FOOTBALL 2022: Fourth Week

The regular season is 25% completed. That Texas A&M is 2-1 isn't as surprising as how they got there (by losing to Appalachian State, then defeating Miami). For the Aggies, the hard part of the 2022 season starts tomorrow in Arlington against unbeaten Arkansas (3-0) at 6:00 PM on ESPN.

For A&M's first nine seasons in the SEC West, the Arkansas game was a W, even though several of the W's came in overtime. What may turn out to be the last college football game I'll ever see in a stadium was played at Kyle Field on a rainy Saturday afternoon in 2012. My daughter's husband had two free tickets to A&M's first game against the hogs as a member of the SEC. The coach was Sumlin, the Aggie QB was Manziel, and the final score was 58-10. Despite the periodic rainfall, the game was entertaining to watch, and when it was over, I knew JFF was something special.

Things have changed. Now the hogs are the top 10 program, and the Aggies are staggering around near the bottom of the top 25. It's obvious that when Jimbo lost players like Spiller, Wydermyer, Kenyon Green and DeMarvin Leal, he lost more proven talent than he could afford. 

Arkansas beat Cincinnati, and A&M beat Miami, giving each team a respectable win. The Aggies are a 2 1/2 point favorite, though I'm not sure why. Tough break for Jimbo, his offense isn't prepared to take advantage of Arky's most notable weakness (pass defense), and the hog D can probably prevent the Aggies from dominating time of possession with the run (Jimbo's preferred style). College Football News predicts a close game, with the hogs finishing on top in a 26-23 victory.  

Update 9:32 PM Saturday: This game was played in three parts. In the first part, the hogs dominated A&M and got a quick 14-0 lead. Normally, I would have quit watching then. I'm glad I didn't.

In the second part, Texas A&M played effective football on offense, defense and special teams, and reeled off 23 unanswered points to lead 23-14. In the third part, A&M got sloppy again, and Arkansas narrowed the lead to 23-21. The hogs were set up for a late FG and a 24-23 win, but A&M got lucky. The kick boinked off the right upright, and A&M took over with under two minutes on the clock. Final score 23-21, and A&M is 3-1 now.