– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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ARLINGTON, TEXAS — Of course the final Southwest Classic scheduled at the home of the Dallas Cowboys went down to the wire, and given its history while playing on the famous star, it was no surprise that Texas A&M left it late to finally seal another victory against a longtime rival.
Marcel Reed’s third touchdown came on a five-yard pass to Tre WAtson midway through the fourth, and the Aggies defense forced a late turnover to seal the game as No. 24 Texas A&M defeated Arkansas 21-17 inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Saturday afternoon. Reed connected with Noah Thomas for a long touchdown pass in the first quarter while running in for a touchdown in the second to remain undefeated as a starting quarterback in college football.
The game marks the final contest scheduled between the two schools in Arlington before the rivalry moves to campus sites next season. Since joining the Southeastern Conference in 2012, the Aggies have won 12 of the 13 meetings on the gridiron against the Razorbacks, with seven of the last 10 victories by Texas A&M coming by one possession.
“Arkansas, Texas A&M in AT&T Stadium, how else would you expect it to go?” Aggies coach Mike Elko said. “All the way down to the stretch, and you needed to make plays in the fourth quarter to win it.”
The Aggies made more of those plays in the fourth after they went down 17-14 early in the period on a 45-yard field goal by Arkansas’ Kyle Ramsey, responding with an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Three consecutive runs by Le’Veon Moss went for 23, eight and 15 yards to put the Aggies in a goal-to-go situation. On the next play following Moss’ last run, Reed found Watson in the end zone for the game-winning score.
“We pound ourselves about finishing in the fourth quarter a lot,” said Moss, who finished the day with 110 yards on 12 carries. “That’s just the main focus of finishing the fourth quarter.”
Arkansas’ last chance was snuffed out by the Aggie defense with just under two minutes remaining, when Nic Scourton sacked Razorbacks quarterback Taylen Green and forced a fumble that was picked up by Texas A&M’s Jaydon Hill to seal the win.
Green finished the game 23-of-41 passing for 279 yards and a touchdown pass that came on the third play of the game, a 75-yard strike toward the left sideline to Isaac Teslaa after Green stepped up in the pocket to avoid pressure. After Thomas’ score tied the game up on the Aggies’ second drive, Arkansas responded to retake the lead on the ensuing drive, with Ja’Quinden Jackson’s run into the end zone from eight yards out capping off the drive that was kept alive by a 25-yard run by punter Devin Bale on a fake punt.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Ross James. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 39 pictures in total.
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