ARLINGTON, Texas -- For three quarters, Arkansas' defense frustrated a Texas A&M offense that went into Saturday's game averaging an SEC-best 55.3 points and 612.5 yards in total yards.
Then came the rest of the game.
"We had them," said Arkansas senior defensive end Trey Flowers, shaking his head after No. 6 Texas A&M rallied to win 35-28 in overtime. "We just didn't finish."
The Aggies finished by outscoring the Razorbacks 21-0 in the fourth quarter and overtime period, erasing a 28-14 deficit.
"We tried to keep playing our game plan, but they're a good offense and they were able to make some plays at the end," Arkansas senior safety Alan Turner said. "When it was time for us to make plays, we didn't and they did.
"We just had some breakdowns at the end, and we can't let that happen."
The Aggies had 233 yards in total offense in the fourth quarter and overtime to finish with 523.
Texas A&M sophomore quarterback Kenny Hill threw touchdown passes of 86 yards to Edward Pope and 59 yards to Josh Reynolds in the fourth quarter to tie the game 28-28, then hit Malcome Kennedy on a 25-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime to put the Aggies ahead.
"As an offense, that's just how we work," Kennedy said. "We know we can score like that. We know it's gasoline to the fire. We can explode just like that, so we were just waiting for that moment."
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said the Aggies' big plays happened when the Razorbacks were caught looking at the wrong keys.
"We constantly talk on defense that your eyes will tell you everything you need to know," Bielema said. "But if your eyes are in the wrong spot and are looking at something you're not supposed to, they're turning into lying eyes, and that's exactly what happened on a couple of those key plays.
"To be quite honest, the part that's exciting about that is you eradicate those plays simply by keeping your eyes where they need to be and you play a lot of really good football."
Texas A&M center Mike Matthews said the Aggies didn't panic when they trailed by 14 points going into the fourth quarter and gained momentum when Pope's touchdown catch pulled them to within 28-21 with 11:59 left.
"We always knew we had a chance to come back, but that was the kick-start," Matthews said. "We were stalling out on every drive and that brought back the momentum to our side."
After the Aggies opened the game with a 49-yard touchdown drive, they had five punts, a missed field goal and were stopped on downs with one touchdown on their on their next six drives.
An interception by Arkansas cornerback Carroll Washington with 8:34 left provided a momentary reprieve for the Razorbacks, but Arkansas was forced to punt after three plays.
Three of the Razorbacks' final four possessions in the fourth quarter were for three plays.
"That's on us. We had too many three-and-outs," Arkansas senior offensive tackle Brey Cook said. "Our offense takes pride in taking care of that clock, and we didn't execute in the second half."
Turner said that on Kennedy's touchdown catch in overtime, he faked a block and then was able to slip over the middle and get behind the defense.
"I just saw him running wide open and said, 'I need to put it right on him,' " said Hill, who completed 21 of 41 passes for 386 yards and 4 touchdowns. "Their defender got there late and I fit it in to him. He took care of the rest."
Kennedy said the Aggies ran the play several times in the game, but once he couldn't make the catch and other times the Razorbacks covered it well. He said he didn't know why it worked in overtime.
"Kenny was patient in the pocket," Kennedy said. "I saw him. He looked me down."
Kennedy praised Hill's poise as the Aggies struggled through the first three quarters.
"He didn't sulk, he never pointed fingers at anybody," Kennedy said. "If anything, it was like 'My fault, my bad.'
"That's what a leader has to do. He knew we would wake up and start playing like we were supposed to play."
Sports on 09/28/2014