Texas A&M Aggies at Arkansas Razorbacks

Reed throws for 280 yards and 3 TDs, runs for another score as No. 4 Texas A&M beats Arkansas 45-42

The Aggies (7-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) have opened with seven wins for the first time since 1994, when they finished 10-0-1. With No. 9 Georgia’s 43-35 win over No. 5 Mississippi earlier Saturday, Texas A&M is the only remaining unbeaten team in the SEC.

“We’re making winning plays,” Aggies coach Mike Elko said. “I think they’re learning how to make the plays you need to make to win football games.”

The Aggies continued their dominance in the series with the Razorbacks (2-5, 0-3), winning for the 13th time in the last 14 meetings. Texas A&M scored on seven of nine completed drives and totaled 497 yards of offense.

Leading 38-35 with less than 10 minutes remaining and facing serious game pressure after Taylen Green’s four-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Platt, Texas A&M’s EJ Smith had a two-yard conversion on fourth-and-1 from the Aggies’ 34 to extend a critical drive.

Reed then found Ashton Bethel-Roman for 37 yards to the Arkansas 27, and Reuben Owens II scored on a 12-yard run four plays later to extend the lead to 10. With 10 seconds to play, Green hit CJ Brown for a four-yard score to pull the Razorbacks back within three.

Texas A&M recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal the win.

“I guess it doesn’t matter where we play this game, that’s just how this game is going to go,” Elko said of the one-score games in the series. “I’m glad we had more points than them at the end of the game.”

Owens, the Aggies’ primary ball carrier in place of the injured Le’Veon Moss, finished with 69 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Bethel-Roman had 83 yards receiving and a score, KC Concepcion added five catches for 53 yards and a touchdown, and Nate Boerkircher had a one-yard touchdown catch.

Elko said he thought Reed put together his best game of the season Saturday. He completed 23 of 32 passes and ended a stretch of four straight games with an interception.

“He played a good game,” Bethel-Roman said of Reed. “He played a great game. He had less missed open receivers, so he played a great game, actually.”

Green threw for 256 yards and three scores and ran for 89 yards and two more touchdowns, and Mike Washington rushed for a season-high 147 yards for Arkansas in its fifth straight loss.

Feeling good Bethel-Roman made a number of key plays for the Aggies in the win, including a 24-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter to give Texas A&M a 7-3 lead.

A former Arkansas signee, Bethel-Roman said he enjoyed playing against the Razorbacks in Fayetteville.

“It felt good,” he said. “I’ve been here so many times as a recruit, then I signed here and didn’t end up coming. But it felt good playing the guys at Arkansas. A lot of those (players) are my guys, so it felt good.”

Run-defense woes Elko noted a lot of things need to be fixed in terms of Texas A&M’s run defense after giving up 8.4 yards per carry to the Razorbacks.

“Obviously we mis-fit a lot of runs,” Elko said. “Whenever you see a running back come running out of there like they did so many times tonight, those are all mis-fits. It’s a different offense with the quarterback-run element, and it creates more stress.

“We were very, very poor fitting things tonight.”

Poll implications With No. 2 Miami’s 24-21 home loss to Louisville on Friday, Texas A&M is likely to climb into the top three of the upcoming AP poll. It would be the program’s first in-season top-three ranking since 1995.

The takeaway Texas A&M: The offense made up for a lackluster performance on the defensive side of the ball. Elko will likely call on his defense to improve in the coming weeks after his team surrendered 527 total yards and 268 rushing yards to Arkansas.

Arkansas: The Razorbacks showed a great deal of fight in their first home game under interim head coach Bobby Petrino. They need to bottle that resolve for a morning kickoff next week.

Up next Texas A&M travels to No. 10 LSU next Saturday.

Arkansas continues its homestand next week against Auburn.