Razorbacks rewind

Hogs fool Aggies on 3rd down

Arkansas offensive lineman Frank Ragnow lifts quarterback Cole Kelley, top, as the celebrate a touchdown against Texas A&M in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Arkansas Razorbacks offense gave Texas A&M's defense some new looks during Saturday's 50-43 loss in overtime to Texas A&M, and virtually all of the schemes worked.

Razorbacks offensive coordinator Dan Enos inserted redshirt freshman quarterback Kelley (6-7, 270) and freshman tailback Hayden (5-9, 180) to take Shotgun snaps in short-yardage situations after struggling against TCU.

Redshirt freshman Kelley converted a third and 1 and a second and 2 on runs of 13 and 2 yards, respectively, on a touchdown drive in the first quarter.

Kelley capped that 82-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to David Williams.

"I think we executed that formation perfectly," Williams said. "Kudos to Coach Enos for even thinking of something like that. It was great."

Kelley converted first downs with runs of 3 yards in the third quarter and 2 yards in overtime as well.

"I love it," senior quarterback Austin Allen said. "Whenever he gets in, he brings some energy, and that's his personality. He's going to be that guy pumping up the crowd.

"He played a heck of a game where his job was to get the first downs, do some different things and he did it. I think he played really well."

Hayden had a 22-yard run after taking a direct snap on the Hogs' second play of the game, and he finished with 77 yards on 13 carries, several of them from a WildHog formation.

"You see that burst and you see his vision," Allen said. "He's a guy who's going to continue to get more touches."

One gadget play that did not succeed was a flea-flicker pass on Arkansas' third snap. Allen handed off to Williams, who started up the middle before pitching back to Allen, whose deep throw for Deon Stewart went incomplete.

Nance advances

Junior receiver Jonathan Nance took three big strides toward becoming Austin Allen's top target.

Nance (3-100 receiving, 1 TD) had receptions of 44 and 45 yards on post patterns on back-to-back touchdown drives in the fourth quarter after Arkansas worked through some protection breakdowns.

Allen was given time to step up in the pocket and allow Nance to get deep.

"I feel like I'm gaining his trust where he can just throw it up and I'm going to go get it and make plays for him," Nance said.

Last play

Arkansas didn't commit a turnover until Saturday's final snap. Quarterback Austin Allen was targeting tight end Cheyenne O'Grady in the middle of the end zone when safety Armani Watts read the route and made a diving interception on third and 8 to end the game.

"I just tried to throw it low and only where my guy could get it and the guy made a good play," Allen said. "I thought we were gonna get it."

Watts has been involved in five takeaways in four games for A&M, which came into Saturday leading the nation in turnover margin.

"Really we worked on that play actually all week," Watts said. "I just saw the ball so I attacked it."

OT talk

Arkansas is 12-7 in overtime games since the inception of OT in 1996, is second to Tennessee (13-7), which has played in FBS-leading 20 OT games.

Tennessee notched its 20th overtime game in a season-opening victory over Georgia Tech, which includes a 41-38 six-overtime victory over Arkansas in 2003.

Texas A&M is 12-6 in overtime games, three of the victories coming over the Razorbacks in the past four years.

Open mike

Bret Bielema's extended conversation with referee John McDaid during a break in the first half was broadcast throughout AT&T Stadium. Bielema was telling McDaid that Texas A&M had 12 offensive players on the field -- not illegally in the huddle -- before a snap, and after the 12th player ran off the Razorbacks did not have the opportunity to make a substitution to counter the Aggies' final 11-man deployment.

Bielema kept it cool and clean in his talk to McDaid.

He explained his beef in his post-game news conference.

"So we had a planned substitution rotation that allows us to get certain people on the field at a time," Bielema said. "They had 12, realized they had 12, and ran a guy off. Well, when the guy ran off, it actually took a player off that we had a different substitution in for. And he apologized and said that he would look for it further, and really, after that point, I don't think we got any more problems."

Sacks back

The Razorbacks allowed six sacks, most of them in the second and third quarters when Texas A&M fought back from a 21-7 deficit to take the lead.

Coach Bret Bielema said offensive coordinator Dan Enos made adjustments to get the ball out of quarterback Austin Allen's hands faster after several drives in the middle part of the game were impacted by sacks.

"The guys played hard, got on their guys, put them by me and gave me some time to look down the field," Allen said.

Arkansas, which gave up 35 sacks in 2016, is allowing 3.67 sacks through three games this season. Only Auburn (4.0 sacks allowed per game) ranks lower in the SEC.

Stat chat

Arkansas improved 19 spots to No. 87 in total offense (379.7 yards per game) after gaining 457 yards against Texas A&M.

The Razorbacks dropped from No. 17 to No. 43 in total defense (345.7) after allowing 501 yards to the Aggies.

Arkansas is No. 47 in rushing (197.0 ypg), No. 99 in passing (182.7) and No. 53 in scoring (33.0 ppg).

Defensively, Arkansas is No. 99 against the rush (186.7), No. 21 against the pass (159.0) and No. 86 in points allowed per game (28.3).

Williams knows

Running back David Williams played in his first Arkansas-Texas A&M game Saturday, but the graduate transfer said he knows how his senior teammates at Arkansas feel about losing to the Aggies.

Williams is 0-4 against Texas A&M, too.

"I never beat Texas A&M at South Carolina, either," Williams said. "We lost to them every year.

"It's an unfortunate situation for me and everybody on the team to never beat them."

Texas A&M, which has a six-game winning streak against Arkansas that began in 2012, beat Williams' South Carolina teams 52-28 in 2014, 35-28 in 2015 and 24-13 last season.

Unhappy return

Texas A&M junior Christian Kirk's 100-yard kickoff return touchdown was the first against Arkansas since 2015 when Tennessee's Evan Berry returned the opening kickoff 96 yards in the Razorbacks' 24-20 victory at Neyland Stadium.

Kirk had the Aggies' first kickoff return for a touchdown since Nov. 12, 2009 when Coryell Judie had an 84-yard return against Baylor.

But in his college career, Kirk has returned 5 punts for touchdowns with a 22.3-yard average on 28 attempts.

He has a 24.3-yard average on 35 career kickoff returns.

Extra points

• The Razorbacks had 107 rushing yards in the first quarter, more than Texas A&M had given up in any game this season.

• Arkansas' 65-yard touchdown drive on its first possession was the Hogs' first touchdown on its opening series.

• The Razorbacks have won 10 of 12 games since 2015 when scoring 40 points or more.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Offense

RB David Williams

• Williams, a senior graduate transfer from South Carolina, had a combined 96 yards rushing and receiving and scored 3 touchdowns. Williams rushed for 68 yards and 2 TDs and averaged 6.2 yards per carry and had 2 receptions for 28 yards and a score.

Defense

LBs Dre Greenlaw and De'Jon Harris

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More headlines

• Greenlaw, a junior from Fayetteville, racked up 14 tackles and a pass breakup, giving him 31 tackles in two games. Harris, a sophomore from Harvey, La., had 14 tackles, a pass breakup and 1.5 tackles for 2 lost yards.

Sports on 09/25/2017