Arkansas opens second half vs. Texas A&M with Snaxx Johnson pick-six
Arkansas needed a spark coming out of halftime, trailing Texas A&M 17-6 heading into the break. The Razorbacks certainly got one.
On the first play out of the break, Lorando “Snaxx” Johnson picked off Max Johnson and took it 20 yards back for a pick-six. That cut the Texas A&M lead to 17-13 as the third quarter got underway, giving the Razorbacks some momentum as the second half got started.
It’s hard to script a better way to start the half for Sam Pittman’s group.
Arkansas got off to a slow start on offense against Texas A&M, totaling just two field goals and 124 yards of offense in the first half. KJ Jefferson was completed just 6 of 10 passes for 84 yards in the first two quarters while Raheim “Rocket” Sanders was held to 21 yards in his first game back from injury.
The Razorbacks also lost a key piece of the offense early on when Luke Hasz went down with an injury and was ruled out for the rest of the game. He was seen with an ice pack on his shoulder as he stood with the sideline. Hasz entered the game as Arkansas’ second-leading receiver with 239 yards and three touchdowns on the season.
The rivalry games against Texas A&M haven’t gone well for Arkansas
Texas A&M has dominated the rivalry with Arkansas, winning 10 of the last 11 matchups between the two programs. Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman wants to embrace the rivalry and make sure the game means more than others on the schedule.
“The rivalry for us has to mean more than them,” Pittman said. “I don’t know how much you can truly respect an opponent that you’ve beaten 10 out of 11 times.”
A few of Texas A&M’s victories have been blowouts. The 2012 game wound up being a 48-point difference, as Johnny Manziel threw for 453 yards and three touchdowns. But other games have been absolute heartbreaks for Arkansas. Six losses for Arkansas vs. Texas A&M have been decided by a possession or less. Three of them came in overtime.
Pittman understands Arkansas went through some difficult years but not too many rivalries — something he still believes it is — have the same school winning 10 out of the last 11 matchups.
“We’re one out of the last 11,” Pittman said. “I’ve been on some of those overtime losses where the game looked like it was ours — just like last year. It’s definitely a rivalry for us. You don’t see many series lopsided at 1-10 like that. But we did go through some rough, rough years.”
On3’s Griffin McVeigh contributed to this report.