Story Poster
Mike Elko
Nic Scourton
Le'Veon Moss
Texas A&M Football

Icing on the cake, No. 24 Aggies prevail in one last Arlington thriller

September 28, 2024
24,908

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.

“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.”
- A&M head coach Mike Elko

“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.

Zoe Kelton, TexAgs
In his third start at QB this season, Marcel Reed passed and rushed for a touchdown in the same game on Saturday for the second time in his career.

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.”

Zoe Kelton, TexAgs
With Dezz Ricks’ interception, Texas A&M has now recorded seven picks on the season, including in four straight games. It’s the first four-interception streak for the Aggies since 2021.

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.

Discussion from...

Icing on the cake, No. 24 Aggies prevail in one last Arlington thriller

20,346 Views | 6 Replies | Last: 2 mo ago by Aggie Michael
jb 00
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Great write up OB
jreg90
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AG
Best game for Nic so far and the whole D line played awesome today.
cageybee77
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Rock1982
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AG
Really enjoyed Nic' interview. Excellent football player of course.

But more: good leader, good teammate, humble, respect for his dad … a class act.
Sterling82
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Kleins abilities as OC remain murkey in my mind but I'll give him a lot of credit for the rollout when backed up to the one foot line. Great call that lit the fuse of the only good drive of the day.
Aggie Michael
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AG
I thought the game was exciting. Good smash mouth football amongst two 3-1 teams. Always a close game with a good ending when we play Arkansas. Yes, I am sure the offensive minded watchers would have preferred more points.

Some thoughts:

Offensive Play Calling - I actually think were better off in Jimbo's era. Not sure why its so routine and predictable. Overall this is a concern we should monitor to see how it develops. Not a fan.

Marcel Reed - Possibly the best QB we had over the past few years. Developing redshirt freshman. He's 3-0 this year and does enough to help us win. He is able to flee a porous offensive line (very key to prevent injury). He doesn't scare you win he's on the field like the prior QBs (Weighman, King, etc) in which they were turnover prone. Has a good chance to develop into something special. The most impressive part is what he doesn't do -- make huge mistakes that cost you the game (or let nerves both him). That's a good foundation to build on.

QB - Overall, this should be a huge focus of ours in terms of what we can recruit (transfer portal and HS).Let's find the QB of the future. Perhaps that's a current freshmen or a future one. Definitely time to move on from Weigman,etc and call it what it is... a bust. He seems to be good kid but isn't the leader type and never really did much. Likely a great Aggie but not necessarily a great QB. I appreciate his hard work and wish him the best.

Future schedule - similar to what the big forecasters say, we have the best odds to win with Reed. Fortunately, we are favored to beat Missouri and I think we have a good chance of beating (or at least competing) with the remaining teams on the calendar.
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