First Half Recap: A tale of two quarters leaves Arkansas with slim lead over Texas A&M
Despite dominating the stat sheet in the first half, No. 10 Arkansas holds on to a one-point advantage over No. 20 Texas A&M, 14-13 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Arkansas holds a 280-152 advantage in the yards department, and even held Texas A&M quarterback Max Johnson to 51 yards passing in the half, but the first half was all about momentum.
Arkansas opened the game by scoring two quick touchdowns, but the Aggies went on to take momentum away halfway through the second quarter thanks to a long scoring drive, and a returned fumble for a touchdown.
The Razorbacks got off to a strong start. Arkansas forced Texas A&M to punt after their first three plays and used that opportunity to strike first. K.J. Jefferson broke open a 26-yard run on 3rd down and 1 from Arkansas’ 42-yard line, which set up a 32-yard touchdown pass to Ketron Jackson to cap a five-play, 69-yard drive with 9:44 remaining in the opening quarter to move ahead, 7-0.
The next possession worked out just as easily for the Razorbacks. After stopping the Aggies again on just three plays, Arkansas’ offense quickly moved down the field to set up another long touchdown pass with 5:25 remaining in the first quarter. This time, Jefferson was able to spot Warren Thompson for a 56 yard pass to extend the lead to 14-0. The score was Jefferson’s eighth touchdown pass of the season, and Thompson’s 2nd touchdown catch of the year.
Jefferson ended the quarter as the team’s leading passer and rusher. He completed 4-of-7 passes for 99 yards and two scores while rushing for an additional 41 yards as the Razorbacks took a 14-0 lead into the second quarter. The Razorbacks accumulated 184 total yards in the quarter.
The Aggies slowed down the Razorbacks to open the second quarter. They forced Arkansas to punt on their next two possessions, and took their second possession of the quarter for a 93-yard drive, and their first score of the game. Texas A&M’s Max Johnson threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to receiver Evan Stewart with 8:45 to go in the first half to trim Arkansas’ lead to 14-7.
Texas A&M’s next score came in a bizarre way. Arkansas drove the football to the Texas A&M three-yard-line. On first and goal, Jefferson attempted to dive over the line for a score. However, he made contact with the front and fumbled the football. The Aggies recovered, and returned the turnover for a 97-yard touchdown. The attempted extra point was botched, which allowed Arkansas to keep the lead, 14-13 inside four minutes remaining in the first half.
Jefferson ended the first half with 126 passing yards on eight completions. Thompson was Jefferson’s leading receiver with 52 yards on two catches. In his first game back from injury, dominique johnson recorded four carries for 28 yards. Defensively, Bumper Pool and Myles Slusher lead the team with four tackles. Drew Sanders and Zach Williams combined to record a sack in the first half.
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Twitter: "KJ Jefferson is who people think Anthony Richardson is"
