was stopped for losses of 1 and 7 yards.
Harvey interfered with Hatcher on a near-touchdown catch in the end zone to put the ball back at the 2, but the Aggies held tough on consecutive run plays again. On third down, A&M linebacker Claude George drove Allen into the turf on an incomplete pass.
The Razorbacks took a 10-7 lead on Cole Hedlund’s 25-yard field goal while Allen was being attended to in the medical tent, but he was cleared to play with a bruised chest muscle.
Allen’s 44-yard strike to Hatcher on Arkansas’ next possession got the ball to the 9. Williams appeared headed for the end zone on the next play, but Watts yanked the ball free and recovered it at the 1.
Arkansas forced a three and out when Ryan Pulley broke up Knight’s pass for Speedy Noil down the left sideline, but safety De’Andre Coley was ejected for a targeting call after the pass bounced away. The Aggies capitalized as Ricky Seals-Jones caught a 47-yard pass to set up LaCamera’s 48-yard field goal.
The Razorbacks got right back to work. Kody Walker broke off a 17-yard run, and Jared Cornelius had a 38-yard catch and run to get the ball to the Aggies 8. Williams sprinted through a gaping hole over the left side for an 8-yard touchdown run on the next play to give Arkansas a 17-10 lead with 1:31 remaining in the half.
That was plenty of time for Texas A&M. Knight found Reynolds for 17 yards on third and 7 to keep the drive alive.
On third and 4, Knight started left, cut back at left guard and had clear sailing for a 48-yard touchdown run to tie the game with 13 seconds left in the half.