Film Room: Texas A&M

Texas A&M wide receiver Christian Kirk (3) evades Arkansas tackles on a 100-yard kick-off return for a touchdown in the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

— Five observations, with video, from Arkansas' 50-43 overtime loss to Texas A&M.

Big-play barrage

The dispiriting defeat ended on a low Austin Allen throw into triple coverage being intercepted by Texas A&M safety Armani Watts in the end zone, but the big plays allowed by the defense were the real culprit, why the Hogs were even in overtime in the first place.

Entering Saturday, Arkansas had the only defense in the nation that hadn’t given up a play of 30 or more yards.

That is no longer the case, at all. Of Texas A&M’s 285 first-half yards, 210 came on three plays. And there were more in store.

Arkansas’ zone broke down when true freshman Aggie quarterback Kellen Mond scrambled out of the pocket on A&M’s first touchdown. Safeties Santos Ramirez and Josh Liddell broke toward the line of scrimmage in reaction to the run threat, allowing Christian Kirk to re-route and get open behind the defense for an 81-yard score.


Mond broke a 79-yarder on a read option as Arkansas’ linebackers bit on the fake to the back, a play that should’ve been a touchdown but was blown dead by a referee’s whistle.


Texas A&M wound up having to settle for a field goal instead, but the leaks were becoming an issue. More cropped up.

True freshman cornerback Kamren Curl was beaten deep by by Damion Ratley for a 50-yard gain later in the first half. Curl was in good position, but couldn’t make a play on the ball against the 6-foot-3 Ratley.


Of the big plays, that might have been the most forgivable. Curl was in good position, but it was simply a well-thrown ball and great play by Ratley.

Minus those plays, Texas A&M averaged just 2.9 yards per snap in the first half. The defense had its good moments in the afternoon, too. Linebackers Dre Greenlaw and Scoota Harris were especially active, finishing with 14 tackles apiece. They got off blocks and played with speed.

But big plays obviously count. And they continued in the second half.

Keith Ford gave the Aggies their first lead with this 44-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter.


Redshirt freshman backup linebacker Grant Morgan was in on the play and appeared to potentially fill the wrong gap, while sophomore Scoota Harris was walled off by A&M's right guard.

Kirk gave them a 40-36 lead with 5:10 left with this 100-yard kickoff return for a score. Arkansas had done a good job in coverage most of the day, but this was a crucial time for a gaffe and the speedy Kirk had a wide-open lane to sprint through.


The big plays were glaring and why Texas A&M was able to win the game.

Line games

Texas A&M entered the game with seven sacks its first three games. The Aggies had six on Saturday.

The game was the latest example of Arkansas struggling to protect Austin Allen, receivers not getting open and Allen holding onto the ball.

Arkansas shored up the protection down the stretch and scored twice in the latter stages of the fourth quarter, but it was debilitating to the offense for a stretch and came as Arkansas shuffled its line in search of answers.

The Razorbacks opened the game with the same starting five they’d had all year: Colton Jackson at left tackle, Hjalte Froholdt at left guard, Frank Ragnow at center, Ty Clary at right guard and Johnny Gibson at right tackle.

Late in the first quarter, little-used senior Paul Ramirez was inserted at left tackle in place of Jackson. He looked spry in pass protection on the left, but moved to right tackle as the staff reinserted Jackson at left and slid Gibson to right guard while pulling Clary, the true freshman.

Ramirez helped plow open a hole for Chase Hayden’s 6-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, but his second possession on the right didn’t go as smoothly. He was whistled for a false start and a hold on back-to-back snaps, which led to the Razorbacks going back to their original line the ensuing possession.

The Hogs went back to the starting line for the final drive of the first half and to open the second, but then went back to the group with Ramirez at right tackle. His third series at the spot didn’t go any better than the second.


The move to replace Jackson was an interesting one, but one that made sense. The sophomore had at times been the weak link on the offensive line the first two games and struggled again at times against the Aggies. The move to replace Clary was arguably more interesting since he had by all accounts been solid in his first two starts.

The underlying reality is that while the line run blocked well, totaling 226 yards on the ground, they again struggled to protect Allen much of the afternoon, a recurring theme for the last two years.

The senior quarterback was hit numerous times and sacked four times in the first half. Several were the result of Allen holding onto the ball too long (potential coverage sacks but also an issue he has had this year), but they were also beaten on a regular basis by A&M pressure, too.

They did perform better late and didn’t give up a sack on the final three drives, but there has to be some credence to the idea that the cumulative beating Allen took over the course of the game, really over the course of his career, impacts his play.

Arkansas has had uncertainty on the line since last year, then the questions intensified when the staff made the decision to start a true freshman blue shirt walk-on. Those questions will only grow louder now.

Offensive creativity

The TCU game was one of the worst offensive performances of coordinator Dan Enos’ tenure at Arkansas.

Armed with a bye week and a sense of desperation, Enos dialed up the creativity for a high-stakes matchup with Texas A&M.

There was Chase Hayden in the game plan in a major way and occasionally in the Wildcat with the also-explosive T.J. Hammonds working in motion.


We saw Cole Kelley in what has to be known as The Franchise Package going forward. Dude is huge. This wrinkle could be a nice change-of-pace moving forward.


They went heavy, using Zach Rogers at different times in heavy packages. They also tried a flea flicker, got the ball to Jordan Jones on a jet sweep twice for 50 yards and ran T.J. Hammonds on an end-around once.


All of this helped the Hogs have an awakening of sorts on that side of the ball. The pass-blocking issues remain, but credit to Dan Enos for being creative with his game plan.

Nance steps up

The prognosis for Jared Cornelius isn’t good, Bielema said, meaning Allen will be without his most experienced receiver for an extended period of time.

That’s a huge loss for a quarterback who has been shaky and hesitant to throw to receivers who haven’t always been able to get open, no doubt. But Jonathan Nance stepped up as Allen’s go-to target in a big way in Cornelius’ absence.

He hauled in a 44-yard touchdown bomb from Allen to give Arkansas a 33-28 lead late in the fourth quarter.


Then, after A&M re-took the lead, he got free for this 45-yard catch to the Aggie 4-yard line to set up David Williams’ go-ahead score.


Nance has now hauled in nine of 11 targets this season for 200 yards and three scores. He’s been Arkansas’ best receiver and without Cornelius, he is Allen’s go-to target because his quarterback trusts him to run the right routes and make plays.

Hayden, Williams emerge

Senior David Williams got the start just days after Devwah Whaley was given a black eye in a fight with receiver Brandon Martin, but it wasn’t long before Hayden got his shot.

The coaching staff had clearly cooked up ways to get the electric freshman involved. And he delivered.

He ripped off the 22-yarder on his first carry and finished with 77 yards and a touchdown on a team-high attempts.

He was able to run for 54 yards on just six first-half carries. His combination of speed, quickness, vision and moves makes him a playmaker.

He has the look of a player who deserves a heavier workload moving forward, as does David Williams. The senior graduate transfer was the lead back in the second half and finished with 68 yards and two scores on 11 carries. He was physical and Arkansas’ ground game was the most effective its been this season and had marked success when running out of the I-formation on a frequent basis.


Whaley finished with 38 yards on six carries, his 6.3 average actually best of the three backs. Correcting the lack of Hayden the Hogs had against TCU was a step in the right direction. It looks like there’ll be a running back-by-committee approach to the rest of the season.