Arkansas’ Sam Pittman adds Jimbo Fisher to Texas’ coaches he’s out coached | Opinion

Less than one month into the college football season, the entire state of Texas has been eliminated from consideration for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Sorry SMU, but as both TCU and Baylor can attest, the playoff committee will only permit Texas and Texas A&M into its club, and both Bevo and Reveille are done for in 2021.

These two overrated programs deserve each other, and are ideal bunkmates when they are both in the SEC. They have so many things in common.

Maybe if they combine rosters they can beat Arkansas.

Not Alabama. Not Auburn.

Arkansas.

And you can’t spell Arkansas without “kansas.”

On Saturday at AT&T Stadium, Arkansas whipped its third opponent from Texas already this season, and we have not even reached October. No. 16 Arkansas slapped around No. 7 Texas A&M like it was Texas, and won 20-10.

Arkansas is 4-0 with wins over Rice, UT and A&M by the combined score of 90-48. Thank God the Hogs aren’t playing the Cowboys.

What Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman has done to Steve Sarkisian and now Jimbo Fisher in less than one month should frustrate every Longhorn and Aggie fan.

Whereas watching Arkansas beat up Texas, 40-21, on Sept. 11 in Fayetteville was awkward, what the Hogs did to the Aggies was embarrassing.

Texas is in the eighth year and third coach of a rebuild, so we were all prepared to watch UT lose at Arkansas.

The Hogs fans at AT&T Stadium were still so drunk from that win — or maybe the previous evening — they flashed “Horns Down” so frequently on Saturday that somewhere former UT coach Tom Herman was seething.

Flashing “Thumbs Down” is just not as much fun as “Horns Down.” Beating Texas A&M is not as much fun as Texas, but the Aggies were supposed to be the best of the entire state.

This was not supposed to happen.

Because of superior recruiting. Because of superior coaching. Because it’s in a superior conference.

It was, and is, all a load.

It happened on Saturday because Pittman out-coached Jimbo Fisher, who once again doesn’t look so smart without a top quarterback.

Arkansas does not have a top quarterback and its 4-0.

The loss of Aggies starting quarterback Haynes King to an early season injury should not be this debilitating to a top-10 team.

But it is because Texas A&M is not a top-10 team.

Between the loss of King to injury, and the departures of what essentially amounts to the entire offensive line from last season, A&M’s offense looks like Mike Sherman is running things again.

The Aggies do not look like a team whose head coach who was recently given an extension for absolutely no reason so he will make more than $9 million a year through 2031.

Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher allegedly put together all of these top-10 recruiting classes with enough depth that the team could deal with a departure or two, or injury, and be successful.

Not enough to beat an Alabama, but certainly whip up on ol’ Arkansas.

Nope.

Just like his tenure at Florida State, Jimbo is only as good as his quarterback.

He had dominant teams in Tallahassee when his quarterbacks were Christian Ponder, E.J. Manuel and Jameis Winston, all of whom were first-round NFL draft picks.

Jimbo had his best team at A&M last season with four-year starting quarterback Kellen Mond, who was a third-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings this spring.

With backup quarterback Zach Calzada now starting, the Aggies are struggling. They were lucky to score 10 points against Arkansas.

The Hogs led 17-0 late in the first half, but the Aggies actually cut the deficit to a touchdown on running back Isaiah Spiller’s 67-yard scoring run in the third quarter.

Arkansas had quarterback issues of its own, and passed for 17 yards in the second half. Despite the Hogs’ best effort to give the game to the Aggies, Jimbo’s crew couldn’t take it.

With 12 minutes remaining in the game, Calzada’s tipped pass turned into an Arkansas interception that ultimately netted the Hogs a field goal for the final margin.

For the second time in four games Texas A&M scored but 10 points.

And for the eighth consecutive year the state of Texas will not have a team in the College Football Playoff.

Because our best teams can’t even beat Arkansas.