Texas A&M
4-1 , 4-1
Arkansas
2-3 , 2-3
No. 8 Football Wins Ninth Straight over Arkansas
Oct 31, 2020 | Football
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Kellen Mond threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns as eighth-ranked Texas A&M built a big lead and held on for a 42-31 victory over Arkansas on Saturday night, extending its winning streak over the Razorbacks to nine games.
Jalen Wydermyer had a career-high 92 yards receiving with two touchdowns. Ainias Smith ran for a touchdown and caught a TD pass in the first half to help A&M win its third straight since losing to No. 2 Alabama.
Mond threw TD passes of 35, 6 and 15 yards. The senior added 32 yards rushing to give him 10,015 yards of total offense in his career, passing 2012 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel (9,989), who played just two seasons, for the most in school history.
The Aggies (4-1) led by 14 at halftime and scored two touchdowns in the third quarter while limiting the Razorbacks (2-3) to a field goal to make it 42-17 entering the fourth quarter.
Arkansas scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter on a reception by Treylon Burks and 14-yard run by Rakeem Boyd, but the deficit was to big to overcome.
Franks threw for 239 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 91 yards for Arkansas. Burks had 117 yards receiving and two scores.
Arkansas entered the game leading the country with 10 interceptions after grabbing six in its last game against Ole Miss. But the Razorbacks couldn't force any turnovers on Saturday and remained winless against the Aggies since 2011.
It was the first campus meeting between these teams since a game at Arkansas in 2013 after they played the last six games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
A.J. Reed made a 34-yard field goal in the third quarter to cut the Aggies' lead to 28-17 after missing two longer tries in the first half.
Mond's second touchdown throw to Wydermyer made it 35-17 with about 5 1/2 minutes left in the third. Freshman Devon Achane's 30-yard run later in the third pushed the lead to 25 points.
Burks put Arkansas up early when he grabbed a 6-yard TD pass on the team's first possession.
The Aggies tied it when Smith scored on a 35-yard reception later in the first quarter.
Smith got into the end zone again on A&M's next possession, this time running 15 yards for the score to make it 14-7 late in the first quarter.
Freshman safety Jalen Catalon was ejected for targeting on that drive after a helmet-to-helmet hit on Chase Lane after a 15-yard reception.
Mond's second TD pass was on a 6-yard reception by Wydermyer, which extended the lead to 21-7 about seven minutes before halftime.
Tyson Morris got the Razorbacks within seven with a 1-yard touchdown catch later in the second quarter. Burks had a 36-yard reception on fourth-and-2 two plays earlier to keep the drive alive.
Texas A&M made it 28-14 with a 16-yard scoring run by Isaiah Spiller with about a minute left in the first half. Arkansas had a chance to cut the deficit after that, but Reed missed a 49-yard field goal attempt — his second miss of the half.
Team Notes
- The Texas A&M offensive line made it four straight games, 144 pass attempts, without allowing a QB sack. The line has not allowed a sack since the second quarter of the season-opening win over Vanderbilt.
- The A&M defense has tallied 10.0 sacks in the last two games, while the offensive line has not allowed its opponent to get to the quarterback.
- The Aggies were 4-for-4 in the red zone against Arkansas, scoring a touchdown on each trip.
- For the first time this season A&M saw four different players score a touchdown (A. Smith 2, J. Wydermyer 2, D. Achane 1, I. Spiller 1). It was also the first time three different Aggies have scored a rushing touchdown in the same game.
- The Aggies remain unbeaten against Arkansas as SEC foes, earning their ninth straight victory over the Razorbacks.
- A&M’s 42 points in the win were the second-most points the team has scored against Arkansas at Kyle Field after putting up 58 points in the 2012 victory.
- This was the 35th meeting between the Aggies and Razorback in Bryan-College Station.
- Today’s captains against Arkansas were DL Micheal Clemons, OL Carson Green and OL Ryan McCollum.
Individual Notes
- Senior QB Kellen Mond added a fourth Texas A&M career record to his resume as he became the program’s all-time leader in total offense. His 292 yards in the game moved his career total to 10,015 yards. Mond also holds the all-time career school record for passing yards (8,623), completions (714) and attempts (1,217).
- Mond is the only player in program history and the 12thplayer in SEC history to tally over 10,000 total yards in their career.
- Mond moved into second all-time on A&M’s all-time career passing touchdowns list as his three scoring passes in the game matched his regulation career high and brought his career total to 64.
- With his 26th career victory as a starting quarterback, Mond took sole possession of second on A&M’s all-time list (26-13), sitting only behind Corey Pullig (1992-95), who boasts a 33-6-1 record.
- For the first time in his career, sophomore RB Ainias Smith scored a receiving and rushing touchdown in the same game after hauling in a 35-yard pass to get A&M on the board and later running the ball 15 yards to house to give the Aggies the lead at the end of the first quarter.
- Mond was 21-for-26 on the night, good for a career-best 80.8 completion percentage.
- Sophomore TE Jaylen Wydermyer recorded the second multi-touchdown game of his career, scoring his first touchdown of the season midway through the second quarter, bringing in a 6-yard pass from Mond, and adding his second on a 15-yard reception in the third quarter.
- Wydermyer racked up a career high with 92 receiving yards, topping the 82 he logged against Alabama earlier this season.
- Freshman RB Devon Achane broke away for a 30-yard run to the end zone for the first score of his young career.
- Senior LB Buddy Johnson matched his career high with 12 tackles against the Razorbacks. He has led the Aggies in the category in all five games this season and tallied double-digit tackles in a game six times in his career.
- Sophomore S Demani Richardson passed the 100 career tackles mark in just 17 games played with seven on the night to move his career total to 102 takedowns.
- Senior S Keldrick Carper also passed the century mark in career tackles after setting a new season high with five in the game.
- Junior WR Hezekiah Jones made the start against Arkansas, appearing in his first game for the Aggies since the 2018 season after missing 2019 due to injury.
- Freshman McKinnley Jackson made the first start of his career against Arkansas, he has played in all five games this season. Jackson’s classmate Isaiah Raikes made his collegiate debut against Arkansas.
Gallery: Football vs. Arkansas
Postgame Quotes: Head Coach Jimbo Fisher
- Opening Statement… “First of all, I’m very proud of our team. The competitive nature of our group was very good. We didn’t get a score on the first drive and then they scored and had the momentum. They took it straight down, but answering back was huge. Then we got a stop and answered back again. We scored on six straight drives with six straight touchdowns. I thought our offense competitively kept matching their intensity. The defense kept getting its feet on the ground. [Arkansas] moved it, but we got a couple of stops in the red zone. Our competitive nature to keep matching and keep playing, no matter the circumstance: play the next play, play the situation. It was very good, so I’m proud of our guys. The Southwest Classic is big, and a rivalry game like this is always a dog fight. I’m very proud of the way our guys competed. We scored points, didn’t have turnovers and the defense did what it had to do in order to get the win.”
- On what Hezekiah Jones’ return brought to the lineup… “He brings the experience to do different things. He’s been in games and he’s played well. It was great to get him out there and play him. He also brings the option of being able to move guys around and move him around, because he knows all of the positions too. You can game plan for guys and get matchups and things that you want to do. That was very big for us getting him back.”
- On Kellen Mond’s progression this season… “I know what he can do, and I know that he can do it. I’ve always believed in Kellen, and I’ve always felt very good about him. He keeps growing and growing each and every week, and he keeps playing better and better. We’re going to do what we do based off of what we see in practice, and I’ve always thought that he is a heck of a football player.”
- On the team’s defensive effort… “I’ve seen Myles [Jones] make a couple of big picks, and he almost had a big pick right there at the end. I wish he could’ve held on to that one, but he played very well. Those guys were all making a ton of plays. Defensively, we are very opportunistic. [Arkansas] moved the football, but we got some critical stops in the red zone down there right before the half. We’re just going to keep getting better and better there, and hopefully keep growing.”
- On the offensive line’s continued success after the bye week… “We just fundamentally got back and did what we had to do. We had two holding penalties on one drive, and we still overcame that and scored a touchdown. That doesn’t happen very often. Our offensive line is getting better and better. They play physically. One of the things that I think is critical, is that our center [Ryan McCollum] and all those guys up there communicate effectively. They know what is going to happen before it happens. In turn, that allows your technique to get better and better. That allows us to physically run the ball, and then Kellen [Mond] is able to read things and put us in the right place. It’s a combination of everything, but it all starts with the offensive line.”
Team Stats
ARK 7, TAMU 0
ARK - Treylon Burks 6 yd pass from Feleipe Franks (AJ Reed kick) 12 plays, 87 yards, TOP 4:49
ARK 7, TAMU 7
TAMU - Smith,Ainias 35 yd pass from Mond,Kellen (Small,Seth kick) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:12
ARK 7, TAMU 14
TAMU - Smith,Ainias 15 yd run (Small,Seth kick), 4 plays, 58 yards, TOP 2:22
ARK 7, TAMU 21
TAMU - Wydermyer,Jalen 6 yd pass from Mond,Kellen (Small,Seth kick) 11 plays, 69 yards, TOP 5:35
ARK 14, TAMU 21
ARK - Tyson Morris 1 yd pass from Feleipe Franks (AJ Reed kick) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:30
ARK 14, TAMU 28
TAMU - Spiller,Isaiah 6 yd run (Small,Seth kick), 7 plays, 74 yards, TOP 3:00
ARK 17, TAMU 28
ARK - AJ Reed 34 yd field goal 11 plays, 58 yards, TOP 4:38
ARK 17, TAMU 35
TAMU - Wydermyer,Jalen 15 yd pass from Mond,Kellen (Small,Seth kick) 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 5:00
ARK 17, TAMU 42
TAMU - Achane,Devon 30 yd run (Small,Seth kick), 6 plays, 68 yards, TOP 2:36
ARK 24, TAMU 42
ARK - Treylon Burks 16 yd pass from Feleipe Franks (AJ Reed kick) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:47
ARK 31, TAMU 42
ARK - Rakeem Boyd 14 yd run (AJ Reed kick), 6 plays, 69 yards, TOP 1:29
