ARLINGTON, Texas -- Arkansas' football team needs a break mentally as well as physically after suffering a 35-28 overtime loss to No. 6 Texas A&M on Saturday at AT&T Stadium.
The Razorbacks (3-2, 0-2 SEC) will get it with an open date this week before resuming conference play against No. 3 Alabama on Oct. 11 in Fayetteville.
It appeared -- for most of the game -- that Arkansas would become the seventh SEC West team to be nationally ranked when the polls were released Sunday. But the Razorbacks couldn't make a 28-14 lead stand up in the fourth quarter as the Aggies rallied to hand Arkansas a 14th consecutive SEC loss.
"We can't let them beat us twice," defensive end Trey Flowers said. "We've got to go into this off week, prepare for Alabama and just keep our heads up."
Coach Bret Bielema said he likes how the schedule sets up for the Razorbacks with five games and an open date, four games and an open date, then three games to finish the regular season.
"If we do what we're capable of doing, maybe we'll have a chance to play in another game," Bielema said, referring to a bowl berth. "It really is laid out as good as we possibly can.
"You couldn't ask for anything more. So we'll take full advantage of it."
Arkansas had several opportunities to put away the Aggies (5-0, 2-0) but couldn't do it.
"We fell short, but you've got to stay with it," Flowers said. "Learn from your mistakes."
Arkansas was penalized eight times for 76 yards, with two flags wiping out big plays. Offensive tackle Dan Skipper's second-quarter holding penalty negated a 34-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Allen to Hunter Henry. Skipper's fourth-quarter tripping penalty brought back Jonathan Williams' 55-yard run to the Aggies' 2.
John Henson missed a 44-yard field goal attempt that could have given Arkansas a 31-21 lead with 2:29 left. The offense had 3 three-and-out possessions in the fourth quarter and was stopped on fourth-and-1 on the game's final play. The defense yielded Kenny Hill touchdown passes for 86, 59 and 25 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime period.
"The penalties definitely hurt us, they brought some points off the board," said tight end A.J. Derby, whose 44-yard touchdown catch from Allen put Arkansas ahead 28-14 with 5:02 left in the third quarter. "But we've got to make up for that in the rest of the game.
"We just needed one more score. We never could get it."
Kevin Sumlin, 25-6 in his third season as Texas A&M'S coach, said he was impressed by the Razorbacks.
"That's a good team," Sumlin said. "They're vastly improved from a year ago."
Flowers said the Razorbacks, 3-9 overall and 0-8 in the SEC last season, know how far they've come, but don't want a moral victory.
Neither does Bielema.
"There were a lot of positive steps, but I didn't fly to Dallas to make a positive step," Bielema said. "I came here to win, and I think our players did, and to get that close and not have it, it's a critical week for us.
"We've got to get our guys healed up. A lot of broken hearts. The good thing is, these hearts can be mended if they're handled the right way."
Offensive tackle Brey Cook said the open date is perfectly timed for the Razorbacks.
"It's a tough game for all of us," he said. "We all played our hearts out, and we all didn't quite get it done.
"Now it's huge for us to take a day or two off and then come back and start getting ready to fight in this next SEC game."
Derby said he's confident the Razorbacks will bounce back, prepare well for Alabama and put together a good season.
"I think we're going to pick each other up and make it happen," Derby said.
Bielema said he knows fans invested a lot in Saturday's game and he apologized the Razorbacks weren't able to bring home a victory.
"But there are a lot of good things coming," Bielema said. "This could be a very exciting time ahead of us."
Sports on 09/29/2014