Overcoming a 28-14 fourth quarter deficit, the No. 6 Texas A&M football team rallied to defeat Arkansas 35-28 in overtime Saturday. With the win, the Aggies (5-0, 2-0 SEC) are off to their best start since 2001 and got their first overtime win away from Kyle Field since a 2006 victory against Oklahoma State.
“I’m extremely proud of the effort of our older guys,” head coach Kevin Sumlin said. “Our older guys led us— they were in and out of a real football game, a physical game. Those guys I think kind of epitomized what today’s effort was about, and that’s the kind of senior leadership it’s going to take in a league like this. It was a very, very physical football game and we made enough plays at the end to win.”
The Aggies began the game with a touchdown on their opening drive, capped by a 13-yard touchdown run by Brandon Williams. However, A&M would not score again until the second quarter, as Arkansas posted 14 unanswered points.
However, the Aggies would tie the game on an 8-yard touchdown from Kenny Hill to Edward Pope, who would make a number or critical plays in the game.
“People have kind of forgotten about him,” Sumlin said. “He’s one of the few guys we redshirted with that class. He’s a guy that just keeps popping up, I think he’s made big plays every week. He’s got a lot of courage and a lot of toughness and he’s really come a long ways to a guy who’s playing big in big ballgames.”
The Aggies would allow another touchdown before halftime on a 50-yard fake punt for a touchdown, and went down 28-14 midway through the third quarter after biting on a play action pass that Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen completed to tight end AJ Derby for a 44-yard touchdown.
In the fourth quarter, A&M would come roaring back after Hill found Pope again for an 86-yard touchdown. Then with just over two minutes to play, Hill connected to Josh Reynolds for a 59-yard touchdown to tie the game.
“I think that just shows us more than anything we can come back from a deficit,” Hill said. “We’ve just got to keep fighting.”
In overtime, A&M lost the toss and Arkansas chose to play defense first. However, the Aggies needed just one play to score, as Hill found Malcome Kennedy over the middle for a 25-yard touchdown.
On defense, the Aggie defensive line stiffened, as Ivan Robinson stopped Jonathan Williams for a 2-yard gain on first down and Alonzo Williams and Myles Garret combined to stop Williams for a loss on second down.
On third down, Allen completed a pass to Derby, but the Razorbacks were still short a yard bringing up fourth-and-one with the game on the line. This time the handoff went to Collins, who was stuffed by Julien Obioha and Deshazor Everrett to cement the Aggies comeback victory.
“The last play, I wasn’t doing anything different,” Obioha said. “The running back bounced to my side, I did what my coaches told me to do, I cross-faced and made a play, and it was a play that ended the game and gave us a W.”