SOUTHWEST CLASSIC ARKANSAS VS. TEXAS A&M

The forgettable 5: Bret’s fret mounts as Hogs’ skid vs. Aggies adds up

Dallas Cowboys team president Stephen Jones, left, presents Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin with the Southwest Classic trophy after their win against Arkansas in an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Cowboys team president Stephen Jones, left, presents Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin with the Southwest Classic trophy after their win against Arkansas in an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Arkansas Razorbacks have grown tired of watching famed almuni hand over the Southwest Classic Trophy to Texas A&M at AT&T Stadium.

The Aggies (2-1) will take a five-game winning streak over Arkansas (1-1) into today's 11 a.m. game in Arlington, Texas, with the last three coming in the the stadium dubbed "Jerry World" for the former Razorback Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys.

Arkansas will don Cowboys-styled jerseys today to honor Jones in the year of his selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. They are hoping Jones or his son Stephen can present the trophy to them again after the game.

"This will be my fifth time going against them and we haven't come back with the trophy," Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen said. "It's something we really want to do, especially it being my last go-around."

Fellow Arkansas senior Bijhon Jackson called today's game the big one.

"This will be my last one," Jackson said. "I'm going to give everything I've got to bring that trophy home."

The Razorbacks won at AT&T Stadium in the first three Southwest Classic games in 2009-2011, but Texas A&M has won every game in the series since joining the SEC in 2012, including on-campus stops at College Station, Texas, in 2012 and Fayettevile in 2013.

The Aggies can tie their longest winning streak in the series at six games with a victory today, matching a streak from 1938-1943.

Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema is 0-4 against an Aggies team coached by his buddy Kevin Sumlin. Bielema has seen his team give up fourth-quarter leads before falling in overtime in 2014 and 2015, then suffer from red zone issues against A&M last year. His first team in 2013 gave Johnny Manziel and the Aggies a good run on a foggy night in Fayetteville in a 45-33 loss.

"This is obviously one of the two teams in the West we haven't been able to capture since I've been here," Bielema said. "We've had the lead a couple of times in those games and let it get away.

"I've stressed to our guys they are more than ready to win this football game and football games in general and to believe that for four quarters. Like all men in general you only believe what you truly see. You have a hard time comprehending the thing that you haven't witnessed. We're fighting to get over that hump."

Bielema and Sumlin are feeling heat from their respective fan bases after losing marquee nonconference games the first two weeks of the season. The Aggies let a 44-10 lead slip away in the second half of a 45-44 loss at UCLA, while Arkansas fell 28-7 at home to then-No. 21 TCU.

Sumlin's teams have gone 8-5 three years in a row after hot starts that have included victories over the Razorbacks.

He is 5-0 against Arkansas, but he says there is no carryover from the past success.

"Come on, you know every game is mutually exclusive," Sumlin said when asked about his streak over the Hogs. "We approach it that way with every game. There are a lot of players playing in this game that weren't on the field last year, on both sides."

Sumlin said he respects Bielema's program, and he doesn't have a clear explanation why he's undefeated against Arkansas.

"Sometimes the ball bounces the right way," Sumlin said. "It's not like those games haven't been close. ...

"Shoot, last year at halftime, midway through the third quarter, it's anybody's game. So let's not just say, hey, it's been a walkaway deal."

Bielema's frustration in Arlington runs deep.

The Razorbacks held a 28-14 lead with the ball early in the fourth quarter in 2014 before a tripping penalty away from the play near midfield brought back a breakaway run by Jonathan Williams to the Aggies' 2, triggering an Aggies comeback behind quarterback Kenny Hill and the passing game.

The following season, Arkansas led 21-13 in the fourth quarter but drew a false-start penalty while lined up to go for a fourth-and-3 play from the Texas A&M 35 with 4:19 remaining. Arkansas punted on fourth and 8 and the Aggies drove 85 yards behind quarterback Kyle Allen for a touchdown and tied the game on Tra Carson's 2-point conversion run.

The Aggies won that game in overtime on Christian Kirk's 20 yard touchdown catch.

Last year's 45-24 final score looked lopsided, but the game included three separate Texas A&M goal-line stands at the 1.

The back-breaker came with the score tied 17-17 in the third quarter after Arkansas drove 94 yards to the Aggies' 1. Allen acted as if he scored on a third-down keeper over the right side. He was ruled short of the goal plane by the officials and a replay review upheld the call. Texas A&M threw Keon Hatcher for a 5-yard loss on next play.

The Aggies scored on Trevor Knight's 92-yard pass to Reynolds two plays later and Texas A&M pulled away in the fourth quarter.

The excruciating losses have stuck in the Razorbacks' craws.

"We're all tired of it, obviously, and I think this is going to be our year," sophomore tight end Cheyenne O Grady said.

"It's time," said Arkansas receivers coach Michael Smith, who was on Bielema's original staff in 2013. "It's just time.

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At a glance

RECORDS Texas A&M 2-1, 0-0 SEC; Arkansas 1-1, 0-0 SEC

RANKINGS Neither team is ranked

BETTING LINE Texas A&M by 2½

COACHES Kevin Sumlin (46-22 in 6th year at Texas A&M, 81-39 in 10th year overall); Bret Bielema (26-27 in 5th year at Arkansas, 94-51 in 12th year overall) SERIES Arkansas leads 41-29-3

RADIO Razorback Sports Network, including KABZ-FM103.7, in Little Rock; KQSM-FM, 92.1, KIGL-FM 93.3, KAKS-FM 99.5 and KUOA-AM 1290 in Fayetteville; KERX-FM 95.3 in Fort Smith, Sirius 137, XM 190

"I know their kids are down there working hard to keep that trophy. Our kids are working hard to get it here. We've been in a position to win the game, and we let them slip away. But again, you give credit to A&M. They did what they had to do to get the job done. It's a new year, it's a new game, new team and we're going to go out there and play."

Sports on 09/23/2017

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