San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Aggies’ streak vs. Razorbacks ends at 9
ARLINGTON — Jimbo Fisher tried hiring Sam Pittman on his first Texas A&M staff nearly four years ago when the Aggies hired Fisher from Florida State. Some incensed A&M fans left AT&T Stadium on Saturday believing perhaps it should have been the other way around.
Pittman’s No. 16 Arkansas squad manhandled the No. 7 Aggies 2010 before 57,992 fans in the home of the Dallas Cowboys.
The Razorbacks (4-0), in their second season under Pittman, beat the Aggies (3-1) for the first time in 10 tries of the annual Southwest Classic pitting the current SEC West foes and former Southwest Conference rivals.
The Aggies, who were down 17-0 early in the second quarter, trailed 17-10 early in the fourth quarter when A&M quarterback Zach Calzada skipped a low pass off center Bryce Foster’s helmet, and Arkansas cornerback Montaric Brown stretched out for the interception on the A&M 48-yard line.
Arkansas capitalized on the turnover with a 24-yard field goal by Cam Little that put the game out of reach at 20-10 with 8:39 remaining. A&M failed to threaten again and the Razorbacks faithful celebrated in Arlington, Fayetteville, Ark., and across the state of Arkansas.
Four years ago, Pittman politely declined Fisher’s offer and kept plugging away as Georgia’s offensive line coach. Meanwhile, Arkansas turned to A&M graduate Chad Morris to replace the fired Bret Bielema, and Morris — A&M’s backup plan had Fisher opted to stay at Florida State — failed miserably over two seasons (4-18) in Fayetteville.
The Razorbacks gave Pittman, 60, his first big opportunity, and long-frustrated Arkansas fans are ecstatic they did. Arkansas, in enjoying a bemusing role as “Texas state champs” following Saturday’s victory, also whipped Texas
40-21 on Sept. 11 in a nonconference — and future SEC — contest. The upstart Razorbacks abruptly knocked then-No. 15 UT out of the Associated Press top 25.
The Longhorns and Oklahoma will enter the SEC as early as 2025 and perhaps as soon as 2022. The newcomers knew they had powerhouse Alabama, LSU, A&M and Auburn among others to deal with in the rugged SEC West, but Arkansas has been a nonfactor for about the past decade after Bobby Petrino
was fired in 2012 following an off-field scandal.
The Aggies led the nation entering the game allowing 5.7 points per game, but the Razorbacks had tripled that amount six minutes into the contest by grabbing a 17-0 lead before thousands of fans had even found their seats.
Arkansas started the scoring with a 46-yard field goal by Little and quickly followed with 85- and 48-yard scoring strikes from quarterback KJ Jefferson to Treylon
Burks and AJ Green, respectively. Meanwhile, the Razorbacks’ defense routinely harassed Calzada with a three-man rush, while efficiently blanketing A&M’s receivers and tight ends.
The Aggies will try and regroup for consecutive home games against Mississippi State and Alabama over the next two weekends. LSU defeated MSU 28-25 on Saturday in Starkville, Miss.
The Aggies, aided by a 49-yard field goal by Seth Small just before
halftime, climbed back into the contest courtesy of a 67-yard touchdown blast up the middle by Isaiah Spiller midway through the third quarter.
A&M’s fortunes began changing a bit when Jefferson suffered a leg injury early in the third quarter. Aggies linebacker Aaron Hansford shoved Jefferson out of bounds, and Jefferson limped back to the huddle.
Following that possession, Jefferson tried another series before giving way to backup Malik Hornsby. Hornsby helped hold down the fort while Jefferson later returned from the injury.
The Aggies harbored national title aspirations in their fourth season under Fisher, who won a national title at Florida State in his fourth season. Just before the season, Fisher received a raise and an extension, pushing his original 10year contract back to 10 years, and, on Jan. 1, he’s scheduled to be the nation’s second-highest paid coach behind Alabama’s Nick Saban at $9 million annually.
Pittman, a former Arkansas offensive line coach from 2013-15, was thrilled when the Razorbacks offered him $3 million annually two years ago to lead the Razorbacks.
The Aggies will turn their attention to rebuilding a leaky offensive line and cross their fingers for the return of starting quarterback Haynes King, who broke his tibia in the second game of the season against Colorado in Denver. King is expected back in about a month, if not less.