FAYETTEVILLE -- As moral victories go for an Arkansas football program now 0-14 for its Southeastern Conference games since Oct. 27, 2012, Saturday's 35-28 overtime loss to Texas A&M marked a zenith.
The Aggies, 5-0, 2-0 in the SEC West and ranked sixth nationally, boast a surprising Heisman Trophy candidate. A&M quarterback Kenny Hill, the unknown A&M successor to departed NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel, instantly became known when his A&M record 511 passing yards dismantled 52-28 the then-No. 9 South Carolina Gamecocks in the Aug. 28 season opener.
But for three quarters Saturday at the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Hill was frustrated by Arkansas' defense.
Offensively, the Razorbacks' running game, propelled by Alex Collins, 21 carries for 131 yards, and Jonathan Williams, 18 carries for 95 yards plus the shocking 52-yard TD run by Australian Sam Irwin-Hill off a fake punt, and passing 15 of 27 for 199 yards without a turnover orchestrated by quarterback Brandon Allen, leveled Hill to second tier. Arkansas led 28-14 into the fourth quarter.
Losing in overtime was heartbreaking though obviously moral-victory progress compared to 58-10 and 52-0 routs by Texas A&M and Alabama in 2012 and 52-0 and 52-7 by Alabama and South Carolina in 2013.
Second-year coach Bret Bielema was in mood to hear it. He thoroughly believed his Hogs, 3-2, 0-2, had so progressed that victory would be actual.
"There were a lot of positive steps, but I didn't fly to Dallas to make a positive step," Bielema said. "I came here to win and I think our players did."
The Razorbacks know they mostly have themselves to blame that they didn't.
Mostly but not all. Even in games hinging on self-inflicted wounds, the victor must capitalize to prevail.
A&M did. Hill rose to the occasion in the fourth quarter and overtime. So did the Aggies' defense. A&M stopped Collins short on a game-ending fourth-and-one after Hill and Malcome Kennedy connected on a 25-yard TD pass opening OT.
"Give credit to A&M," Bielema said. "Obviously, the fourth quarter they'll remember."
Meanwhile, the Razorbacks made mistakes they'll never forget. A second-quarter holding penalty on left tackle Dan Skipper nullified Allen's 44-yard touchdown pass to tight end Hunter Henry. A tripping penalty way away from the play but obvious with Skipper among the world's tallest tackles at 6-10, voided Williams' fourth-quarter 54-yard run to the A&M one.
Arkansas would score on neither drive that should have accounted for 14 game-winning points.
Arkansas defensive end Trey Flowers' offsides penalty kept alive A&M's second-quarter scoring drive tying it 14-14.
A&M actually was penalized more often 9-8, but Arkansas' mostly occurred at more inopportune and were way too many for Bielema, whose Wisconsin teams were so successful from 2006 to 2012 in part because they were penalized so rarely.
"We can't win with eight penalties, I know that," Bielema said.
Arkansas committed no official turnovers but two drives stalled on botched center-quarterback exchanges.
Their running game struggling in the fourth quarter, the Razorbacks revived on consecutive 12, 17 and 17 yards to the A&M 31. The Hogs never achieved another first down, falling to second-and-long on the botched snap and not scoring with place-kicker John Henson's 44-yard try wide left.
Defensively, Hill ultimately made them pay in the misplaced wink of an eye.
"Three deep passes they threw today our eyes were in the wrong spot," Bielema said. "If your eyes are in the wrong spot looking at something you aren't supposed to, they turn into lying eyes. That's exactly what happened."
So what some eyes could see as a moral victory, to Bielema it's a lie not to call it a loss.
Though Alabama has outscored them 104-0 for their last two meetings, these Razorbacks start this bye week so sick of moral victories to deem nothing less than a real victory acceptable for their next game, Oct. 11, with the Crimson Tide in Fayetteville.
Sports on 09/30/2014