Sporting Life Arkansas

Jim Harris Live: Texas A&M Aggies and Arkansas Razorbacks

  It’s game day: The Texas A&M Aggies and Arkansas Razorbacks in Jerry’s World . Today’s game time is set for 2:30 p.m. in Arlington, Texas, and will be televised on CBS. Jim Harris will be posting his thoughts throughout the game here, so check this page often. (Scroll down about halfway and you’ll see the posts from Jim.) Arkansas Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney on practices this week: “I thought we had solid days. Every day, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday all the kids, they did right. Sure on Tuesdays you always have your share of mistakes as you implement some new stuff, but we got that corrected on Wednesday and I thought Wednesday was good. Today was solid. They are ready to go play. I think they’re excited about getting the opportunity to go down there and play in a big place and play A&M, a good football team. Excited about watching them play.” Chaney on Texas A&M’s defense: “They appear to be tackling pretty well. I think the back half is tackling good. They’re solid everywhere. It’s hard to find those glaring holes that you can look for. I think Terry (Joseph) has done a good job on their back half and I just think they’re doing a nice job playing defense. They’re playing with a lot of confidence. Statistically they are doing some nice things. Comparing them to last year is tough, every team is difficult to say on that.” Chaney on what Arkansas needs to do to win: “We have to hold on to the ball. We can’t give them another possession. We have to secure the football, without a question when we get it, we’ve got to score as often as we possibly can and be as efficient as we possibly can doing what we do.” Arkansas Defensive coordinator Robb Smith on Texas A&M’s offense: “I think they are an impressive offense. It starts with their quarterback, I think he’s made great decisions for them thus far this season. He spreads the ball around, they’ve got a good running game as well. Really impressed with their offensive line. We have our work cut out for us and we have to show up and we have to play our style of game.” Smith on what Arkansas needs to do to win: “I think the biggest thing is we have to limit big plays. They go so fast, I think it’s the best in the SEC at 20.5 seconds per play. They itch to go fast, they hit big plays. Their scoring drives are six plays. Our goal is we have to make them drive the field. We have to limit big plays, we have to tackle in space and find a way to create some takeaways and give our offense an extra possession or two. If we can do those things I think we’ll like the results come Sunday morning.” Jim Harris Live Texas AM Aggies and Arkansas Razorbacks  
7:15 p.m. For more on this game, please read our Two-Minute Drill on this site. It will be up shortly. Also, THV 11 will be carrying another live Hogzone at 10:30 p.m.; join Mary Dunleavy, Clint Stoerner, Mike Shepherd, Rick David and myself as we wrap it all up.
7:11 p.m. — Thank you for stepping in there Paul while I did the Hogzone on THV. Turns out it was a great finish, but not for Arkansas. The Hogs ultimately didn’t play a clean game and it bit them in the end. Credit to A&M for coming back from two touchdowns down in the fourth quarter to win in overtime. The really tough stat for Arkansas is giving up two scores on two-play drives. But another HUGE play was the fumbled snap that slowed the momentum when the Hogs were running out the clock and slicing through A&M into scoring range. Ultimately, Arkansas can’t make a 40-plus yard field goal to clinch it. Also, a fumbled snap that was lost to the Aggies in the first quarter temporarily slowed the Hogs momemtum. Arkansas can think about this one for two weeks, with a bye next week before Alabama comes to Fayetteville.
6:29 p.m. — Final score, TAMU 35, Arkansas 28 in overtime. It was a pleasure getting to help Jim out as he had to go downstairs. Despite the tough result, the game was a hard-fought with some incredible performances by both sides. That’s all for now, stay tuned for more later from Jim Harris. — Paul
6:25 p.m. — This game was an absolute thriller. It really looked like the Razorbacks were going to shock the SEC, but a key missed field goal in addition to some costly penalties ultimately did them in. Despite the loss, it is clear that the Razorbacks are playing a much better brand of football this year.
6:24 p.m. — Alex Collins does not get the first down. Texas A&M produces the shocking come-from-behind victory in overtime. There is a Hogs player sitting on the field in disbelief. This one will be tough to swallow.