Icing on the cake, No. 24 Aggies prevail in one last Arlington thriller
ARLINGTON — “Feed the studs” is the simple philosophy of Arkansas offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino.
Feed them he did.
The Razorbacks notched big play after big play throughout the Southwest Classic on Saturday at AT&T Stadium.
But the final course is always sweetest.
Running back Le’Veon Moss, defensive end Nic Scourton and the rest of the Texas A&M defense feasted in the fourth quarter as the 24th-ranked Aggies (4-1, 2-0) once again dealt Arkansas (3-2, 1-1) its just desserts in a sweet 21-17 Southeastern Conference football victory.
Moss accumulated 90 of his season-high 117 rushing yards in the fourth quarter. That included runs of 23, 8 and 15 yards on a drive for Marcel Reed’s five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tre Watson.
That pass provided A&M a 21-17 lead with nine minutes to go.
Scourton and his defensive cohorts made sure that score would be sufficient to post the 12th win in 13 SEC games over the Razorbacks.
“I thought we did a great job of overcoming adversity,” A&M coach Mike Elko said. “Didn’t start the way you wanted it to. I thought our defense played lights out all day. I thought we made a ton of plays. I thought we pressured (Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green) all day.
“D-line was phenomenal, I thought, controlling the run game. And then offensively we just kept plugging away. I think, ultimately, (we) finally got unhinged a little bit towards the end of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter and we were able to get that thing going.”
Until the fourth quarter, another Aggie victory seemed unlikely.
Frankly, Arkansas outplayed the Aggies most of the game.
Petrino, perhaps showing what he could’ve brought to the Aggies last year as their offensive coordinator, frequently appeared to have the Razorbacks a step ahead of the Aggies.
On game’s third play, Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green avoided the pass rush and found Isaac TeSlaa behind the A&M secondary for a 75-yard touchdown.
Later, in the first quarter — following a a 25-yard gain on a fake punt — Arkansas scored another touchdown on a nine-yard run by Ja’Quinden Jackson.
TeSlaa’s TD and the fake punt were among 13 big plays produced by the Razorbacks.
But A&M has studs, too.
Noah Thomas broke a tackle near the sideline to turn a pass from Reed into a 58-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, defensive end Shemar Stewart swooped into the Arkansas backfield to blow up a handoff exchange from Green and Jackson. He forced a fumble that Scooby Williams retrieved at the Arkansas 10-yard line.
Two plays later, Reed stepped into the end zone from five-yards out to forge a 14-14 tie.
Then the A&M offense lost power.
The Aggies gained just 48 total yards (not counting penalties) on their next six possessions combined.
As a result, Arkansas took a 17-14 lead on 45-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.
Suddenly, as if getting a jolt from jumper cables, the A&M offense gained traction.
“We never blinked on our sideline,” Elko said. “I think that’s a testament to where we are as a program from a culture standpoint. We know we’re still building. We know we’re still a work in progress. We know there’s going to be moments where it doesn’t look exactly the way we want it to, but you just kept going.”
They did indeed.
Reed passed to Thomas for 14 yards. Moss picked up 23 on third-and-4. He ran for eight. He ran for 15. Then, Reed faked an inside run to Amari Daniels and tossed to Watson, who was wide open in the left flat and easily scored the go-ahead touchdown.
Nine minutes remained, though. And Petrino’s offense too often demonstrated it’s big-play potential.
No one on the Aggies’ sideline was nervous, though. Especially not Moss.
“I wasn’t nervous,” he said. “I knew my defense was going to get the stop and I was — we were — going to run the clock out.”
He was proven prophetic.
Arkansas reached the A&M 40-yard line on the ensuing possession. There, Scourton dropped Green for a three-yard loss on second-and-5.
On third down, the A&M pass rush that sacked Green three times and pressured him eight times, harassed him into an incompletion.
The forced a punt, which rolled out of bounds at the one-yard line.
Reed rolled right to hit Jabre Barber for 10 yards. Moss then broke loose for a 30-yard run and drew a face mask penalty at the end.
Eventually A&M was forced to punt. Tyler White launched his fifth punt that was killed inside the 10 with 2:44 remaining.
“Coming off the bench, I’m like, I got to make a play,” Scourton said. “It’s a tight game. Somebody needs to make a play. I was thinking 'just get a good get-off. I know he loves to roll out to that throwing (right) hand.'”
The Razorbacks moved out to their own 34-yard line. There, Scourton, like a lion pursuing a doomed zebra, chased down Green.
“When I seen him get stuck in his read, I knew he was going to run. That’s when the instinct just kicked in, you know, get the ball out.”
Scourton got the sack. Green fumbled. Jaydon Hill recovered. A&M clinched another victory over Arkansas.
It was like icing on the cake.