Streak Over: No. 16 Arkansas takes down No. 7 Texas A&M, improves to 4-0
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ARLINGTON, Texas — When things could have spiraled out of control like they had so many times before in the series, Arkansas regained its composure and finally snapped its nine-game losing streak against Texas A&M on Saturday.
Clinging to a one-possession lead with their starting quarterback injured, the No. 16 Razorbacks came down with an interception and pushed their lead to the final score of 20-10 over the No. 7 Aggies inside AT&T Stadium.
Cam Little’s 24-yard kick, his second of the game, gave Arkansas the cushion it needed to run out the rest of the clock and beat Texas A&M for the first time since 2011.
With the win, Arkansas is 4-0 for the first time since 2003 and 1-0 in SEC play for the first time since 2010, heading into what could be a top-10 showdown at Georgia next week.
Despite playing the second half hobbled, quarterback KJ Jefferson finished the game 7 of 15 for 212 yards and two touchdowns. He - and backup Malik Hornsby - guided the Razorbacks to a 443-yard performance, while the defense limited Texas A&M to just 272 yards.
On the game’s opening possession, Texas A&M got near midfield before being forced to punt. The Razorbacks immediately gashed the Aggies’ defense for a few chunk runs, but the drive stalled out after a false start and dropped pass, so they had to settle for a 46-yard field goal by Little midway through the first quarter.
It seemed like Texas A&M would answer, as it drove into Arkansas territory, but the Razorbacks sniffed out a screen for a loss of 6 and a false start pushed it out of field goal range and they eventually had to punt it away.
On the next play, Jefferson found Treylon Burks streaking down the sideline and hit him in stride for an 85-yard bomb to make it 10-0. The play put Burks over 100 receiving yards before the end of the quarter and he finished with 167 on six catches.
Arkansas needed a third-down conversion on its next drive and it got that and more. AJ Green caught a pass in the flats to move the chains, but then broke or avoided three would-be tacklers on his way to the end zone for a 48-yard score to give the Razorbacks a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter.
It wasn’t until its fourth possession that Arkansas finally had to punt. Luckily for the Razorbacks, their defense quickly got the ball back - overcoming a pass interference penalty that erased what would have been a three-and-out. Tre Williams delivered his third sack of the season to force the punt.
Although a holding penalty - one of eight first-half flags on Arkansas - put it in a a third-and-long situation, Jefferson completed a pass to Burks near the red zone that was just shy of the line to gain.
Instead of taking the points and going up 20, the Razorbacks went for the jugular. They hurried to the line and went for it, but Smith - who rushed for a team-high 82 yards - was met by linebacker Aaron Hansford at the line of scrimmage for a turnover on downs.
The Aggies capitalized by putting together a two-minute drill that included a third-down completion from Zach Calzada to Jalen Preston. Arkansas’ defense eventually stiffened, though, and held them to a long field goal.
Seth Small’s 49-yard kick got Texas A&M on the board with 21 seconds left in the half, pulling it within 17-3. However, the 14-point margin felt much larger, as Arkansas out-gained the Aggies 307-134 in the first half.
The Razorbacks had a chance to answer after halftime, but Jefferson was shaken up on the first play of the half when he was pushed out of bounds. He crashed into the bench and came up limping, but stayed in the game.
After the punt, Jefferson went to the medical tent. He remained in the game after Arkansas forced a three-and-out, but the drive went nowhere.
Facing another three-and-out, Isaiah Spiller found some space and out ran the Razorbacks’ defense for a 67-yard touchdown run up the middle that pulled the Aggies within 17-10 midway through the third quarter.
Following an incomplete pass on the next Arkansas possession, backup quarterback Malik Hornsby entered the game. He picked up 16 yards on his first play, but the offense couldn’t get into a groove and the Razorbacks had to punt when he was sacked on third down.
With the offense floundering, Arkansas leaned on its defense and it delivered. Calzada threw a pass off center Bryce Foster’s helmet, causing it to deflect into the air, and Montaric Brown made a diving interception.
That set the Razorbacks up in Texas A&M territory and they finally managed to put a drive together with Hornsby at quarterback. They actually got down to the 1-yard line before Beaux Limmer false started to back them up on third down.
After a dangerous pass by Hornsby went off Blake Kern’s fingers and fell incomplete, Arkansas settled for a 24-yard field goal by Little that pushed its lead to 20-10 with 8:39 remaining.
Another three-and-out by the Aggies gave the ball back to Arkansas and Jefferson came back in the game at quarterback. They moved the chains once, but ate up nearly four minutes of the clock before punting it back.
Needing to score twice with just over three minutes remaining, Texas A&M had to go for it on fourth down and didn’t convert. That gave the ball back to Arkansas, which was able to run out the rest of the clock.