Aggies Rally To Beat Razorbacks
{fshare id=5575}
ARLINGTON, Texas — Suffering through the worst game of his infant career as Texas A&M’s starting quarterback, Kenny Hill came through when it mattered most.
The early-season Heisman hopeful threw two long touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and the sixth-ranked Aggies rallied to beat upset-minded Arkansas 35-28 in overtime Saturday afternoon at AT&T Stadium.
Hill’s scoring tosses of 86 and 59 yards brought Texas A&M back from a 28-14 deficit. The Aggies won it on Hill’s 25-yard touchdown pass to receiver Malcome Kennedy in overtime, improving to 5-0 for the first time since 2001. They are 2-0 in the Southeastern Conference.
The Aggies also felt they answered several questions following a three-game stretch of clearly overmatched foes.
“We can compete with people in the SEC,” Hill said. “We didn’t play our best today, but we still competed and came up with a win. For me that just shows us that we can come back from a deficit like that and can come up with a win. We just have to keep fighting.”
Hill finished with four touchdown passes and 386 yards passing, as the Aggies were tested for the first time this season. Hill, a state champion high school quarterback from nearby Southland, finally looked human after four blowout wins full of flashy stats.
“It was tough mentally because we faced a little adversity,” said Hill, who received
encouraging words from Johnny Manziel on the sideline during the game. “We hadn’t really faced any yet, but we responded well. The game for me is up-and-down, up-and-down the whole time. I need to do better.”
Arkansas (3-2, 0-2) was in position for much of the game to snap its 13-game SEC losing streak and give second-year coach Bret Bielema a signature victory. The Razorbacks were rolling behind quarterback Brandon Allen (15 of 27 for 199 yards and a TD) and a rushing attack led by running back Alex Collins (132 yards on 21 carries).
“When you have your foot on somebody’s throat, keep it on it,” Bielema said.
Collins was stuffed on fourth-and-1 on Arkansas’ first overtime possession to end the game.
“We need to win a game like that, particularly in the fashion at the end with our defense having to stop them,” Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. “Not just in overtime, but the last couple of series.”
The Hogs stunned Texas A&M with three scoring plays of at least 44 yards, but the program still hasn’t won an SEC game since beating Kentucky in 2012. Arkansas did have two costly penalties that negated two potential touchdowns.
“A lot of things that caused us to lose this game came from within our own locker room,” Bielema said. “Not getting down on our guys to a certain part of our process to get to where we need to be. We made a lot of positives steps forward.”
Texas A&M running back Trey Williams opened the game with a 51-yard kickoff return, and fellow running back Brandon Williams scored four plays later on a 13-yard scamper.
The Razorbacks answered immediately, taking their first possession 76 yards in eight plays over nearly five minutes. Allen had several big completions, including a 28-yarder to receiver Kendrick Edwards. Running back Jonathan Williams burst through the middle for the final nine yards.
The Aggies found themselves trailing for the first time this season early in the second quarter, as Arkansas went up 14-7 after Collins’ 50-yard touchdown run. Collins started left and cut back right, turning around and outracing safety Armani Watts to the end zone.
Hill engineered a 65-yard march that ended with his 8-yard scoring pass to receiver Edward Pope, as the Aggies tied the game 14-14.
The Razorbacks led going into halftime thanks to a fake punt late in the second quarter. Punter Sam Irwin-Hill rumbled 51 yards and Arkansas went into the locker room up 21-14.
The underdogs outgained the Aggies by nearly 100 yards in the first half (291-194) and controlled the clock (17:21-12:39). Allen even had a slight edge on Hill in passing yards, 97-96, despite throwing it eight fewer times.
Arkansas pushed ahead 28-14 with five minutes left in the third quarter by catching the Aggies off guard on third-and-2 from the A&M 44-yard line. Allen faked a handoff and hit a wide-open tight end AJ Derby for an easy touchdown.
Hill hooked up with Pope on an 86-yard bomb three minutes into the fourth quarter to cut Arkansas’ lead to 28-21. The tying score then came with 2:08 left, as Hill hit receiver Josh Reynolds in stride from 59 yards out.
Both of those scoring drives were two plays.
“I never saw [Hill] walking around with his head down,” Kennedy said. “He didn’t sulk. He never pointed fingers at anybody. If anything, he was ‘My fault, my bad.’ That’s what a leader has to do.”
