CLAY HENRY: Beating Aggies would be huge for Pittman

Do fans circle dates on their calendar? Do football coaches and players circle dates?

I dislike the University of Texas as much as anyone in Arkansas (and probably much more than most). So Nov. 16 was colored in with a yellow highlight marker as soon as the 2024 Trout Unlimited calendar arrived. That’s the date for the first SEC game between the Hogs and Longhorns.

It does my heart good when Texas football, Texas basketball and Texas baseball suck. I’ve said that so often on the radio that when I make a new friend, they often repeat it. They probably want me to know they are right there with me. They know my inner soul.

But I don’t mind that Texas is No. 1. I hope they hold that ranking until they make it to Fayetteville. Beating them when they are No. 1 is better than peanut butter and jelly.

But despite what some might believe, the Texas game is not the only one marked on my 2024 calendar as ultra important. For many reasons, I always mark the Texas A&M game, too.

For starters, it’s a trip my wife likes. Jean Ann loves to shop the old square in McKinney. There are six or seven great antique stores. We’ve stayed there for the A&M trip for many years. It has often coincided with an Oktoberfest Celebration.

I don’t dislike the Aggies like the Longhorns, so this Saturday’s trip to Arlington, Texas to play A&M is marked for a different reason. It’s just important.

I’ve had many tell me that the Oklahoma State trip was the one they circled behind Texas. It wasn’t for me.

I knew the Hogs would have a difficult time winning against a team with most of its starters returning. Looking back, the Hogs played against OSU a lot like a completely new team should play in its first road game of the season. They made too many mistakes.

In my mind, the Razorbacks weren’t supposed to win in Stillwater, although they should have with the way they dominated most areas of the game. But just like Auburn found out, you can’t win with critical turnovers.

Turnovers are like what Baker Mayfield said about Dickson Street: They (turnovers and Dickson Street) will get you.

It doesn’t matter if you win the line of scrimmage. It doesn’t matter if you can run the ball, the great barometer for me in SEC football. If you turn it over, you are doomed.

Arkansas somehow hung around for almost three quarters last year in Arlington before the Aggies pulled away for a 34-22 victory. The clinching play was a pick six interception thrown by KJ Jefferson with 36 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Hogs looked poised to beat the Aggies two years ago. They had the better team, but A&M got a gift touchdown when Jefferson jumped into the air well short of the goal line. The ball was swatted loose and the Aggies grabbed momentum with an 82-yard fumble return for a touchdown. The Hogs dominated the fourth quarter, but fell 23-21 when Cam Little’s field goal bounced off the upright.

So why did I circle the A&M game as important? I thought it was a winnable game. Wins are hard to come by in the SEC. The Aggies lack playmakers and electric quarterback play. Any team without a star at quarterback is beatable. Ask Auburn.

Arkansas has that at QB in Taylen Green. He has made too many mistakes, but he’s also capable of pulling a rabbit out of the hat even when things go wrong. He is electric. Plus, I feel it in my soul that he’s going to get better as Bobby Petrino continues to mold and correct the 6-6 monster he calls an “outlier.”

So what is an outlier? The Oxford dictionary gives us this: a person or thing differing from all other members of a particular group or set.

It’s only a guess, but I think Petrino meant that Green’s running ability along with that 6-6 frame make him like no one else in college football. He’s got some lightning. For the record, Petrino loves outliers at quarterback.

It’s Green that gives Arkansas hope this week. The Aggies might be more physical in the offensive and defensive line, but they don’t have a playmaker like Green. They don’t have another outlier.

There is another reason I highlighted this game. I thought it would be the critical game for Sam Pittman’s future.

I thought the Hogs would probably win at Auburn. With a victory over A&M, they might need only one more SEC victory to get to a bowl game. The Mississippi State game is more than winnable. The Hogs may be favored by two scores when they go to Starkville on Oct. 26.

I bet Pittman and his staff know the importance of this week. There are great chances for sweet upsets ahead, but this is a game that sets up well for the Hogs.

Arkansas might be sitting pretty for the LSU game, too. That comes on Oct. 19 after an open date. LSU will be coming off a rivalry game against Ole Miss. It’s not as great a scenario as the Hogs had when LSU was coming off Alabama week before Arkansas games, but it’s still good. Ole Miss is more of an LSU rival than Arkansas.

It goes without saying that the other open date for the Hogs is perfect, ahead of the Texas game. The Longhorns play Florida the week ahead of the trip to the Ozarks.

I’m wondering what tricks Petrino has saved for this week. I hated that he had to use one of his special goal line plays to clinch the victory over UAB. That sweep left by Green (with touchdown maker Ja’Quinden Jackson split near the right boundary) had to be something that should have been saved.

That Green touchdown run put on display the kind of athleticism everyone raved about in the spring. It featured the key newcomer in the line, Fernando Carmona. What the left tackle did to set the edge was remarkably athletic. He beat Green to the boundary, turned his hips and walled off the pursuit. NFL scouts will highlight that play when talking up Carmona’s draft status. He’s as good as advertised.

Petrino loves Carmona. He told me in June that he was already convinced the San Jose State transfer will play in the NFL.

I bet Petrino is excited to be playing the Aggies. He was open about the frustration last year having to call plays with a system set up by head coach Jimbo Fisher. He had to learn the terminology installed by Fisher.

Money makes for strange bedfellows because you would not think Petrino would agree to such an arrangement.

I expect great effort from the Razorbacks. Playing in AT&T Stadium excites players. There are key Texans on the UA roster. Green is from Lewisville. Jackson hails from Duncanville. Defensive studs Landon Jackson (Texarakana) and Jaylon Braxton (Frisco) are from Texas, too.

If you think going home isn’t a big thing, I point to T.J. Metcalf’s explosion last week at Auburn. The Birmingham, Ala., product earned the starting safety job many thought would go to Hudson Clark when he was healthy. It won’t after Metcalf picked off two passes, caused a fumble and broke up two more passes.

The Hogs have the talent to beat the Aggies straight up. But there will be some places that the Aggies have up, up and away talent. The key matchup is the A&M defensive line against Green’s blockers. Can the Hogs get a stalemate there, just enough to let Green do his thing?

For Arkansas to win, they have to eliminate the mistakes that made them look average the last three weeks.

They have to play like a team that circled this game just like I did when my calendar arrived last winter.