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Hogs shouldn’t judge loss at A&M by expectations week before game

The Razorbacks didn’t get any mistakes from Texas A&M that many fans were expecting and Barry Odom’s defense almost requires to produce a win.

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Last week everyone was expecting Arkansas’ resurging team to roll through Texas A&M with the momentum they had built in a 2-2 start.

Nobody considered Aggies quarterback Kellen Mond having a career night playing with the most patience and discipline he’s ever had against the Razorbacks.

A&M looked like a team that might sneak into the College Football Playoff. Some of the talking heads on the national networks even suggested that as a possibility … if they win the rest of their games.

When you look at that, it’s not as bad as it appears.

The Hogs basically squandered a possible 14 points in the Red Zone at a time when the entire complexion of the game could have been changed. It probably wouldn’t have mattered because A&M basically backed off the throttle in the fourth quarter, but it’s a point to consider.

The bottom line was a Hogs’ defense that basically requires impatience and bad decisions didn’t get a single thing from Mond. The Aggies also have a tight end that was a matchup nightmare in Jalen Wydermyer.

At 6-foot-5, 265 pounds with great hands, well, Barry Odom is going to struggle to scheme a way to shut him down. Jimbo Fisher and his staff probably figured that out and Mond just had to throw it high in that direction. The odds were in A&M’s favor.

It also didn’t help when Hogs safety Jalen Catalon got thrown out of the game on a correct targeting call in the first quarter. True freshman Myles Slusher was also questionable going into the game but the guess is that made a difference.

The area that, once again, came up lacking was special teams where two field goals were missed. Those would have been huge to sort of keep pace with the Aggies’ offense.

And the offense stalling in the Red Zone.

Some fans are still screaming about play-calling, but that’s the most over-rated aspect of offense these days in my opinion. Execution is far more important, particularly with all the post-snap reads Feleipe Franks has to make.

Arkansas isn’t good enough to overcome a key missed block or a blown assignment very often in the red zone.

Defensively, they live on making teams pay for mistakes.

Saturday night, the Aggies didn’t turn the ball over and just overall avoided shooting themselves in the foot.

Fans were counting on that. It was a logical expectation because Mond had done it for three straight years against the Hogs.

Not this time.

But it wasn’t all bad and the best news of all is it means absolutely nothing this week against Tennessee.

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2024 Razorbacks Football

Thu, Aug 29vs UAPB (Little Rock)W, 70-0
Sat, Sep 7@ Oklahoma StateL, 31-39 2OT
Sat, Sep 14vs UABW, 37-27
Sat, Sep 21@ AuburnW, 24-14
Sat, Sep 28vs Texas A&M (Arl)L, 21-17
Sat, Oct 5vs TennesseeW, 19-14
Sat, Oct 19vs LSUL, 34-10
Sat, Oct 26@ Mississippi StateW, 58-25
Sat, Nov 2vs Ole Miss11:00 AM
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Sat, Nov 16vs Texas11:00 AM
Sat, Nov 23vs Louisiana TechTBD
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Sat, Nov 30@ MissouriTBD
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2024 High School Rankings

Following is the Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll including the Overall Top 10, the top five in Classes 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, plus the top three in the 8-man division, as voted by a panel of sports media from around the state for the week ending August 24. Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and ranking from last week's poll:
OVERALLRecordPtsPrv
1.Bryant (18)8-02521
2.Conway (6)8-02302
3.Greenwood (2)8-02103
4.Little Rock Parkview7-11714
5.Bentonville5-31416
6.Benton7-11265
7.Fayetteville6-21008
8.Pulaski Academy6-2757
9.Rogers5-3459
10.Shiloh Christian6-24010
Others receiving votes: Marion 13, Valley View 9, Joe T Robinson 8, Mountain Home 4, Cabot 3, Elkins 3.
CLASS 7A
1.Bryant (20)8-01241
2.Conway (6)8-01052
3.Bentonville5-3753
4.Fayetteville6-2455
5.Pulaski Academy6-2354
Others receiving votes: Rogers 5.
CLASS 6A
1.Greenwood (26)8-01301
2.Benton7-11022
3.Shiloh Christian6-2713
4.Marion7-1524
5.Mountain Home7-131
Others receiving votes: Little Rock Catholic 4.
CLASS 5A
1.Little Rock Parkview (23)7-11271
2.Joe T Robinson7-1902
3.Valley View (3)8-0803
4.Hot Springs Lakeside7-1484
5.Farmington7-130
Others receiving votes: Camden Fairview 4, Maumelle 4, Morrilton 3, Greenbrier 2, Harding Academy 1.
CLASS 4A
1.Elkins (19)8-01161
2.Arkadelphia (5)6-2792
3.Little Rock Mills (1)8-0703
4.Warren6-2404
5.Malvern (1)8-0315
Others receiving votes: Dardanelle 22, Southside Batesville 11, Mena 8, Bauxite 7, DeWitt 4, Highland 2.
CLASS 3A
4.Bismarck (15)8-01054
5.Fordyce (4)8-0765
Prescott (3)7-1531t
1.Osceola (2)6-149
3.Mayflower (1)8-036
Others receiving votes: Booneville (1) 31, Rivercrest 19, Mansfield 14, Charleston 4, Rison 3.
CLASS 2A
1.Carlisle (21)8-01211
2.Conway Christian (4)8-01042
3.Des Arc7-1663
4.Bigelow (1)6-2455
5.Murfreesboro6-230
Others receiving votes: Marked Tree 10, Mineral Springs 6, Junction City 5, Cross County 1, Mount Ida 1, Poyen 1
8-MAN SANCTIONED
1.Strong-Huttig (25)5-0761
2.Midland (1)7-0502
3.Cedar Ridge7-1253
Others receiving votes: Rector 5.

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ESPN ARKANSAS 99.5 IN FAYETTEVILLE, 95.3 IN THE RIVER VALLEY, 96.3 IN HOT SPRINGS, 104.3 IN HARRISON-MOUNTAIN HOME.