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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 MissL, 63-31
Sat, Nov 16vs TexasL, 20-10
Sat, Nov 23vs Louisiana Tech3:00 PM
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Sat, Nov 30@ Missouri2:30 PM
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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 (25)10-02681
2.Greenwood (2)10-02343
30Conway9-12022
4.Little Rock Parkview9-11714
5.Bentonville7-31625
6.Benton9-11486
7.Fayetteville8-21117
8.Pulaski Academy8-2898
9.Rogers7-3439
10.Joe T. Robinson9-122
Others receiving votes: Valley View 8, Mountain Home 7, Cabot 6, Little Rock Catholic 6, Shiloh Christian 6, Elkins 1, Farmington 1.
CLASS 7A
1.Bryant (27)10-01351
2.Conway9-11022
3.Bentonville7-3813
4.Fayetteville8-2454
5.Pulaski Academy8-2395
Others receiving votes: Rogers 3.
CLASS 6A
1.Greenwood (27)10-01351
2.Benton9-11082
3.Mountain Home8-2623
4.Shiloh Christian7-3494
5.Little Rock Catholic9-1345
Others receiving votes: Marion 6.
CLASS 5A
1.Little Rock Parkview (27)9-11351
2.Joe T. Robinson9-11062
3.Valley View10-0793
4.Farmington9-1484
5.Hot Springs Lakeside8-2205
Others receiving votes: Camden Fairview 7, Harding Academy 7, Morrilton 3.
CLASS 4A
1.Elkins (20)10-01261
3.Arkadelphia (5)8-2913
2.Little Rock Mills (1)10-0682
4.Warren8-2554
5.Dardanell (1)9-123
Southside Batesville10-023
Others receiving votes: Malvern 12, Gravette 5, Highland 2.
CLASS 3A
1.Bismarck (12)10-01051t
2.Fordyce (10)10-0961t
3.Prescott (1)9-1704
4.Osceola (2)8-1543
5.Booneville (1)9-1395
Others receiving votes: Mansfield (1) 23, Rivercrest 10, Rison 4, Salem 4.
CLASS 2A
1.Carlisle (20)10-01271
2.Conway Christian (7)10-01152
3.Des Arc8-2595
4.East Poinsett Co.7-352
5.Bigelow6-4183
Murfreesboro7-3184
Others receiving votes: Mount Ida 6, Junction City 4, Cross County 3, Poyen 3.
8-MAN SANCTIONED
1.Strong-Huttig (27)5-0811
2.Midland9-0532
3.Cedar Ridge8-1253
Others receiving votes: Woodlawn 3.

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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.