Texas A&M shows a tougher side, pushes back with backs against the wall
ARLINGTON, Texas — If this continues, if this perfect season holds up, it’ll be 10 Arkansas plays run within 6 feet of Texas A&M’s end zone, space so narrow “you couldn't see between the ball and the goal line,” said Kevin Sumlin, that established the Aggies’ championship credentials.
First, some math. The combined weight — the listed weight, which has little basis in reality — of Arkansas’ starting offensive line is 1,566 pounds, a total roughly equal to two baby grand pianos, though hardly as elegant. They are the program’s heartbeat.
Next, some history. Kevin Sumlin’s program has been identified far more with finesse and flash than with meat and potatoes, earning the Aggies a dreaded label — soft — and an unwanted reputation: If you push A&M, opponents have felt, they won’t push back.
So the offensive front blazed Arkansas’ trail to the doorstep of A&M’s end zone early in the second quarter. First down, 2 yards to go, the game tied at sevens: short gain. Second down: loss of seven. Third down: pass interference. Let’s do it again.
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No gain. No gain. On third down, Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen rolled to his right, was walloped — bruising his chest muscle, an injury that would linger — and nearly was intercepted. The Razorbacks kicked the field goal, taking a 10-7 lead, but it was a win for the Aggies.
In third quarter, with the score knotted 17-17, Arkansas began near its own end zone and again drove to the Aggies’ goal line. First down, again, 2 yards to go, again. Short gain. No gain. No gain. Loss of five. Turnover on downs.
“I mean, on the goal line, we don't even want them to get that far on the field,” said A&M defensive end Daeshon Hall. “It is just a brotherhood. We weren't going to give up on the play. Everybody was playing for each other. We executed, and we got a big-time goal-line stop.”
Two plays later, quarterback Trevor Knight lofted a pass down the right sideline to wide receiver Josh Reynolds, who broke one tackle and sprinted into the end zone for a 92-yard touchdown. Ballgame.
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This is a microcosm, a snapshot, of who the Aggies want to be: Often derided as soft, flimsy and predictably unreliable, Texas A&M has rediscovered — or just discovered, period — a formula that blends offensive firepower with a level of defensive fortitude entirely absent during the program’s post-Manziel malaise.
The Aggies are, in a word, legitimate. Bad teams quit when Arkansas’ offensive line knocks on their front door. Good teams try but fail. Teams that can win national championships take the Razorbacks’ best shot — for example, a 19-play, 89-yard, nearly 10-minute drive — and don’t give an inch.
This hasn’t been A&M, which spent the past two years near the bottom of the SEC West Division, but it was on Saturday night. Whether this can be maintained will decide the rest of the regular season. What’s undeniable: For Texas A&M, simply doing so on one night here at AT&T Stadium breathes life into this program.
This growth can be credited to a combination of coaching and experience, Sumlin said, “and good players.”
But the Aggies have never lacked for talent. What they lacked was the undefinable — grit, heart, toughness or another cheap cliché, but it was missing, and never more evidently so than against teams that prided themselves on the intangibles.
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“The big thing for me is we've been in those situations,” Sumlin said, “and, you know, I've seen our guys' just body language, demeanor, guys start pointing fingers, just give up.”
This was the sort of win that can change perceptions. Arkansas is a throwback, with a blueprint passed from Bob Devaney to Tom Osborne to Haden Fry to, finally, Bret Bielema, with his deep and unbending faith in 20th century fundamentals. In the past, this team — not this specific team, but others from a similar cloth — have steamrolled over A&M, sometimes in embarrassing fashion.
Ten plays tell the story of the Aggies’ development. Maybe A&M isn’t soft; maybe the program hasn’t lost its way, trading an underdog label for hype, signing-day championships and lobby waterfalls. A team this talented and a team this strong where it counts, nose to nose with an offensive line of Arkansas’ caliber, can only be considered a valid championship contender.
But the Aggies have been here before. The past two teams started 5-0 but finished 8-5, each ensuing collapse lessening Sumlin’s job security heading into a make-or-break season. Why should this year be any different?
An optimist would point to Knight, the former Oklahoma transfer whose steadiness and leadership provide a stark counterpoint to the program’s recent play at the position. The same optimist would cite defensive coordinator John Chavis, the architect of title-winning units at Tennessee and LSU now in his second full season with the Aggies, and a rising level of experience.
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“We're just older,” Hall said. “We're just together. We trust each other. And we trust each other that everybody's going to do their job. And when everybody does their job, we make stops.”
A realist suggests that A&M is good — very good, maybe — but not good enough to beat Alabama. Well, join the club: Alabama is the king. A&M is just part of the Crimson Tide’s court, jealously eyeing the crown like so many others inside and out of the Southeastern Conference.
The Tide are coming fast, following dates with South Carolina and Tennessee, and they’re bringing not just the Razorbacks’ physical presence but more talent than any team this side of Sundays. The last time the Aggies tripped to Tuscaloosa the bottom fell out — a humiliating 59-0 loss that rocked the program to its core.
Many have bought into A&M before and been burned. The Aggies themselves have believed but been revealed as frauds. But on Saturday night, with its back to the wall, A&M didn’t fold; the Aggies pushed back. Maybe it’s safe to believe the hype.
“It's not just that we have great players, but we have great team unity,” Knight said. “And, you know, down the stretch, when you are facing adversity, it's nice to look a guy in the eye and know that he's got your back.”
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