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The Arkansas Razorbacks just can’t seem to get past Texas A&M, especially in Arlington, Texas. Arkansas was dominant at times last Saturday, leading 14-0 early and seemingly moving the ball at will against the Aggies defense. That all changed very quickly, though, when the Hogs fumbled the ball near the goal line for the second consecutive week. A&M returned the turnover for a touchdown and the game was never the same.
Still, Arkansas had a chance to win. Cam Little’s 42-yard field-goal attempt with less than two minutes left hit the top of the right upright and bounced away. Texas A&M ran out the clock to finish off its 10th victory overArkansas in the past 11 seasons.
Seven of those A&M wins have come in the teams’ last eight meetings at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys. Arkansas won the first three games against A&M in Arlington but since then the series has been a disaster for the Razorbacks.
Since 2014, the Aggies have beaten the Hogs three times in overtime in Arlington. In regulation, A&M has won once by seven points, once by four and now by two. Any way you slice it, the Hogs have been snakebit against the Aggies.
Then again, maybe the loss to Texas A&M was more about Arkansas’flaws than just bad luck. In fact, the Razorbacks had seemed to be on the right side of fortune so far this season, with Cincinnati unable to take advantage of receivers running free against the Arkansas secondary and Bobby Petrino’s Missouri State team outplaying the Hogs for most of the game before the Razorbacks dominated the fourth quarter just a week before the A&M disaster.
Make no mistake: Arkansas’team has come a million miles under Sam Pittman. This is not Chad Morris’ program. But there’s still some work to be done. The secondary has to play better. The play-calling could stand some fine-tuning. Ball security must be a point of emphasis.
This Arkansas team still has a lot of potential with K.J. Jefferson at quarterback. Jefferson can run, but more importantly he’s also a gifted passer. The offensive line is solid, and running back Rocket Sanders is capable of turning any play into a touchdown. Arkansas has some talented receivers, but the Razorbacks do miss Treylon Burks. There have been too many dropped passes so far.
Defensively, the Razorbacks’front seven are solid. The secondary has played well at times, but hasn’t been consistent enough. Don’t worry about Little. He’ll make a lot more kicks than he misses, and no one who knows anything about football can blame the A&M loss on the missed field-goal attempt. As Pittman said, Arkansas had plenty of opportunities to win last Saturday. The responsibility doesn’t fall on one player.
Big-time college football is a business, and an unforgiving one. Especially in the SEC, even a good team’s flaws are usually exposed and exploited. The Razorbacks don’t have the luxury of spending this week licking their wounds and fretting about what went wrong against A&M.
Alabama comes calling on Saturday. The Razorbacks haven’t beaten the Crimson Tide since 2006. If the Hogs can put everything together and break that losing streak, the A&M loss will sting a whole lot less.
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Scott Loftis is managing editor for Carroll County Newspapers. His email address is SLoftis@cherryroad.com.
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