ARLINGTON, Texas — If there was any silver lining for the Razorbacks in what was yet another one-possession loss in the Arkansas vs Texas A&M game Saturday, it was the breakout performances of two players on either side of the ball.
Defensively, Landon Jackson finally looked like the preseason All-SEC selection everyone expected. Not only did he notch his first sack of the season, but he made two in Arkansas’ 21-17 loss to the No. 24 Aggies.
That was part of an overall impressive game for the defensive end, as he finished with a team-high 8 tackles and 3 tackles for loss — but you wouldn’t have known it talking to him afterward.
“I’d much rather have not as good of a game and come out with a win,” Jackson said. “I’d much rather have a game like Auburn where I think I had, like, two tackles, but we won the football game. I’m not in it (for stats). It’s not a me thing. I don’t give a damn if I had zero stats at the end of the season. My goal is to win football games.”
Jackson playing as well as he did made the Razorbacks’ personnel decisions on Texas A&M’s go-ahead touchdown drive all the more perplexing, as he – and the rest of the starting defensive line – watched from the sideline while the Aggies covered 70 yards in seven plays before finally going in on first-and-goal from the 5.
It was certainly a head-scratching move, especially considering he had just done this on the previous defensive drive:
Nonetheless, Arkansas is hopeful this game could jumpstart Jackson and lead to more performances like it over the final seven games of the season.
“I think it probably felt good for him because the guy blocking him was a good player, as well,” Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman said. “So I was proud of him, happy for him and it helped the team.”
Isaac TeSlaa Shines for Arkansas Football
On the other side of the ball, Isaac TeSlaa played his best game for the Razorbacks.
The second-year wide receiver caught five passes for 120 yards, marking the first time he’d eclipsed the century mark since transferring from Division II Hillsdale College. One of those catches was a 75-yard touchdown on the game’s opening drive.
“There’s nothing to do with me,” TeSlaa said of his breakout performance. “It just happened to (be) the schemes that the defense were running, and then obviously Taylen (Green) was looking my way quite a bit.”
Coming into the game, TeSlaa had caught only four passes for 85 yards this year and all of that came in the first two games of the season. According to Pro Football Focus, he had played only 34 total snaps against UAB and Auburn, with no targets.
“I love TeSlaa,” Pittman said. “I love them all, but TeSlaa’s just one of the heartbeats of the program. Never says anything if he’s not getting balls and all that, but very, very valuable. Just a great kid. I thought he played a great game, not only catching the ball but blocking on the perimeter as well.”
The performance will probably make Arkansas think about changing up its starting lineup, as starter Tyrone Broden has failed to translate his offseason success into the season. The 6-foot-7 receiver finally caught a pass against the Aggies, but has caught only eight of his 28 targets this year. Some of those aren’t his fault – he has only four official drops, according to Pro Football Focus – but several of them have been catchable.
TeSlaa, meanwhile, has caught nine of his 11 targets and doesn’t have any drops, according to PFF, and has made several really impressive contested catches.
More Explosive TDs in Arkansas vs Texas A&M
Five minutes into the game, it looked like we were in store for another wild Arkansas vs Texas A&M shootout.
The defenses eventually settled in, but the Razorbacks struck first with a 75-yard touchdown strike from Taylen Green to Isaac TeSlaa. The play came on the opening drive of the game and with Arkansas facing a third-and-10.
“We’ve seen it all year — Taylen, it’s crazy what he can do in and out of the pocket,” TeSlaa said. “Obviously that play he stepped up and I just saw that there was no one over the top of the field, so I drifted and took it up the field obviously. It’s kind of an out of body experience to score on a big stage like that.”
After the teams exchanged quick three-and-outs, Texas A&M answered with a 58-yard touchdown of its own. Marcel Reed found Noah Thomas, who avoided a would-be tackle by Kee’yon Stewart and raced down the sideline for the score.
It was an appropriate start for the final Southwest Classic, as big plays have highlighted the series since it began in 2009.
In fact, all but one of the 13 Arkansas vs Texas A&M matchups at AT&T Stadium have featured at least one touchdown of at least 40 yards and there have been 29 such plays in those games.
The Razorbacks scored 13 of those long touchdowns, compared to 16 by the Aggies. Most of them have been passes (16) like Saturday’s or runs (8), but the remaining five came on kickoff returns (2), scoop-and-scores (2) or punt returns (1).
Bale Goes 1 for 2 on Fakes
One of those long touchdowns was Sam Irwin-Hill’s 51-yard run in 2014. A decade later, the Razorbacks tried to channel some of that magic again.
Facing a fourth-and-15 near midfield, punter Devin Bale rolled out for what appeared to be a rugby-style punt, but instead took off running. He was finally caught from behind 25 yards down field.
“The fake punt was just a green light for Devin,” Pittman said. “We had seen that they turn their back and I trust the guy. So, we just said, ‘Hey, if they turn their back and you feel like you can get 15 yards, take off,’ and he did and man he did a phenomenal job with that.”
Arkansas took advantage of the extra opportunity by capping the drive with a Ja’Quinden Jackson 8-yard touchdown run.
It went to its bag of tricks again in the third quarter. Lining up for a 50-yard field goal, Bale received the snap and instead of putting it down for Kyle Ramsey to kick, he stood up and looked to throw.
This time, though, Texas A&M snuffed it out. Bale was immediately under pressure and eventually got taken down for a 5-yard loss.
“He was supposed to fake like he was supposed to pass it, which he did fake it, but our backside wing didn’t get over in time because the guy didn’t drop,” Pittman said. “He rushed and that’s where we got jacked up on it.”
Despite that failure, Bale still had a pretty solid overall game. He punted six times for an average of 43.8 yards and notched three touchbacks on four kickoffs, with the fourth being fair caught just in front of the goal line.
For the season, Bale is now averaging 45.8 yards on 12 punts. That isn’t enough attempts to qualify for the NCAA’s leaderboards, but his average distance would be tied for 17th nationally.
Luke Hasz Dealing with Injury
One guy the Razorbacks were hoping they’d be able to get going Saturday was tight end Luke Hasz. There was legitimate optimism they could make it happen considering what the Aggies had allowed to Bowling Green and Florida tight ends.
However, that never materialized. The sophomore caught just 1 pass for 2 yards and left the game while holding his back following that play, which happened early in the third quarter.
“He came into the game with a back (injury),” Pittman said. “We felt like he could get through the game. He obviously could not.”
This was the first time Pittman has publicly acknowledged the Hasz injury, which he appeared to suffer on a 43-yard touchdown against Oklahoma State in Week 2. However, asked about him the following Monday, Pittman said he was “fine.”
Through five games this year, Hasz has only 93 yards on seven receptions, one of which was the aforementioned score against the Cowboys.
Armstrong Continues Climbing the Record Book
He didn’t crack the century mark, but Andrew Armstrong had another solid day for the Razorbacks by catching six passes for 72 yards. The performance helped the second-year receiver continue his climb up the Arkansas football record books.
Armstrong is now up to 1,184 career receiving yards, which moved him past Boo Williams (1,123) for 27th in school history. Peyton Hillis (1,195) is up next on that list.
He also has 85 career receptions. That put him ahead of Williams (80), Mike Woods (83) and Jim Benton (83) for 28th place in UA history. Next up on that list is the trio of Kirk Botkin, Jared Cornelius and Cheyenne O”Grady tied with 87.
Travel Roster for Arkansas Football
Just as they did last week at Auburn, the Razorbacks traveled with only 74 players for the Arkansas vs Texas A&M game. That is one under the limit allowed by the SEC for conference games.
Most of the notable absences were already known because they were declared “out” in the SEC’s official availability report. Included in that group were cornerback Jaylon Braxton, running back Rashod Dubinion, safety Miguel Mitchell, offensive lineman Patrick Kutas, tight end Andreas Paaske and wide receivers Monte Harrison and Khafre Brown.
One change from last week’s travel roster is the addition of redshirt freshman wide receiver Davion Dozier and subtraction of freshman defensive end Kavion Henderson.
Other Arkansas vs Texas A&M Tidbits
- Offensive lineman Josh Street switched his number from No. 67 to No. 96, which made him an eligible receiver. It was a notable change because he had recently been getting reps as a sixth offensive lineman/tight end in Arkansas’ jumbo packages.
- The announced attendance for Arkansas vs Texas A&M at AT&T Stadium was 60,928. That ranks ninth out of 13 all-time Southwest Classic matchups.
- The Razorbacks’ four team captains Saturday included a trio of players from the Texas — wide receiver Andrew Armstrong (Dallas), running back Ja’Quinden Jackson (Dallas) and linebacker Brad Spence (Houston) — as well as defensive end Anton Juncaj.
- Nine of 13 Southwest Classics were decided by one score, with Texas A&M going 7-2 in those games. Two of the other four matchups at AT&T Stadium were one-score games entering the fourth quarter.
Updated Arkansas Football Stats
| Stat | Offense (FBS/SEC Rank) | Defense (FBS/SEC Rank) |
|---|---|---|
| Scoring | 35.8 (33rd / 7th) | 20.2 (t-44th / 12th) |
| Total Yards | 495.0 (13th / 4th) | 319.4 (47th / 9th) |
| Passing | 283.0 (27th / 6th) | 226.4 (89th / 14th) |
| Comp. % | 56.2% (t-114th / 15th) | 57.5% (45th / 7th) |
| Rushing | 212.0 (21st / 5th) | 93.0 (t-21st / 5th) |
| 3rd Down % | 55.4% (t-5th / 1st) | 30.8% (t-25th / 9th) |
| Turnovers | 9 (t-112th / 15th) | 7 (t-42nd / t-6th) |
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Hear from Isaac TeSlaa and Landon Jackson after the Arkansas vs Texas A&M game:
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