Tough Loss Stings But Don’t Jump Off Bandwagon Yet

Arkansas fought hard in a 42-31 loss to the eighth ranked team in the country, the Texas A&M Aggies. Throughout the game and after the game you could tell Arkansas social media became frustrated with what they saw on the field. Even some fans were seen mocking head coach Sam Pittman when he said his Razorbacks were “done embarrassing this state and university.”

First of all, I didn’t see a single player give up, I never saw a coach quit coaching his players on the sideline and I definitely never saw the Razorbacks go down without a fight.

We saw this sort of game in Eric Musselman’s first season with the Razorback men’s basketball team when they played on the road at Tennessee. They lost that night 82-61 but never stopped playing hard or embarrassed their school that night. Some nights you just don’t have it.

The Razorback offense was the best we have seen all season. They generated 461 yards of offense and Feliepe Franks did nearly all the damage himself with 330 yards of total offense. Franks was 23/31 passing for 239 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also had 91 yards rushing with a couple of 20 yard runs sprinkled throughout the game.

Rakeem Boyd came back rushing hard for 100 yards on 18 carries. He had a late touchdown to pull the Hogs within 11 before the clock hit zero.

The Razorback defense stiffened a little bit towards the start of the fourth quarter but it could’ve been due to the Aggies trying to run the clock out. The Aggies finished with 442 total yards and Kellen Mond was terrific, as usual, against the Razorbacks. Mond finished 21/26 for 260 yards and three touchdowns.

There were no special team gaffes this week either. The punt coverage was outstanding for the most part and kickoffs were never really allowed during this one. Most of those were sent through the endzone.

The game came down to who could execute their offense the best and it was Texas A&M. The Razorbacks left some points on the field tonight with two missed field goals. That was the ultimate difference in this ball game.

It’s not time to throw the towel in as a fan. It’s not the time to start throwing your players, coaches and football program under the bus. It’s definitely not time to panic. The best is yet to come.