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The one that got away: Arkansas falls to Texas A&M

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Pittman points to missed opportunities in tough loss for Razorbacks

arkansasrazorbacks.com ARLINGTON, Texas — No. 23 Texas A& M’s 23-21 win over No. 10 Arkansas hung in the balance on Saturday night as Razorbacks kicker Cam Little’s 42-yard field goal attempt made its way toward the uprights with 1:30 remaining. Then, in a cruel twist of fate for the sophomore, the football ricocheted off the top of the right goal post, shot up into the air and then dropped into the end zone as a missed attempt.

From there, the Aggies ran out the clock for a victory in their SEC opener. It was one of two gut-wrenching plays that cost the Razorbacks dearly in an SEC West showdown that came down to the wire.

While the Arkansas outgained Texas A& M in total yardage 415-343, it scored just once on its final eight possessions after taking an early 14-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Texas A& M generated just enough offense with Devon Achane rushing for 159 yards on 19 carries to muster its second consecutive win since a shocking home loss to Appalachian State in Week 2.

If not for another bizarre play late in the first half, Little’s late field goal attempt may not have been needed. On the cusp of taking a two-possession lead with 3:31 left in the second quarter, disaster struck and flipped the momentum in favor of the Aggies. Facing a first-and-goal from the 3yard line, Quarterback K.J.

Jefferson tried to leap over a pile of defenders when the football came free and landed in the hands of Texas A& M’s Tyreek Chappell, who ran it about 15 yards.

Then, just as it appeared that his forward progressed had stopped and that the play might be blown dead, Chappell handed the football to Demani Richardson, who toted it 83 more yards for a stunning touchdown.

Though the Aggies botched the extra-point attempt, the wild turnover and score likely constituted a 13point swing in a single play.

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman knew his team squandered missed opportunities following the loss, one that makes getting to the SEC Championship Game an uphill climb the rest of the way with Alabama looming.

“Well, that was a tough one. Give A& M all the credit in the world,” Pittman said. “They fought back from 14 down. Had a couple big plays in there, a big run, certainly a big fumble recovery. I was proud of our kids and I thought we had a chance to win there in the fourth quarter, unfortunately we didn’t.”

Pittman was defensive about his team's play-calling and made no excuses about the fumble at the end of the first half that was returned for a touchdown for the Aggies.

'They came in, they were physical, well-coached.

Max Johnson made enough plays. Their offensive line blocked well in the run.

Our team’s hurting right now. Alabama’s going to be a big game whether we won tonight or didn’t. I told them how proud I am of them. I thought we played extremely hard. It’s still going to be a big game so, we’ve got to get back.

We’ve got to get back because we’ve got a really good Alabama team coming in next week.'

On, Texas A& M’s 98-yard fumble return touchdown, a play that completely swung the game's momentum in the Aggies' direction, Pittman said, 'It was a huge play, obviously. It went from 21-7 to 14-13. It was first down too. We had a list of things … nah, never mind. It was a huge play in the game and unfortunately it happened to us.

We can’t do that on first down. If it was a fourth down, that’s a different story. Unfortunately it got popped out.”

Arkansas only gave it away once, but it was the aforementioned play at the goal line before the half that seemed to suck the life out of the Razorbacks inside AT& T Stadium heading into the locker room.

Arkansas had a chance to make a tackle on the play, but the ball was lateraled to Demani Richardson for officially an 82-yard score.

'I’ll say this, if kids did everything you coached them, you’d be 15-0 and undefeated. It’s human.

They’re human. Certainly that was one of our emphasis and we had six of them (fumbles) from the week

Continued on Page 9

Photo courtesy of PSB

Two Texas A& M defenders attack a Hogs runner diring Arkansas’s clash with the Aggies on Saturday at AT& T Stadium. RAZORBACKS (cont.)

before. He wanted to score and it happened.”

Asked about the missed field goal, Pittman stressed the fraction by which the kick missed.

“He just pushed it a little bit,” said Pittman. ”He didn’t hit it real well it looked to me like. He pushed it a little bit and it hit the top of the goalpost. But I mean, he’s distraught. But he didn’t mean to miss it. It just didn’t go through. We had a lot more opportunities that just that you k now, but it came down to that play and we were just unfortunate. He’ll win a lot of ballgames for us before this career’s over and he already has.”

Still, Pittman praised his defense, which started the game with four strsight three-and-outs.

“Pressure,” said the coach.

“They couldn’t handle No.

42 there early in the game.

Pressure. We were flying to the ball, which meant if somebody missed a tackle somebody else tackled him. We weren’t letting them get in open spaces. Devon Achane is a really good player when he gets open space. That’s why he’s returning kickoffs. So, I think our gameplan was really good. They adjusted.

I thought our secondary was better, but we’ve still got to figure out how to play the ball. We’ll get better at that, which I think we did.”

Next up is Alabama, a challenge Pitmas says the Hogs are ready to face.

“Rocket’s leading the league in rushing. I think we’ll bounce back,” he said. “I really do. I love our kids. They’re tough and resilient. They know Alabama’s got a really good team. Place will be sold out and rocking in there next Saturday night.

Lot of people spent their hard-earned money to watch us play, we’ll be ready to play. They’re hurting right now, but they’ll be fine.”

Arkansas will play Alabama next Saturday, Oct. 1, airing on CBS.

Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m.

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