Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes. Arkansas made a ton of them and handed away a win to Texas A&M, 23-21.
Cam Little missed a 42-yard field goal with just over a minute left that sealed the deal. The errors and poor coaching decisions that led to that moment contributed to the loss as much or more than Little’s miss.
The Razorbacks jumped to a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter thanks to a couple big plays. It briefly looked like Arkansas was going to win in a rout, but then the Hogs couldn’t get out of their own way. A stubborn attempt to use Malik Hornsby caused a drive to stall on the edge of field goal range that helped flip momentum. The Aggies pulled within 14-7 after Devon Achane broke a 61-yard run when the Hogs blitzed through the wrong gap.
The play of the game came on the next drive. The Hogs reached the Aggie 3 about to go up 21-7 when KJ Jefferson fumbled while trying to dive into the end zone. The Aggies recovered and successfully lateraled the ball to complete a 98-yard fumble return. A missed extra point left the score 14-13 at halftime despite complete statistical dominance by the Razorbacks.
The Hogs’ inability to earn a larger lead despite looking stronger proved costly. The Aggies played ball control in the third quarter with two long drives to take the lead and extend it to 23-14 while Arkansas ran six plays.
The Hogs finally got moving, scoring with 10:05 left to cut it to 23-21. A Razorback stop set up the fateful final drive that ended in a missed field goal.
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- Box Score Breakdown: Arkansas 37, UAB 27
Quick Takeaways
Poor coaching hurts. Arkansas put up more than 400 yards of offense, but Kendal Briles did not have a good day calling plays. The three-play series with Hornsby – a quick hitch, a tap pass, and a double pass – all failed and cost the Hogs a chance at a field goal to go up 17-0. A later attempted double pass to Haselwood also failed, though the Hogs managed to overcome the 5-yard loss. Getting cute in the scoring zone is an issue. Sam Pittman’s decisions on the final sequence were also poor. He burned a timeout to set up Little’s miss: which meant the Hogs couldn’t get the ball back after the miss. The decision on third-and-long to attempt a pass was also questionable when a run play might have made it a closer field goal. This is the second time Pittman has been burned by playing for a field goal and giving himself no other chance: the Hogs also lost the 2020 LSU game in a nearly-identical scenario.
Special teams are (still) a problem. I have never been a fan of Scott Fountain. I retracted my complaints after the fake field goal against Alabama last year, but I’m back to complaining. Little missing a 42-yard field goal is bad, of course, but sticking with Max Fletcher despite the fact that the guy is good for a couple of 30-yard stinkers each game is an issue. Is it so hard to find a guy who can boot it 55 yards? Or if you’re worried about our kicking the coverage, at least not shank every other punt? Goodness.
KJ had a bad game. He didn’t much help from his receivers, but this was a bad game for KJ Jefferson. His decision to try and dive into the end zone changed the game completely. He was not very sharp as a passer. The Hogs had two dropped snaps: both were low, but both should have been reined in. The second one pushed the Hogs back and cost them a chance at ending the game with a touchdown.
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