Aggies escape thriller in Arlington

Few college football rivalries can match the excitement of Texas A&M and Arkansas in the Southwest Classic, and Saturday’s final hosting of the game at AT&T Stadium was proof of that. The Aggies defeated the Razorbacks 21-17, earning their 12th win in the programs’ last 13 meetings.

Here are five takeaways from A&M’s win:

A fitting end to the Southwest Classic in Arlington

In the Southwest Classic’s final season before returning to campus, there couldn’t have been a more fitting end to a 13-year run at the home of the Dallas Cowboys. The game was neck-and-neck the entire time and there was a rush in the fourth quarter.

“Arkansas, Texas A&M and AT&T Stadium, how else is it going to work?” said coach Mike Elko. “To the track. I had to play in the fourth quarter to win.”

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed’s five-yard touchdown keeper tied the game at 14 with nine minutes left in the second quarter until a 45-yard field goal by Arkansas redshirt senior kicker Kyle Ramsey made it 13: 24 in the game ended.

“Nobody blinked on our sideline,” Elko said. “I think this is a testament to where we are as a program from a cultural standpoint. We know we are still a work in progress. We know we are still developing. We know there will be moments when things don’t look quite the way we want them to, but we just kept going. The story should be more about what they did at the end to win us the football game and less about the middle when we were struggling.”

Fresno State transfer tight end Tre Watson’s first score as an Aggie couldn’t have come at a more opportune time when he scored a five-yard touchdown with nine minutes left. From there, A&M’s defense tightened up, culminating when Purdue transfer defensive end Nic Scourton strip-sacked Boise State transfer quarterback Taylen Green to secure the win.

“Any game with a trophy is a game I want to win,” Scourton said. “There is a rich history behind this game. You know, Arkansas is a good team. Arkansas will always play very well against us. I didn’t take this lightly. I wanted to be a part of it. The first time I played this game, I had to make a move.”

We hope the excitement of the rivalry carries over to the trip to College Station and Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Photos: Aggies defeat Arkansas in Southwest Classic at AT&T Stadium

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Le’Veon Moss breathes life into the Aggies’ offense

A&M’s offensive attack looked stale for most of the second quarter and all of the third quarter, with the Aggies’ five complete drives ending in punts each time. Junior running back Le’Veon Moss, wearing tension green cleats, was the energizer for A&M when he scored the game-winning goal.

With just under 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Moss completed three consecutive runs of 23, 8 and 15 yards before Reed Watson hit for the touchdown. Moss continued his fourth-quarter push on the Aggies’ next possession, rushing 30 yards down the sideline before a facemask penalty added 15 more yards.

“I don’t remember much,” Moss said. “Actually, I’m just on the ball. I’m not going to lie. … I feel like I play better when I feel different than everyone else. As you all saw, I wore the white boots at the start of the game. I replaced them midway through the quarter. I had to do something. That’s really how I express myself, through my cleats and the changing colors and stuff.”

Two more 7-yard gains increased Moss’s receiving total to a season-high 117 yards and an average of nine yards per carry. His performance came against the SEC’s fourth-best rush defense, with the Razorbacks allowing just 82.3 yards on the ground Saturday.

“I just want to be a leader,” Moss said. “I want to show that I can do what I need to do and support my team. … Everyone encouraged everyone to keep their heads up. It’s just a brotherhood where we are strong together.”

Moss has only scored three touchdowns this season, but his offensive impact is undeniable with over 100 yards in every conference matchup.

A&M’s sales strength was on display

Elko has talked about how winning the turnover battle in games is beneficial to success in the SEC. That game plan worked for A&M in its win over Florida on Sept. 14, when the Aggies threw three interceptions without committing any turnovers.

A&M once again prevailed in the turnover battle with a 3-0 lead. Florida transfer linebacker Scooby Williams recovered a fumble and Alabama transfer cornerback Dezz Ricks intercepted a pass in the first half as the Aggies kept the ball themselves without any turnovers.

Still, no turnover was bigger than Scourton’s strip sack of Green with a minute and a half left. Florida transfer nickel defenseman Jaydon Hill flew in for the recovery, effectively sealing an A&M win as the Aggies took over Razorback territory.

“When I come off the bench, I’m like, ‘I’ve got to do something,'” Scourton said. “It’s a close game, someone has to make a move. I thought, ‘Just get off to a good start.’ I know he loves to indulge in that throwing hand. When I saw him get stuck reading, I knew he was going to run away. The instinct just kicked in: ‘Get the ball out’.”

Junior defensive back Shemar Stewart forced the fumble in the second quarter by breaking up a handoff from Green to Jackson, paving the way for a 5-yard score two plays later. A&M didn’t score any points from Ricks’ pick, but it did prevent Arkansas from scoring in a closely contested game before halftime.

“Oh man, it’s exciting to have so many guys out there rushing well and playing good run defense,” Scourton said. “Every time I came here, man, it felt like a brotherhood. We go there, watch the tape, have fun and joke. We gotta get back to work, man. But it does so much, you know? The more and more we play with each other, the more comfortable we become, the more we just build this camaraderie, and that’s special.”

Tyler White was the Aggies’ most valuable player

It was one of those games where the player was A&M’s most influential player, and why not? White hit the ball nine times for 388 yards, an average of 43.1 yards per kick. That’s not a jaw-dropping statistic, but the redshirt freshman from Southlake scored seven punts inside the Arkansas 20-yard line, ensuring the Razorbacks never got easy field position.

“Tyler has a big leg and Tyler can hit the ball a mile if he wanted to, every single shot,” Elko said. “But I thought he did a really good job today and scored with great inclination. They couldn’t get the second leg going at all. When he had to settle inside the 20-yard line, we kept them in the game and made sure the field position was flipped the way we wanted. Not only was he an effective punter, he hit the right way so we could control position on the field.”

White’s stats won’t be as sexy as those of Moss, Scourton and junior wide receiver Noah Thomas, but his performance played just as big, if not bigger, a role in the Aggies escaping Arlington with a win. Elko’s focus on special teams success is already paying off.

A&M’s run defense continues to show improvement

The Aggies held their third straight opponent to 100 rushing yards or fewer, and the Razorbacks’ 100 yards looks even more impressive as Arkansas previously averaged 240 rushing yards per game. The dual-threat Green was limited to 12 yards on 12 carries, while Utah transfer RB Ja’Quinden Jackson managed just 37 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

“Obviously (Green) is an extremely talented kid,” Elko said. “Even if you put pressure on him, you don’t really put pressure on him because he just runs away and buys more time for himself. These children are obviously a challenge. We have one too and it causes some of the similar problems. I think we were at least able to force them to do what we wanted. Force them to people who are in cover, force them to people who have been spying on them, and at least manage to lock him up somehow. I don’t think he got any momentum with his feet at all, which was a big focus for us in the game.”

A&M’s run defense is looking better every week after giving up 198 and 180 rushing yards, respectively, to Notre Dame and McNeese State in the first two weeks of the season. Scourton and Hill each recorded sacks, with Scourton accounting for three of the Aggies’ nine tackles for loss.

“From that perspective, we’re really, really proud of our defensive performance today,” Elko said. “It’s really hard when you don’t put the drives together to keep going out and making stops, and they did that today.”

Elko and defensive coordinator Jay Batman won’t be fans of the 279 yards and one touchdown allowed through the air, but it’s evidence that A&M has eliminated the running game for Arkansas.

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