Texas A&M Football: Key storylines from the first week of SEC play
1. Kevin Sumlin‘s seat is cooling off
There is still a long way to go and Sumlin isn’t completely off the hot seat yet, but his seat is definitely cooler than it was a week ago. A win like this one is big time for such a young team.
After struggling in weeks two and three there was worry that Arkansas (1-2, 0-1) would get their first win in six years against Texas A&M (3-1, 1-0) in Jerry World. For a while, it looked like those fears were founded.
The Razorbacks held a 21-7 lead in the second quarter before a Kellen Mond 89 yard touchdown run was called back thanks to an awful blown call by the refs. Instead, the Aggies had to settle for a field goal. That could have been a back breaker for a young team still trying to find an identity. Instead, the Aggies found a way to stay calm and battled back to get the win.
When Arkansas took the lead on a 44 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Austin Allen and a successful two-point conversion, the magical Christian Kirk responded with a 100 yard kick-off return to give the Aggies back the lead.
When the Razorbacks retook the lead with 3:39 left in the in the game, 12th Man Cullen Gillaspia returned a pooch kickoff to plus-territory. That allowed the Aggies to tie the game in the final 10 seconds.
In overtime, Mond hit Kirk for a 10 yard touchdown that would put the Aggies up for good. Armani Watts intercepted Hogs’ quarterback on the ensuing possession to seal the 50-43 victory for the Aggies.