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Texas A&M 50, Arkansas 43 (OT)
ABOUT THE WIN ...
Texas
A&M improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 vs. the Southeastern Conference
with a 50-43 overtime win over Arkansas at AT&T Stadium in
Arlington, Texas.
• The Aggies’ 50 points were the
team’s second-most in the overall series with Arkansas and the most
against the Razorbacks away from Kyle Field.
• Texas
A&M won their sixth straight game against Arkansas, which matches
the Aggies’ longest in the long series between the two former Southwest
Conference foes. It equalled the six-game string by Homer Norton’s
Aggies from 1938-43.
• The Aggies have now won five straight SEC openers (after dropping the first two).
•
The win was the Aggies’ fifth straight at the home of the Dallas
Cowboys (four vs. Arkansas, one vs. Oklahoma in 2013 Cotton Bowl).
•
The Aggies improved to 12-6 all-time in overtime games. Head coach
Kevin Sumlin is a perfect 5-0 in OT contests in Aggieland. Texas
A&M and Arkansas played an extra stanza for the third time in the
past four seasons.
• The three OT contests against Arkansas is the most against any team in program history.
• The win was the Aggies’ 30th in the long series between the two schools.
NOTABLES ...
•
Junior WR Christian Kirk’s 81-yard TD catch was a career long. He
scored two receiving TDs against the Hogs, moving his career total to
20 (fourth best in school history).
• The 81-yard
connection with Kirk also was the longest of freshman QB Kellen Mond’s
career and the Aggies’ longest play of the season.
• QB
Kellen Mond’s 79-yard rush was a career long. He was “incorrectly ruled
out of bounds,” according to a statement from the SEC. If the 89-yard
TD run would have been allowed, it would have been the longest by a QB
in school history. As called, it was the second-longest by a QB behind
Bucky Richardson’s 82-yarder vs. Southern Mississippi in 1987 (that was
Richardson’s playing debut game).
• Full statement from
the SEC: “On the play at 10:02 in the second quarter of the Texas
A&M vs. Arkansas game, the ball carrier was incorrectly ruled out
of bounds and the play was whistled dead by the official.
“Based on NCAA football playing rule 12-3-3-9, ‘If the ball carrier is
ruled out of bounds, the play is not reviewable.’”
• The
44-yard TD run by senior RB Keith Ford was the longest of his Texas
A&M career. His previous long run was 28 yards vs. LSU in 2016.
•
Texas A&M finished with two players over 100 rushing yards
for the second time this season. Kellen Mond rushed 10 times for 109
yards and Keith Ford carried the ball 14 times for 102 yards. Ford and
Trayveon Williams topped the century mark in the season-opener against
UCLA.
• Mond went over the 100-yard plateau for the
first time in his career and also logged the first 200 pass/100 rush
game of his career. Trevor Knight had a pair of 200-100 games in 2016.
•
Christian Kirk finished with 110 yards through the air against the
Razorbacks, the Aggies first 100-yard receiever this season. The last
time an Aggie crossed into triple-digit receiving yards was
against Kansas State by Josh Reynolds (154 yards on Dec. 28, 2016).
•
Kirk’s 100-yard kick return touchdown was the first of his career (and
longest). It was the Aggies’ first KO return for a TD since Coryell
Judie returned an 84-yarder against Baylor on Nov. 12, 2010.
• The 100-yard return by Kirk was the 8th kick return by an Aggie that went the length of the field.
•
The return touchdown was the sixth of Kirk’s career, five punt return
scores and one kick return, which is the most by any player in school
history.
• The Aggies finished the day with one forced
turnover after entering the game with the 10 forced turnovers, the
fourth most in the country. The Aggies finished with even in turnover
margin against Arkansas, their first game this year without a positive
number. The Maroon & White entered the game as the national leader
in turnover margin, +2.67/game.
• Senior Armani Watts
game-sealing interception was his team-leading 3rd this year and gave
him nine for his career. His nine picks are the most by an Aggie since
Jaxson Appel had 11 from 2002-05.
• Texas A&M entered Saturday’s game with seven sacks on the season and registered six against the Hogs.
•
Junior DE Landis Durham finished the game with 2.0 quarterback sacks,
the most by an Aggie in a game this season. The Plano native entered
the day with 1.5 sacks in his career. The defensive end leads the
Aggies with 3.5 sacks this year.
• Junior LB and 12th Man Cullen Gillispia’s critical 14-yard kickoff return was his second of the season.
• Junior PK Daniel LaCamera connected on 8-of-8 placekicks with three field goals and five extra points (14 points).
•
LaCamera increased Texas A&M’s school record for consecutive
successful extra points to 219, which is the second-longest streak in
FBS (behind Michigan’s 293 entering today).
GAME CAPTAINS, 12TH MAN
•
Game captains for the Aggies were Cullen Gillaspia, Christian Kirk,
Trayveon Williams and Armani Watts. Arkansas won the toss and
deferred their choice to the second half. Texas A&M received the
opening kickoff.
• The Aggies’ 12th Man representative was junior LB Cullen Gillaspia (Katy, Texas) in his 17th straight start.
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