Aggies didn’t need help, but Hogs gave it

ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas A&M scored 13 points without Arkansas’ help and 21 with it.

The assists came on a pick-six, a punt return for a touchdown and needing only 39 yards for a touchdown after Arkansas went for it on fourth-and-1 from its 40 and lost a yard.

Don’t know if Bobby Petrino or Jimbo Fisher called the cheap shot play to go for a touchdown on fourth-and-1 with 4 seconds to play, but it won’t be forgotten.

Yet, the man with the plan, the star of the game, the mastermind behind Texas A&M’s 34-22 win Saturday was defensive coordinator DJ Durkin, who dialed up a defense that gave the Razorbacks absolute fits.

It took a quarter for the Aggies to really settle down. But when they did, they could have changed the address of AT&T Stadium to No. 1 Aggie Sack Avenue.

Arkansas had 107 yards of offense after the first quarter with KJ Jefferson throwing for 84 yards on 6-of-9 passing and trailed only 7-3.

Then the lights almost went out on the Razorbacks’ offense, which got ultra-conservative with only one pass play in the second quarter, playing into the hands of the Aggies — who played like they were in the Hog huddles. They held Arkansas to 16 yards on a total of just 11 plays in the second quarter.

Arkansas had 25 yards in the third quarter with 2 coming off a pass and the Aggies led 27-16.

The Razorbacks would finish with 174 yards — 46 of that came on a pass from Jefferson to Andrew Armstrong with 3:53 to play — and just 67 in the final three quarters.

Saying the Aggies dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball would be like saying Florida beaches are sandy.

They sacked Jefferson seven times for 41 yards of losses and had a total 15 tackles for a loss.

On the other side, the A&M O-line gave Max Johnson so much time he could have checked his phone before throwing passes. This was his 18th start for the Aggies but was beat out by Conner Weigman, who was injured last week.

Johnson did have a picksix on the first play of the second half when Lorando Johnson stepped in front of pass and returned it 20 yards for the score and put some hog calling life into the Razorback fans.

That made it 17-13, but not for long as the Aggies answered with a field goal.

Arkansas got its third field goal from Cam Little, a 50-yarder to go with his scoring kicks of 52 and 25 yards.

Then the bottom fell out, once again because of the pressure the Aggies put on Jefferson, who scrambled for his life far too many times.

On second and 5, Jefferson’s pass was tipped and Chris Russell Jr. intercepted it for an Aggies touchdown.

No doubt A&M had a cushion the second half that started with the Razorbacks going for it on fourth and 1 from their own 40. The situation came after Max Fletcher punted to the Aggies’ 19. But A&M was called for offsides and the Razorbacks to0k the penalty and gambled — and lost.

The Aggies drove the 39 yards for its second touchdown and a 17-6 lead they never lost.

When the Aggies got the 82-yard punt return for a touchdown, it was their third gift from the Hogs.

Going in, most Razorback fans were worried about the offensive genius of Bobby Petrino took second-string quarterback Johnson, in his first start of the season, and helped him manage the game like an all-SEC quarterback.

Petrino’s offensive balance rivaled an Olympic gymnast.

Texas A&M had 414 total yards, 210 through the air and 204 running. Arkansas had zero sacks and four tackles for losses of a total of 6 yards.

A&M was the better team, but were helped by the Hogs.