Self-inflicted wounds

Crucial mistakes at critical moments cost Razorbacks

Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen fumbles the ball during the fourth quarter of a game against Texas A&M on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Facing fourth and 3 from the Texas A&M 35 with his Razorbacks clinging to an eight-point, Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema was ready to go for it.

Rather than punt or try a field goal, Bielema told offensive coordinator Dan Enos to call a play to get a first down and keep alive a drive that already had consumed 10 plays, 54 yards and 6:24 to run the fourth-quarter clock down to 4:11.

"I felt good about the play that we had called and the execution that we had done," Bielema said. "It was a play that we had run earlier. I know Dan felt good about it."

Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen felt good about it, too.

"That play was perfect," Allen said. "The defense was set up for it perfectly. We probably would have gotten a completion and moved the chains."

The Razorbacks never got to run the play because left tackle Denver Kirkland was called for a false start.

"I think the defense was shifting up front and he may have heard one of the guys on defense yelling and just twitched," Allen said. "But that play was not the game, not at all. Denver played his butt off the whole game. He did a great job protecting."

With the situation changed to fourth and 8 from the Texas A&M 40, Bielema elected to punt. The Aggies then drove for a game-tying touchdown and two-point conversion and beat the Razorbacks 28-21 in overtime at AT&T Stadium.

Arkansas had a final possession in the fourth quarter, but Allen fumbled as he was sacked and A.J. Hillard recovered for the Aggies.

Given a reprieve when Texas A&M's Taylor Bertolet missed a 38-yard field goal on the last play of regulation, the Razorbacks' couldn't match the Aggies touchdown in overtime.

"I thought our whole team battled their tails off," Allen said. "This one's on me. I wasn't able to come through for us. What hurts me the most is that I thought our whole team played a great game, and I wasn't able to help out."

Allen completed 20 of 25 passes for 225 yards, but was 1 of 3 in overtime.

Tight end Jeremy Sprinkle was open on a third-and-4 play from the Texas A&M 19, but he slipped and Allen threw the ball short, resulting in an incomplete pass.

"I was scrambling, and I thought he was about to turn up but he stopped," Allen said. "I kind of got crossed up and left it short.

"He was wide open. I've just got to throw it on him. I didn't do it."

On fourth down Aggies cornerback Da'Vante Harris knocked away Allen's pass intended for Drew Morgan.

"I thought we could beat him on the out route, and when we called it I got goose bumps," said Morgan, a junior who had career highs of eight catches for 155 yards. "I thought, 'Oh yeah, I'm going to score this touchdown.'

"When I saw the ball come out of Brandon's hands, I thought, 'That's there.' De'Vante made a great break on the ball, and he deserves a pat on the back."

Morgan said Allen didn't deserve to take the blame for the loss.

"Brandon played great," Morgan said. " I don't think it's one person's performance. It's a team game, and we made dumb team penalties. Other than that, I felt like we could have easily won the game."

The Razorbacks were penalized 11 times for 93 yards, including a false start on tackle Dan Skipper on their first offensive play of the overtime period that put them in a first-and-15 situation.

"It's hard to win, it's hard to score points, when you aren't clean," Allen said.

If the Razorbacks had converted the fourth-and-3 play late in regulation, maybe they would have gone on to score to push their lead to 11 or 15 points.

"We could have closed the game out on that drive and weren't able to do so," Allen said. "It cost us."

Sports on 09/27/2015