FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas had a chance to keep Saturday’s game from spiraling before halftime, but a stretch of self-inflicted mistakes opened the door for Texas A&M and the Aggies never let go in a 34-7 rout.
The Razorbacks were down 14-7 in the second quarter when their defense forced Texas A&M into a field goal, trimming what could have been a bigger hole. Instead, Arkansas gave the possession back with a too many men on the field penalty during the field goal attempt. Then, after what looked like another stop on third and goal, a defensive holding flag erased it.
Three plays later, Texas A&M finished the drive in the end zone. The 13-play, 63-yard march ate up 8:12, and seven of those snaps came inside the 10-yard line.
That sequence fit the day for Arkansas, which piled up mistakes and watched the game get away from it.
After the Hogs went three and out, Texas A&M drilled a 57-yard field goal to carry a 24-7 lead into halftime. The Aggies scored again on their opening possession of the third quarter to make it 31-7, and a goal line stand by the Texas A&M defense ended any real chance of a comeback.
Ryan Silverfield didn’t hide his frustration afterward.
"When I took this job... people said, 'Man, we just want to see fight from the team," head coach Ryan Silverfield said. "Look, we got our butts kicked tonight, and it's not good enough... we will be better, and if I know anything about Arkansas fans, they believe, and they're a bunch of fighters.
And, just keep believing in us. Keep showing up.
Show up next Saturday.
"I love our fans. They should be mad. I'm pissed off myself."
The penalty for 12 men on the field was one of several costly errors that Silverfield called out.
"A four-point swing. Can't happen," Silverfield said. "That's on coaches... cannot, cannot happen, and you got to learn from it and never let it happen again."
Quarterback KJ Jackson had a rough night after solid outings against Georgia and Tulsa. His first drive ended with a bad interception on an overthrown ball intended for Antonio Jordan, and his struggles continued from there.
Silverfield said there was no consideration of going to AJ Hill, who had seen meaningful snaps against Georgia.
"Obviously, KJ's opening drive wasn't good enough," Silverfield said. "Missed read and a bad throw. He had some more misreads throughout the game and some poor decisions with the football... there was never thought about removing him."
Jackson finished 13-of-25 for 111 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Arkansas is now 2-3 overall and 0-2 in SEC play. The Razorbacks will face No.
17 Tennessee, which is 4-1 and 1-1 in the league, at 3:15 p.m. inside Razorback Stadium on Oct. 10.
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