Texas A&M Holds Off Arkansas
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas was stuck trying to play catch-up against No. 10 Texas A&M and Johnny Manziel all night long.
The Aggies never got caught. A&M used a strong rushing attack in a rain-filled second half to pull away for a 45-33 road win at Razorback Stadium.
A&M (4-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) ran for 150 of its 262 yards in the second half, but didn’t pull away from Arkansas (3-2, 0-1) until late in the fourth quarter.
Arkansas had the chance to take the lead on three different drives in the second half, but the Razorbacks failed to pick up a first down on any of the series and one ended when A&M’s Deshazor Everett took an interception back 34 yards for a touchdown.
The A&M defense gave up 483 yards, but came up big when it forced a turnover on downs with Arkansas at the Aggies’ 16, down 45-33 late in the fourth quarter.
Manziel finished 23 of 30 for 261 passing yards and two touchdowns with another 59 rushing yards. But he only attempted seven passes in the second half as the rain
picked up.
Instead, Trey Williams and Tra Carson carried the load. Williams ran for 83 yards and a touchdown on nine carries and Carson had 64 yards on nine attempts.
Arkansas cut the lead to 38-33 on Brandon Allen’s 19-yard touchdown pass with 1:09 left in the third quarter. But A&M responded with Ben Malena’s 1-yard touchdown run with 10:08 left in the fourth quarter.
The Razorbacks never got any closer. Allen was intercepted on Arkansas’ final drive.
A&M scored on its first four possessions en route to a 24-20 halftime lead.
Manziel completed 18 of 23 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns in the first half while also rushing for 49 yards as the Aggies racked up 316 yards of offense before the break.
The Aggies led 17-7 at the end of the first quarter and extended the lead to 24-10 on Manziel’s 7-yard touchdown to Mike Evans, who came down with the ball in a crowd in the back of the end zone. Evans caught both touchdown passes and had five catches for 93 yards.
But Arkansas closed the gap by scoring 10 points in the final 6:02, including Zach Hocker’s 39-yard field goal on the final play of the half.
The Razorbacks had 271 yards of offense on their own, led by quarterback Brandon Allen’s 168 passing yards and two touchdowns. The sophomore excelled a week after missing the Rutgers game with an injured throwing shoulder.
