FAYETTEVILLE -- For the fourth time this season Arkansas just narrowly lost to a nationally ranked team with No. 4 Texas A&M escaping Razorback Stadium with a 45-42 win on Saturday.
Arkansas (2-5, 0-3) has lost SEC games to Ole Miss 41-35 and Tennessee 34-31 and then the Aggies. They also lost to Memphis 32-31 with only Notre Dame blowing out the Hogs. But Saturday was another near miss that resulted in a loss.
If a person likes offense they had to enjoy Saturday's game that started two hours later than originally scheduled. The two teams combined for 1,024 yards with the Razorbacks getting 527, 268 rushing and 259 passing. Bobby Petrino's offense put on a show.
"That was one helluva football game," Petrino said. "We asked our guys to compete hard and play one play at a time. We’re working at it but still coming up one play short. As I told the team they have to understand it’s a team loss. If we score one more point. It’s the offense’s job to score one more point and the defense’s job to hold them to one less point. We’ve got to do it together. One thing for sure. We’ll come back and we’ll keep working at it. Play with a positive attitude and try to make Arkansas proud of us."
The Razorbacks pulled to within three points with 11:30 left in the game. Taylen Green passed four yards to Jaden Platt for a touchdown to make it 38-33. Arkansas converted a two-point pass with Green getting the ball to Rohan Jones.
But A&M answered that touchdown with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Rueben Owens II racing in from the Arkansas 12. That extended the Aggies lead to 45-35 with 6:52 remaining.
Arkansas managed to score its last touchdown on four-yard pass from Green to CJ Brown with 10 seconds remaining. Arkansas then tried an onside kick that was unsuccessful and A&M took a knee to end the game.
Arkansas jumped out to a 3-0 lead on its first possession. Arkansas got to the Aggies four-yard line, but couldn't punch it in. Scott Starzyk nailed a 22-yard field goal.
On its first possession, Marcel Reed found wide receiver Ashton Bethel-Roman, a former Razorback signee, for a 24-yard touchdown and 7-3 lead.
Reed scored on a 13-yard run on A&M's next possession to go up 14-3 on the second play of the second quarter.
Arkansas had to settle for a 22-yard field goal making the score 14-6 with 11:17 remaining in the first half. Green was helped off the field following second down play. KJ Jackson came in for one play and completed a three-yard pass.
Texas A&M took a 21-6 lead with 3:32 left in the first half. The Aggies were also set to get the ball to start the second half and memories of how the first half ended against Notre Dame started coming back.
But the Petrino-led Hogs had no intention of rolling over. Green scored on a 27-yard run with 1:51 before intermission. It was a five-play, 75-yard drive for Arkansas.
The defense then forced a three-and-out allowing Arkansas to get the ball back with 43 seconds left in the first half. Green and the offense went to work. On first down, Green hit Mike Washington for an eight-yard pass. On second down, Washington sprinted for 56 yards to the A&M seven. On the next play, Green hit O'Mega Blake for a touchdown making the score 21-20 Aggies at halftime.
"Mike did a really nice job," Petrino said. "We did a couple of things different formation wise and that helped us out in the run game. And they had to defend us in the pass game early and I felt that helped us in the run game early."
Any thought Arkansas would have all the momentum in the second half was quickly erased when A&M went 75 yards in three plays. Reed found KC Concepcion for a 17-yard touchdown.
Randy Bond kicked a 28-yard field goal for the Aggies on their next possession stretching the lead to 31-20 with 7:45 remaining in the third quarter.
But Green and the offense once again wasn't finished. Green took the Hogs on a seven-play, 65-yard drive that ended with the quarterback sneaking it in from the one. Braylen Russell had a big 11-yard run on the play before Green's touchdown. The Hogs trailed 31-27 with 4:23 left in the third quarter.
Owens scored on four-yard touchdown run with 25 seconds left in the quarter. That allowed the Aggies to take a 38-27 lead.
Green completed 19 of 32 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed 11 times for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Washington rushed 16 times for 147 yards. Russell carried four times for 36 yards. O'Mega Blake led the receivers with seven receptions for 118 yards and a touchdown. Xavian Sorey Jr. led all players with 11 tackles.
Reed completed 23 of 32 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns. He also carried six times for 55 yards and a touchdown. Owens, filling in for the injured Le'Veon Moss, finished with 14 carries for 69 yards and two touchdowns.
"We had an extra gear offensively at a very high level," Petrino said. "We did rush fit better at times. We rushed past the quarterback and that hurt us a lot because he is such a great athlete. You can’t rush past Reed 3 or 4 times when he came out scrambling and running. We had all 4 guys. He’s going to make yards to make like that. A very dangerous quarterback. But our defense did stick together and played hard and made a few that allowed us to come back in the game. We just can’t have that second to last guy that we had earlier."
The Razorbacks will be back home Saturday to host Auburn at 11:45 a.m. and televised on the SEC Network. Auburn is in a battle with Missouri tonight.
