ARLINGTON, Texas -- It wasn't so much the speed of the game, but the speed of the Texas A&M receivers and the accuracy of quarterback Kyle Allen that sent another bone-aching chill of disappointment through the Arkansas Razorbacks nation.
Allen needed one pass in overtime, good for a 20-yard touchdown, to give the Aggies the 28-21 victory.
He finished the night 21 of 28 for 358 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The game that had appeared to be whole Hog became another Saturday and another loss.
Once again the Razorbacks penalized themselves with reckless abandon, getting 11 penalties for 93 yards, and while a couple of them might have been questionable, too many others were simply costly.
Yes, there were bright spots.
The Aggies had two receivers with eight catches; the Hogs had Drew Morgan with eight catches, although none in the fourth quarter when the Hogs went to the ground attack, for 155 yards.
Morgan is quick, elusive, fast and has great hands, but in 13 games last season he had 10 catches for 181 yards, not exactly the type of stats that say he's a go-to receiver.
His eighth catch of the game was for 38 yards on third and 5 and moved the ball to the Texas A&M 20.
True freshman Rawleigh Williams III got 13 yards, Brandon Allen scrambled for 4 and then Williams bulled his way into the end zone and with 14:12 to play the Arkansas Razorbacks led No. 14 Texas A&M 21-13.
The Hogs edged ahead 14-13 on the previous possession, a 77-yard, 7-play drive in which Morgan had a 31-yard catch and run, avoiding two tacklers, to the Aggies 4. That set up a touchdown run by Alex Collins.
It appeared there would be gold at the end of the rainbow.
Bu the Hogs went conservative in regulation and didn't attempt a pass in the final period and first gave the ball up on downs. The Aggies went 85 fast yards for a touchdown and converted the two-point conversion to tie it at 21-21, and the Hogs last gasp was a fumble by Allen that A&M recovered at the Arkansas 41.
The Aggies went conservative and missed a 38-yard field goal to send it to the overtime.
Some, no doubt will want to blame Allen, but this was a team loss. For the longest it appeared he might finally quiet his doubters. He still finished 20 of 25 for 225 yards and rushed for 35 more.
From start to finish the Hogs suffered critical penalties.
On the Razorbacks' third drive they got to the Aggies 38 but back-to-back holding calls left them at them at their own 42 with first and 30. Two catches by Morgan got them to the Texas A&M 35, but on fourth down Allen threw his lone interception of the game.
Arkansas wasn't lucky to be down 10-7 at the half and in it to the bitter end. The Razorbacks played perhaps their best game of the season.
They slowed the Aggies some, allowing them to convert 2 of 9 on third down, but big plays kept A&M hopeful. Its first touchdown took 1:20 to go 97 yards in four plays.
Then they drove 80 in 2:03 in six plays before settling for a field goal because of a third- down stop by the Hogs.
The Hogs had six penalties for 50 yards in the opening half and the Aggies declined one at the end of the half.
The Razorbacks defense struggled with freshman receiver Christian Kirk, who had 8 receptions for 173 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had 1 carry for 5 yards and 77 yards of kickoff return yards.
Kirk, the top recruit out of Arizona last year, and quarterback Kyle Allen, a top recruit out of Arizona the year before. were difference-makers Saturday.
Sports on 09/27/2015