COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Take out turnovers and mistakes in the kicking game, the old adage is the advantage falls to the team that controls the running game.
Most thought Arkansas' upset chances at No. 8 Texas A&M hinged on exactly that.
Nope. It was all about protecting the quarterback. The Aggies did and Kellen Mond put on a clinic in a 42-31 victory Saturday night at Kyle Field.
Arkansas found a running game — sometimes with quarterback counters — but could not protect passer Feleipe Franks. The Florida transfer ran for a career high of 91 yards, but he was sacked four times, often in critical situations.
Mond turned in antiseptic performance for the Aggies. The senior beat the Hogs for the fourth straight year and completed 21 of 25 for 260 yards and three touchdowns.
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The Hogs intercepted 10 passes in their first four games to lead the nation, but rarely got a shot at a Mond throw. Safety Joe Foucha broke up a third-and-6 on the game’s first possession and linebacker Grant Morgan tipped one on the first play of a second-quarter touchdown drive.
Otherwise, Mond had plenty of time and found receivers open in against an assortment of calls from Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom. There was nothing that seemed problematic for the Aggies' quarterback, who has not been sacked since the first half of the season opener.
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman credited the Aggies for playing more physical on both sides of the ball.
“They have a very powerful offensive line,” Pittman said. “We couldn’t get to (Mond). They converted on third down.”
The Hogs were the SEC leaders in third down defense, allowing conversion at only 33% before the game. Mond was 7 of 11 on third down, and two of the failures came while nursing a big lead in the fourth quarter.
“We ran man, zone and we blitzed,” Pittman said. “We weren’t saying, ‘We give up.’ We tried a lot of different defenses. We blitzed corners and safeties.
“But any time you have a big running threat with someone like (Isaiah) Spiller and you can run naked bootlegs (with Mond), it makes it tough. They ran play action and we didn’t tackle well.”
The Hogs fought gamely, but Pittman wasn’t satisfied with winning some of the statistical categories. They led in total yards, 461 to 442. Minus sacks, the Hogs led in rushing yards, 240 to 182.
Those are encouraging numbers, but Pittman didn’t bite.
“We are rolling better on offense, but our job is to win football games,” he said. “I have to do a better job of coaching. We gave good effort, but we are not here to just give effort.”
The missing ingredient was the lack of forced turnovers. The Hogs returned three interceptions for touchdowns in their two victories over Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
“Turnovers are momentum and sometimes points,” Pittman said. “We have been living on goal turnovers and goal-line stands. We didn’t get any tonight.”
The Aggies didn’t provide any help. Pittman said Texas A&M didn't have any missed snaps.
“They had open receivers," he said. "They got it to them and they caught it. They didn’t shoot themselves in the foot. They played catch.”
Texas A&M scored on six straight drives after sputtering on its opening drive. It didn’t help that the Hogs lost their best defensive playmaker late in the first quarter.
With the game tied 7-7, safety Jalen Catalon — the team leader with 29 unassisted tackles — was ejected for targeting. It was a penalty missed on the field, but caught by the replay booth.
“It was a good call,” Pittman said. “He had his head down, but I wouldn’t consider it spearing. It didn’t look dangerous.”
Without Catalon in the middle of the field, the Hogs began to leak on defense. No doubt, he was missed.
“He is one of the best we have,” Pittman said. “He’s a leader.
“But make no mistake, we have had a lot of people out this year and we played good defense. And we have had a lot of people out on offense and played good offense.”
While Pittman did not argue the Catalon ejection, there were other calls that seemed to anger him on the sideline.
There were plenty of key penalties called by referee Marc Curles and his crew in the first half, but they missed more than a few, including a spike by the running back Spiller after a 6-yard touchdown run.
Spiller put the Aggies up 28-14 at the 1:13 mark of the second quarter, but not calling the obvious unsportsmanlike conduct penalty could have helped the Hogs answer with a field goal at the end of the half.
Pittman protested to four different officials, including to Curles. Ultimately, Curles pointed to field judge Wes Booker to explain to Pittman what he’d seen on the play.
Pittman demonstrated the excessive motion by Spillers to Booker on the Arkansas sideline, the clear definition in the NCAA rulebook that defines a spike for an unsportsmanlike. Booker walked with Pittman in hopes of making his case. Clearly, Pittman didn’t buy it.
The Aggies were flagged for holding twice during their third touchdown march of the half, but the Hogs drew a 15-yarder when Julius Coates was called for a facemask penalty. It appeared Coates was held on that play, but Curles gave that call to the Aggies.
The Aggies led in total yards in the first half, 278-222, but the Hogs didn’t take advantage of all of their yards. A.J. Reed was short on a 48-yard field goal and wide left from 49 yards. The last came with six seconds left in the half after Franks was sacked on third-and-8 when right tackle Noah Gatlin missed on protection.
The quarterbacks were both red hot in the first half. Franks hit 12 of 14 for 103 yards, and Mond was 13 of 16 for 177 yards. Both threw two touchdowns before halftime.
Texas A&M had to punt only one time in the first half, on the game’s first possession. That could have ended in a turnover when Foucha missed his shot at an interception.
The Hogs zoomed 87 yards in 12 plays with their first possession. It was the first time they had scored on their first drive since Rakeem Boyd went 74 yards on the second play of the Kentucky game last season.
Franks was 4 of 4 on the drive and found Treylon Burks for a 6-yard touchdown pass.
The Aggies answered with four straight touchdown marches in the half of 87, 75, 58 and 69 yards. The Hogs were close to getting off the field on the second drive when Montaric Brown was a little early while breaking up a third-and-3 pass and drew a pass interference penalty.
The Hogs did move the ball, but not always for points. They did add an eight-play, 75-yard drive in the second quarter when Franks completed five straight passes, the last a 1-yard touchdown to Tyson Morris.
Arkansas closed the deficit to 28-17 on Reed’s 34-yard field goal early in the third quarter. The 12-play, 58-yard drive was marred by penalties on both sides. The Aggies were penalized for targeting and pass interference, but a holding call nullified a big play by the Hogs.
The Aggies could not be stopped. Mond led drives of 75 and 68 yards to make it 42-17 with 56 seconds left in the third quarter.
Franks added a 16-yard touchdown pass to Burks with 13:09 left. Boyd scored on a 14-yard run to complete the scoring with 36 seconds left.
Boyd, who started his college career at Texas A&M, finished with 18 carries for 100 yards. Burks had seven catches for 117 yards.
As far as the improved running game, Pittman wasn't surprised.
"I said we'd get better," he said. "Our quarterback ran for 91 with some designed quarterback runs. We had a couple of new looks and the QB runs helped everybody. Boyd seemed to run really hard."