ARLINGTON, Texas — If not for the long-term agreement to play Texas A&M at AT&T Stadium, Arkansas would have had another amazing home environment Saturday.
As they do every odd-numbered year, the Razorbacks gave up a home game to play here — their first game away from Fayetteville in 2021.
Arkansas settled for a seemingly 50-50 split in attendance. The announced crowd of 57,992 appeared to be half cardinal and half maroon.
“I’m certainly very, very grateful for the state of Arkansas, how they traveled down here to the game,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said following the Razorbacks’ 20-10 win over No. 7 Texas A&M. “They were loud and much appreciated.”
Anyone who says Arlington isn’t a true neutral site for Arkansas-Texas A&M hasn’t been to a Southwest Classic when there was excitement about Razorback football. In the early years of this game — when Bobby Petrino had Arkansas in the conversation among the SEC’s best teams — the Razorbacks would come just as close as the Aggies to filling their side of AT&T Stadium.
Arlington might be closer to Kyle Field, but Arkansas has long had a strong presence in the Dallas area. Anyone who attended a Southwest Conference Basketball Tournament at Reunion Arena can attest the Razorback fans have always held their own in the stands here.
It was even that way when Arkansas played Texas A&M in the Aggies’ first years in the SEC. CBS came back to Arlington on Saturday to show the Southwest Classic for the first time since 2014, when the Razorbacks and Aggies drew 68,113.
Attendance has fallen off since, as the luster of this matchup faded. Texas A&M winning nine in a row in the series — including six in a row in Arlington — didn’t help ticket sales on the Arkansas side, even though the Razorbacks have been competitive here.
Before Saturday, five of the last six Southwest Classic matchups in Arlington were decided by seven points or less. Three went to overtime.
The Arkansas-Texas A&M neutral-site matchup never took off like the soon-to-be SEC game between Oklahoma and Texas down the road in Dallas, or the Florida-Georgia Cocktail Party in Jacksonville, Fla. The highest-attended games in Arlington were between 2009-11, when the series was between nonconference opponents.
Both sides have made clear they want the series to return to campuses by 2025, the year after the contract expires in Arlington. Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek leaves open the possibility of future games in the stadium, but noted the fan demand to have games on campus.
“We’ve invested significant dollars in Razorback Stadium and we want to play as many home games there because we feel it gives our team an advantage, especially in the SEC,” Yurachek told the Hawgs Illustrated Sports Club on Sept. 15. “ I think you’ll see other schools in our league follow suit. Alabama has mentioned in passing they don’t want to play many more of those (neutral-site) games.
“Another thing is it becomes very expensive for your fans to have to travel, too. The ticket prices are typically a little bit more. You’ve got hotel costs, restaurant costs and things of that nature that maybe you don’t have at a home game. We want to have as many games, especially SEC games, we can have at Razorback Stadium here in Fayetteville."
Joneses happy
Jerry Jones, the Dallas Cowboys owner and former Arkansas football player who was influential in bringing the Arkansas-Texas A&M series to Arlington, walked around proudly following the game.
Jones and his son, Stephen, presented the Razorbacks’ players with the Southwest Classic trophy following the game. Quarterback John Stephen Jones, the son of Stephen, smiled big with his Arkansas teammates.
Well after the game, Jerry Jones stopped at midfield and had his portrait taken on the Southwest Classic logo at midfield, then posed with some fans who were also on the field.
It had been a long time since the Jones family celebrated an Arkansas game in the stadium they helped fund. The Razorbacks had not won at AT&T Stadium since Jan. 6, 2012, when they defeated Kansas State 29-16 in the Cotton Bowl.
Arkansas won its first four games at the stadium — three over Texas A&M and the Cotton Bowl — but had lost six in a row there before Saturday. The Razorbacks’ record at AT&T Stadium is now 5-6.
More Arlington
The city has been good to the Arkansas Razorbacks in 2021.
Arkansas’ win over Texas A&M was the fourth by the Razorbacks over a top-10 Texas team this year off of Randol Mill Road. Dave Van Horn’s Arkansas baseball team defeated Texas Tech, Texas and TCU at the College Baseball Showdown at the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Park in February.
Globe Life Park is across the street from AT&T Stadium.
Van Horn was on the field for the football game Saturday and drew a large ovation when he caught an overthrown pass by Texas A&M quarterback Zach Calzada.
Arkansas basketball coach Eric Musselman was also on the field for part of the game. Between the teams coached by Pittman, Musselman and Van Horn, the Razorbacks have a 13-2 record against Texas teams since last November.
Musselman’s basketball team beat North Texas, Texas-Arlington, Abilene Christian and Texas A&M at home, and beat Texas Tech in the second round of the NCAA Tournament earlier this year. The Razorbacks’ season ended with an Elite Eight loss to national champion Baylor.
Van Horn’s baseball team was also 5-1 against Texas teams last season, including 2-1 against Texas A&M.
4 wins
To fully appreciate what it means for Pittman to have a 4-0 team at Arkansas, consider the Razorbacks' last four season records.
Arkansas was 3-7 last season, 2-10 in 2018 and 2019, and 4-8 in 2017.
Trophy case
Arkansas snapped a 15-game losing streak in trophy games against Texas A&M, LSU and Missouri.
The Razorbacks won a trophy game for the first time since a 28-6 win over Missouri in 2015. The Aggies had won the Southwest Classic trophy nine straight years, and LSU has won The Golden Boot each year since 2015.
Tough stretch
This weekend’s game against Texas A&M and the two upcoming games at Georgia and Ole Miss are the hardest for any team in college football in 2021, according to ESPN Football Power Index (FPI).
The Razorbacks could make a case for the hardest four-game stretch with a home game against Auburn to follow three consecutive weekends away from home, although the Tigers look less toothy following a home squeaker against Georgia State.
Arkansas has plenty of motivation for that game against Auburn, too. The Razorbacks have not forgotten the win that was taken from them last year.
Burks breakout
Two of the nine-longest pass plays in Arkansas history have come in the past two games.
Treylon Burks and KJ Jefferson connected on both receptions.
Burks scored on an 85-yard touchdown pass from Jefferson in the first quarter to give the Razorbacks a 10-0 lead over the Aggies. That followed a 91-yard touchdown reception last week against Georgia Southern.
The touchdowns could not have been more opposite. Against Georgia Southern, Burks caught a pass at the line of scrimmage and ran almost the entire length of the field. On Saturday, he beat Texas A&M cornerback Myles Jones on a go route.
Burks is the first Arkansas receiver since Cobi Hamilton to have two receptions of at least 80 yards in the same season. Hamilton had touchdown receptions of 85 and 80 yards during a 2010 win over LSU.
Burks’ 91-yard touchdown was the second-longest pass play in school history, one yard shy of a 92-yard pass from Matt Jones to Richard Smith in 2002.
The 85-yard play is tied for the seventh-longest pass play in program history. In addition to the 85-yard pass from Ryan Mallett to Hamilton against LSU, Mallett threw an 85-yard touchdown to Joe Adams the same year against Tennessee Tech.
Ranked wins
Arkansas defeated a ranked team for the second time this season and improved to 3-5 against ranked teams under second-year coach Sam Pittman.
Texas A&M, ranked No. 7, was the highest-ranked team to lose to the Razorbacks since No. 6 LSU in 2010. Arkansas had not defeated any top-10 team in The Associated Press poll since it beat No. 9 LSU in 2015.
Under 300
Arkansas has held its last three opponents to under 300 yards on offense. Only Rice (308) eclipsed that mark this year against the Razorbacks.
Texas A&M finished with a season-low 272 yards against Arkansas. That was the second-highest total this year against the Razorbacks, who held Texas to 256 yards and Georgia Southern to 266 yards.
Arkansas ranks 17th nationally in total defense (263 yards per game). The Razorbacks rank 12th against the pass (142 yards per game) and 27th in scoring defense (16 points per game).
Go figure
Arkansas went 3-0 against former Southwest Conference teams this season, with wins over Rice, Texas and Texas A&M.
The first halves of those games could not have been more unpredictable. The unranked Owls led Arkansas 10-7 at halftime in the season opener in Fayetteville.
The Razorbacks led Texas 16-0 and Texas A&M 17-3 at halftime.
Arkansas improved to 15-17 against former SWC teams since joining the SEC. The Razorbacks defeated the Longhorns and Aggies during the same season for the first time since 1988.
Scoreboard watch
Since being blown out in Fayetteville, Texas has won two straight over Rice and Texas Tech by a combined score of 128-35.