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Texas A&M pulled it together at the death to get past a very game Arkansas team.
It wasn't by the book, but Texas A&M came back from 14 down in the fourth quarter to beat Arkansas 35-28 in overtime in Dallas. Kenny Hill ended up with 386 yards and four touchdowns, leading the Aggies to a successful comeback after looking rather pedestrian for long stretches.
This game had all the makings of a shootout early. It was 14-14 after roughly 20 minutes, and both offenses were moving the ball. Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams were both running well, and the A&M offense looked capable as usual. But then things started to slow down, and the shootout never really materialized.
The big break in the game happened right before halftime. Arkansas lined up to punt near midfield, but instead of a simple change of possession, we had this masterful 51-yard touchdown run by Razorback punter and noted Australian Sam Irwin-Hill to make it 21-14 at the half.
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It looked like Arkansas was going to lock things up, but Hill hit Edward Pope and Josh Reynolds for long touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to tie the game, the last one to Reynolds coming just after a missed field goal that would have given Arkansas a 10-point lead with just over two minutes left.
A&M started with the ball in overtime, and Hill went to Malcome Kennedy for a touchdown on the first play.
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The Razorbacks came up short on 4th-and-2 on their ensuing drive, and A&M can ride back to College Station happy with a win that fell off the back of a truck.
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Three things we learned
1. Everyone in the SEC West is both good and terribly flawed. Everyone in college football's best division seems, at worst, competent most of the time. It's a meat grinder from top to bottom, but not one of the seven teams is without at least one glaring flaw. Texas A&M, the sixth-ranked team in the country, got run on to the tune of 286 yards, and their offense was shut down for long stretches before they pulled off one of the season's biggest smash-and-grabs. This by no means precludes them from winning the division, but it's looking likelier by the day that the SEC West will cannibalize itself by November.
2. Arkansas is ahead of schedule. It's difficult to really grasp just how bad Arkansas was last year, but the difference between the 2013 and 2014 editions of the Razorbacks is night and day. This team has already been molded in Bret Bielema's image and can just run people over at will. The defense is still spotty, but it put in an outstanding shift on Saturday to hold the A&M offense well below their normal numbers.
3. Kenny Hill is human, after all. Kenny Hill's stat line through the first four games is incredible: 69.8% completion percentage, 339 yards per game and 13 touchdowns to only one pick. His parents put in a trademark application on "Kenny Trill." Everything was going off without a hitch. Well, Saturday was a hitch against Arkansas. It's not to say that he was terrible, but his completion percentage dropped to just over 50% and he threw a bad pick in the fourth quarter when a touchdown would have tied the game. He's still a baby, and he still ended the game with pretty good stats, but it's time to pump the breaks somewhat on his would-be Heisman candidacy.