It’s only fitting that the last Southwest Classic at AT&T Stadium in Arlington between Texas A&M football and Arkansas ended up being a one-possession game.
Since 2009, the series in Arlington has been known to produce some strangely close games — and plenty of A&M wins. The Aggies now lead the series 12-4 since the rivalry game was moved to Arlington at the behest of Dallas Cowboys owner and Arkansas alum Jerry Jones — and nine of the 16 have been decided by one score or less.
The Aggies emerged victorious 21-17 over Arkansas in this final installment in the DFW metroplex and left the home of the Cowboys with the Southwest Classic trophy, perhaps for the last time.
“If you’re from Texas, which most of our kids are, you either grow up loving the Cowboys or hating the Cowboys,” A&M coach Mike Elko said. “If you come here and play in this game, if you love the Cowboys, it’s your last chance to play an AT&T Stadium and get a win. And if you don’t like the Cowboys, you get to beat Jerry’s team one more time.”
The Southwest Classic keeps it weird
A&M and Arkansas football can do many things together. Being normal is not one of them.
Take, for example, the first four scoring drives.
First, it was a 75-yard touchdown pass from Razorback junior quarterback Taylen Green — a pass he only made after escaping the pocket. A&M freshman QB Marcel Reed followed that up with a 58-yard touchdown pass of his own to junior wide receiver Noah Thomas.
Then came a relatively nondescript 8-yard touchdown run by Arkansas senior running back Ja’Quinden Jackson — aside from the fact that it came after an improvised fake punt on 4th and 15 that went for a 25-yard gain.
And A&M’s second score? A similarly normal 5-yard QB keeper by Reed. One that came after junior DL Shemar Stewart forced an Arkansas fumble inside the Razorbacks’ own 10-yard line.
Don’t forget a fake field goal and four Arkansas fumbles that came along the way. Indeed, the weirdness went out with a bang.
Le’Veon “The Boss” Moss
A&M found itself in a scoring drought during most of the second — and all of the third — quarter.
That same period, they were without junior RB Le’Veon Moss, who was “banged up” according to Elko and was off the field during most of that stretch.
Moss made his way back onto the field, much to Aggie fans’ relief, and dominated. He finished the day with 117 yards on 13 carries — 11 yards more than the entire Arkansas offense was able to muster and enough to push him over the 1,000-yard mark for his career.
A change in cleats may be to blame. Moss says he switched from white to green cleats in the third quarter, and it was in those green cleats that he busted free for gains of 30, 23 and 15 yards in the fourth quarter.
“I feel like I play better with them different,” Moss said. “When I feel different from everyone else … That’s how I express myself, through my cleats and changing colors and stuff.
Scourton and the Wrecking Crew seal the deal
While the Aggie offense was in a lull in between their second and third scores, it was the Maroon and White defense — especially the Wrecking Crew defensive line, of course — that held Green and the Razorbacks at bay, keeping the Hog offense of the end zone for the rest of the game.
And of course, it was the Wrecking Crew — led by Bryan native and junior defensive line Nic Scourton — that came up with a game-sealing forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Scourton forced the fumble with a hit on Green as he scrambled out of the pocket with just over a minute and a half left to play in the game. And after a scrum for the loose ball, it was recovered by graduate defensive back Jadon Hill.
“Coming off the bench, I’m like, ‘I gotta go make a play,’” Scourton said. “In this tight game, somebody has to make a play.”
Scourton, a pre-season All-American who led the Big 10 in sacks last season, finished the game with a pair of sacks and four tackles — all tackles for loss — to go along with his key forced fumble.
“The system that I’m in creates plays for me,” Scourton said. “I’m not going to really trip and get frustrated about not making as many sacks as I had last year or things like that. I’m just letting the game come to me, and luckily, today God blessed me to be rich in two of them.”
See you, Dallas Cowboy
With the win over the Razorbacks, the Aggies bid farewell to AT&T Stadium and Jerry Jones himself, dominating the series in Arlington much to the chagrin of the former Arkansas player.
Now, the series moves back to a normal home-and-away conference clash, and Aggie fans get to enjoy either another home game or a trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas in feature seasons.
But truth be told, it won’t be hard for Aggie fans to miss the Southwest Classic. Watching or playing in an NFL facility is fun, and the split crowd between A&M fans and the Arkansas crowd felt like a major bowl game.
So long, Jerry World. Maybe the Aggies will be there again in the Cotton Bowl someday.
“It’s my first time playing here,” Scourton said. “ … But for this to be the last game and for us to come out on top, it was special.”