Questions persist. The angle of them is changing, though.
Previously, questions raised about Texas A&M football have been based on who, what and why. Who made a mistake? What’s the reason for the error? Why do the Aggies keep making them?
But in a 34-22 dismantling of Arkansas (3-3, 0-2) on Saturday, Texas A&M (4-1, 2-0 in the SEC) changed the inquiry to “how?”
As in, how good could the Aggies be if they can eliminate their recurring miscues?
Seriously, the answer is good enough to finish first in the SEC West division. Maybe even good enough to win the SEC championship. Possibly good enough to reach the College Football Playoff.
All of that is within reach. The Aggies just have to grab it. And, of course, hold onto it. That has been the issue.
A&M gave up a pick-six, lost two fumbles, dropped several passes, missed two field goals and committed five pre-snap penalties.
“Look, everybody has got players,” Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher said. “They’re going to make enough plays on their own that you can’t have self-inflicted (mistakes).
“We have to do a little bit better job and clean those things up.”
Despite all those missteps, the Aggies posted a blowout win that wasn’t even as close as the 12-point margin of victory.
Jamie Maury, TexAgs
Johnson was 17-for-28 passing for 210 yards and a pair of touchdowns through the air on Saturday against Arkansas.
“I think we should have put up a lot more points than we did,” A&M quarterback Max Johnson said. “The defense played unbelievable. They shut them down. I think our guys are going to be excited going into next week's practice. We’re going to clean up those mistakes.”
Johnson passed for 210 yards. That included a 32-yard touchdown pass to Evan Stewart and a 2-yard toss to Earnest Crownover.
Le’Veon Moss bludgeoned the Razorbacks for 107 rushing yards. Additionally, the Aggies rolled up 414 yards of total offense and did not allow a sack. Ainias Smith returned a punt for an 82-yard touchdown and brought another back for 43 yards.
Still, the defense was the star of this show.
Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson was a pig-in-a-blanket. A&M’s swarm of sack maniacs launched a Wrecking Crew-esque assault that has perhaps not been seen since names like Roper, Wallace, Adams, Miller and Garrett were terrorizing passers.
Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, an avid hog hunter, chased down Jefferson for two of the seven sacks. It’s the second straight game A&M has dumped the quarterback seven times. The Aggies now have 20 sacks this season. That’s one more than they managed all of last season.
“I feel like we need to get in that rhythm,” Cooper said. “And me just working on it and practicing hard and preparing. I’m ready to go every time.”
The Aggies rush defense was at least as good as the pass rush. Maybe better. Arkansas managed 42 rushing yards on 39 carries. Aside from sacks, eight rushing attempts resulted in lost yards.
The biggest stop came late in the first half. Arkansas’ head coach Sam Pittman opted to go for it on 4th-and-1 at the Razorbacks’ 40-yard line.
Raheim Sanders, who rushed for more than 1,400 yards last season, slashed over the left tackle only to be stopped by McKinnley Jackson at the 39-yard line.
A&M capitalized. Johnson hit his brother, Jake Johnson, for a 15-yard completion on 3rd-and-12. He then found Moose Muhammad for 10 more yards. Two runs later, he passed to Crownover to provide the Aggies a 17-6 lead at halftime.
“The sky’s the limit. We’ve got to keep going. This is just another stepping stone that we accomplished.”
- Texas A&M WR Ainias Smith
The Aggies got the ball back off the second-half kickoff. But that’s also when the questions resurfaced.
On the first play of the half, Johnson’s pass for Moss was intercepted and returned for a touchdown.
Johnson also lost a fumble that led to an Arkansas field goal.
Even though A&M had thoroughly dominated, it suddenly held just a 20-16 lead as Arkansas had the ball late in the third quarter.
Then the defense attacked again. Perhaps punch-drunk, Jefferson rushed a pass that was tipped by Bryce Anderson and snatched up by Chris Russell, who raced it 16 yards back for a touchdown.
Smith added to the lead with an 82-yard punt-return touchdown midway through the fourth quarter that appeared to clinch A&M’s 11th victory in the last 12 games against Arkansas.
That answered the question of which team would win and raised the question of how good the Aggies can be.
“The sky’s the limit,” Smith said. "We’ve got to keep going. This is just another stepping stone that we accomplished.”
