Are Aggies, Johnson for Real?

ARLINGTON, Texas -- After a bumpy start to the Mike Sherman era at Texas A&M last season, the Aggies are off to a surprising 3-0 start to begin the season.

But after running through lightweights New Mexico, Utah State and Alabama-Birmingham, we will find just how real the Aggies are tonight when they face their first real test against Arkansas in a battle of old Southwest Conference rivals at Jerry Jones' new Cowboys Stadium.

The Aggies seem to have finally gotten into a groove in Sherman's balanced attack, leading the nation in total offense with an average of 574.33 yards per game through the first three contests. Perhaps no one has been bigger in the Aggies growth than second-year starting quarterback Jerrod Johnson.

Johnson has certainly seemed to turn a corner as a quarterback, ranking among the top 10 in the country in passing and passing yards per game. But tonight, outside of the comforts of Kyle Field for the first time, we will see what's actually inside those numbers against a respectable SEC defense.

Johnson will also go against another potentially big-time quarterback in Ryan Mallett, who is off to an impressive start to his career with the Razorbacks.

"That comes with time," Sherman said of Johnson's chance to prove himself. "If you continue to do those things through the course of your career, people will recognize you. The great thing about Jerrod Johnson is he does not worry about that one bit. And neither do I, for that matter. He's worried about the next ballgame, and winning, and how can he help our team win. That's the beauty of Jerrod Johnson. Those things come. You can't force them."

FIRST QUARTER

The Aggies looked good on their first drive of the night with running back Cyrus Gray slicing his way for a 31-yard pickup on the first play and then receiver Howard Morrow caught a 17-yard pass to help set up Randy Bullock's 32-yard field goal that put them ahead 3-0 with 11:52 left in the first. A&M drove 47 yards on six plays before the drive stalled at the Arkansas 15.

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Wow the Aggies are looking good on both sides of the football. While the defense has swarmed all over Arkansas to hold the Razorbacks to zero rushing yards after three series, the offense is coming to life.

Jerrod Johnson just showed incredible strength and accuracy as he rolled left and threw across his body to hit receiver Brandal Jackson in stride for a 60-yard touchdown pass to put the Aggies up 10-0.

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The Razorbacks finally get going offensively when Mallett hits receiver Joe Adams on a deep slant as he gets between A&M's two safeties for a 67-yard pass completion that set up the 8-yard touchdown pass to Broderick Green to pull Arkansas within 10-7 with 4:14 left in the first quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

The Aggies might want to reconsider the use of the Ruby punt because it has put them in the hole after Ken Wood's punt traveled five yards and help set up a short march for the Razorbacks to score the go ahead touchdown when Mallett found fullback De'Anthony Curtis for a five yard touchdown receptions to go up 14-10 with 13:22 to play in the half. Arkansas has scored back to back touchdowns to take the lead.

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For a moment it looked as though the Aggies had received a huge boost on a muffed punt that gave them the ball at the Arkansas 12. But two plays later, it was Arkansas linebacker Jerry Franklin rumbling 85 yards the other way for a touchdown after Jerrod Johnson fumbled away the football on a hit. Instead of A&M reclaiming the lead, they now trail 21-10 wiith 6:25 left to play in the half.

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Okay, Mike Sherman just might have a punting problem. For the second time in the first half, a poor punt by Wood has set up a Arkansas score, not that the Razorbacks need much help. But a 35-yard punt by Wood helped Arkansas to a 24-10 lead on a 38-yard field goal by Alex Tejeda after the offense had to move the ball just 26 yards on five plays to set up the score.

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The Aggies have to be in the locker room wondering how something that started out so right has quickly gone wrong. They led at one point 10-0 and seemed on their way to be big night as the defense was swarming and Johnson was making all the right decisions.

But that quickly came to an end as Mallett and Co. went to work, capitalizing on A&M's mistakes. Two horrible punts by the Aggies have led to 10 points by Arkansas and then Johnson gave one away on a fumble that went the other way for an 85-yard touchdown. Mallett has thrown three touchdown passes in the first half.

Arkansas' defensive front has put tremendous pressure on Johnson, forcing him either into bad decisions or to throw the football away more times than not. He has completed 11 of 27 passes for 167 yards.

THIRD QUARTER

The Aggies scored just three points on a 47-yard Bullock field goal to pull within 30-13, but most importantly their offense looked like it might have finally gotten out of its funk. The unit picked four first downs during the 12-play, 46-yard drive on strength of a big run and two nice passes pass and costly roughing the passer penalty by the Arkansas defense.

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You can start to wave the white flag if you are on the A&M side because it doesn't look as though the defense is capable of stopping Arkansas' passing game. Mallett is just toying with the Aggies secondary, waiting patiently until receivers pop open down field. He just hit Michael Smith on a wheel route for a 29-yard touchdown reception that put the Razorbacks ahead 3713 with 4:28 left in the third.

The Razorbacks have scored on three of their last four offensive possessions going back to the second quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER

Johnson and Ryan Tannehill hook up on a three-yard touchdown pass that pulled the Aggies to within 37-19 after the two-point conversion pass failed early in the fourth, but it does them little good if the Aggies defense can't find a way to stop Mallett and the Razorbacks offense.

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Okay so the A&M defense did a little better this last time, tightening up to surrender just an 18-yard field goal instead of a touchdown but this point the Aggies needed to give up nothing if they had hopes of getting back into this. They trail 40-19 with less than 10 minutes to play. Not looking good.

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Huge crowd in the Cowboys Stadium, excellent atmosphere with two great fan bases but A&M's performance did not live up to the event. They trail 47-19 with 5:37 to play after Arkansas running back Ronnie Wingo races 60 yards for the touchdown. Can we say Game Over!

Heading down to the field for postgame interviews.