Tag: Arkansas Texas A&M

Southwest Classic? Nah. Arkansas basketball vs. A&M far more important

Forget the trophy football game. It almost never matters. Wednesday’s basketball game between Arkansas and A&M does a lot more.

The Southwest Classic: Basketball Edition Part II.

It’s arguably bigger than the actual Southwest Classic from the fall in which Texas A&M knocked off Arkansas on the football field. Arkansas took the men’s basketball rematch in Fayetteville just over two weeks ago.

On Wednesday, the Aggies get another shot on the hardwood with even more on the line. Tip from College Station is at 8 p.m.

Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology at ESPN has the two in about the same shape when it comes to NCAA Tournament possibilities. Texas A&M has four-game lead in the SEC standings on the Razorbacks, but the Aggies are slotted as 10-seed trending up against Arkansas’ 9-seed trending down.

The Hogs had been trending up the last two weeks in the midst of a five-game SEC winning streak. But Saturday’s loss to Mississippi State in Fayetteville was the opposite stuff from what dreams are made. It was perhaps Arkansas’ worst game of the season in conference play.

Now it’s meant that every tip from here out for the Razorbacks carries weight. And getting a win against Texas A&M on the road, on the basketball court, well, that means a whole heck of a lot more than the nothingness of the football game in the fall.

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Photo Gallery: The best photos from Arkansas’ loss to Texas A&M

Plenty of memorable moments from Arkansas vs. Texas A&M on Saturday.

However many words pictures may be worth, we won’t hit that total.

Most Arkansas fans likely would rather forget Saturday night’s loss to Texas A&M ever happened. Turn the page and get to Alabama in Week 5.

Arkansas had every chance to beat Texas A&M and the Hogs as individuals had the better game. The Aggies, despite their stable of five-star recruits, rarely had the edge. That’s good news for Arkansas in Fayetteville next week.

But for now, there’s no two ways around it. The game was memorable. Memorable moments call for memorable photos. These are the best images from the Aggies’ 23-21 win in the Southwest Classic.

Social media was all about Arkansas and Texas A&M

Don’t you slander Sam Pittman to Arkansas fans.

A game both teams needed ended up being a statement game for Texas A&M.

The Aggies 23-21 victory over Arkansas isnt the typical statement game in the dominance sense, but beating back-to-back ranked opponents after an embarrassing loss at home puts everyone back on notice. 

Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher said after the game he was happy to have to the schedule set up this way with ranked opponents in consecutive weeks after giving up the upset to Appalachian State.

I’m sure he could’ve did without the loss to Appalachian State but his team is stepping up in the right way.

The Razorbacks have to look in the mirror before next week showdown against Alabama. They didn’t play bad, in fact, it was one play that changed the game. Inefficiencies in the secondary is still an issue and we reached the maximum in blaming it on the injuries.

Arkansas’ playoffs hopes are not completely off the table, but next week will give us more of an perspective on how the SEC will shape out for the season, and that ultimately determines how the College Football playoffs will look.

Let’s see what Twitter had to say about the game.

Opinion: Don’t blame Cam Little or KJ Jefferson for Arkansas’ loss

KJ Jefferson and Cam Little are two of the best players on the Arkansas roster. They deserve praise, not derision.

Where would Arkansas be without quarterback KJ Jefferson?

Not sitting at 3-1. Not three inches from being 4-0 with Alabama visiting in a week. Jefferson remains one of the best quarterbacks in the country and against the Aggies, he had all three of Arkansas’ touchdowns: two through the air and one on the ground.

Yes, it should have been two on the ground. But, seriously, what are the odds the big man who is nearly impossible to bring down with one player would fumble? Then, for Texas A&M to take it back 97 yards? C’mon. It was a freak play.

And the same is true for Cam Little, whose year-plus with the Razorbacks have already launched him into the top 10 in Arkansas kicker history. He very well may be the best kicker the school has had before he’s done.

He pushed a field goal, a 42-yarder, mind you, just slightly right and it clanged off the top of the upright. It was inches, literally inches, from giving Arkansas a victory.

No one on the Arkansas roster is coming for either Jefferson’s or Little’s heads. Nor should any fan. In fact, like Jadon Haselwood said after the game, you should lift their heads.

Everyone gets to make mistakes. Arkansas’ loss wasn’t on either play. It’s just easier to find a scapegoat when emotions are running hot.

Live. Learn.

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KJ Jefferson, Myles Slusher headline Arkansas’ Players of the Game against Texas A&M

Arkansas outplayed Texas A&M on Saturday night and these performances prove it.

Things did not go Arkansas’ way on Saturday. A field-goal attempt in the final two minutes clanged off the top of the right upright and fell harmlessly into the end zone as the 10th-ranked Razorbacks fell to Texas A&M, 23-21.

The good to take from it? Arkansas played poorly and still almost beat an awfully good team, a team that was picked to finish second in the SEC West at the conference’s media days over the summer.

Arkansas’ offense went over the 400-yard mark. Arkansas’ defense, which entered as with the bottom-ranked pass defense in FBS, gave up just 151 yards in the air.

But Arkansas’ dream of a College Football Playoff appearance and a matchup between two undefeated teams next week in Fayetteville was dealt a blow.

Our three Razorbacks Wire writers have selected their Players of the Game below.

Drama in DFW: Arkansas falls to Texas A&M after wild finish

Cam Little’s 42-yard field goal attempt hit the upright and fell short as Texas A&M ran out the clock in a two-point win.

Cam Little’s 42-yard field goal attempt with 1:35 could have put Arkansas ahead by a point.

Instead, the best kicker the Razorbacks have had since Zach Hocker saw his kick hit the top of the right upright, bounce skyward and fall a couple yards into the end zone.

Short.

Texas A&M’s bench exploded. The Aggies would run out the clock to win, 23-21, after scoring 23 straight points after Arkansas opened with a 14-0 lead.

The turning point came in the second quarter when Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson, diving toward the end zone, had the ball knocked loose. Texas A&M took it 97 yards the other way for a touchdown.

Arkansas’ offense sputtered on its next three series, notching just 19 yards, while the Aggies tacked on point after point. By the time the offense found its groove, the hole was deep. Jefferson led a 74-yard drive for a score midway through the fourth quarter and the defense responded by forcing an A&M punt.

But as Arkansas marched toward the end zone on its final drive, Little’s leg let him down.

Jefferson finished 12 of 19 for 171 yards with two passing touchdowns and he ran for 105 yards and a touchdown. The defense had no answer for Devon Achane, who had 170 yards of total offense, including a touchdown.

Arkansas hosts Alabama in Fayetteville in Week 5.

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KJ Jefferson will not let Arkansas quit against Texas A&M

Arkansas and Texas A&M down to the wire? It’s KJ Jefferson time.

KJ Jefferson, like he has since he has become the Arkansas starting quarterback, has carried the Razorbacks on his back.

Trailing by nine points early in the fourth quarter and desperately needing a score, Arkansas got one from its star quarterback. Jefferson led a 13-play, 74-yard drive capped by his six-yard scoring run to pull Arkansas within two, 23-21 with 10:05 left.

To that point, Jefferson had run for 94 yards with the score and was 11 of 18 passing for 152 yards and two touchdowns.

The drive was important not only because of the score, but because Arkansas had picked up just 19 total yards since his fumble near the goal line when it was 14-0, Razorbacks.

Arkansas, the No. 10 team in the country, was a two-point underdog entering the game.

Twitter: “KJ Jefferson is who people think Anthony Richardson is”

There are still people who don’t know KJ Jefferson. That shouldn’t last past tonight for Arkansas.

KJ Jefferson needed less than 10 minutes to put Arkansas ahead of Texas A&M, 14-0.

Jefferson’s second touchdown pass, a 56-yard deep ball to a wide-open Warren Thompson, was a stamp with 5:26 left in the first quarter. Texas A&M fans were already losing their minds.

For Arkansas, a win over the Aggies int he Southwest Classic would be a second straight in the series after the Hogs lost nine in a row. It would also set up a showdown between them and undefeated Alabama in Fayetteville in Week 5.

But Saturday, it wasn’t about that. It was about Jefferson, now a dark horse Heisman Trophy candidate. Jefferson had 98 yards passing and 36 rushing halfway through the first quarter.

Five predictions for Arkansas and Texas A&M on Saturday night

So far this year, all three Razorbacks Wire writers have picked Arkansas every game. Does that continue?

The only thing that stinks about Saturday morning? Waiting until Saturday night.

Arkansas and Texas A&M headline an otherwise modest primetime schedule in Week 4 across college football. The Razorbacks and Aggies kickoff from Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, at 6 p.m.

For Arkansas, a win cements the Hogs as a dark horse national title contender, especially as Alabama heads to Fayetteville in Week 5. For Texas A&M, the game feels a bit make-or-break. The Aggies lost to Appalachian State in Week 2 before bouncing back last week against Miami. Beating Arkansas wouldn’t bring them to the same heights they had pre-Mountaineers, but likely back into the top 16 or 17 in the country.

Arkansas is the higher-ranked team, but not favored. A&M’s roster, on paper, has fans and prognosticators going Aggies. But Arkansas snapped a nine-game skid against A&M last year and carries a legitimate belief they’re an elite team now.

Can Texas A&M say the same? Our three writers chip in with their score predictions plus two more ahead of kickoff.

Five reasons Texas A&M beats Arkansas on Saturday

We aren’t picking Texas A&M. Predictions hit tomorrow. But Texas A&M is favored and here’s why.

Before losing your mind, don’t think this is a prediction that Texas A&M will necessarily beat Arkansas on Saturday.

No, the official Razorbacks Wire predictions will hit the site on Saturday morning.

This is counter-programming to Taylor Jones’ Three Reasons Arkansas will beat the Aggies. And just because there are five here and three there doesn’t mean any of us are leaning toward Texas A&M, either.

But a bulk of the country seems to be. Reasons exist for that. None of them have to do with “no respect for Arkansas,” either, believe it or not.

So let’s take a quick look. Exactly why are the Aggies, a team that lost Appalachian State, predicted by a majority to beat Arkansas?