Kevin Sumlin’s on an eternally raging hot seat, while Bret Bielema’s just short of floating around .500 forever, and yet the former is now 5-0 against the latter after a 50-43 overtime win. Buyouts are funny things, and Bielema’s is about $4 million higher.
11 signs Texas A&M and Arkansas are stuck in ‘Groundhog Day’ together, after the Aggies’ latest OT win
Seriously, these two teams play the exact same game every year. Also, here’s Saturday’s stuff to know.
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Both of these teams fall into patterns, with Sumlin’s Aggies typically starting hot before fading. Bielema’s Hogs briefly had a reputation for lumbering to life and becoming invincible ... before also fading. Also, neither is all that great with a big lead, as UCLA and Virginia Tech can attest.
Their shared embrace of ritual has never been more evident than when they play each other. After 2017’s very silly edition of A&M-Arkansas, here’s what their last five years together have looked like:
- It’s gonna be in JERRY WORLD. Four years in a row.
- It’s gonna be high-scoring. These teams have averaged 35.2 points against each other in this span.
- It’s gonna be especially wild! 2015’s had four lead changes, while 2017’s had seven.
- It’s going to overtime. That’s happened three times in the last four years alone.
- Arkansas will lose or, at best, tie the turnover battle.
- Arkansas will put up tons of rushing yards, having hit 200-plus four straight years.
- Arkansas will give up at least 500 total yards (four of five years now).
- A&M’s gonna win.
- A&M’s gonna win with a new QB each time (Johnny Manziel, Kenny Hill, Kyle Allen, Trevor Knight, Kellen Mond). Arkansas’ QB, meanwhile, will be an Allen brother, but that’s not really unique to the A&M game.
- Arkansas is probably going to blow a lead. 28-14 in the fourth quarter in 2014, 21-13 in the fourth quarter in 2015, 7-0 in the second quarter in 2016, and both 21-7 in the first and 43-40 in the final seconds of regulation in 2017.
- That’ll get Arkansas off to an 0-1 start in the SEC. Only once in the last five years have the Razorbacks played an SEC opponent before A&M.
It’s the same damn game every year, just like how every damn year is the same for both of these programs. Sumlin’s hot seat talk has briefly stilled, while annual Hog frustrations just seem to remain at the same simmer until the random blowout of an SEC West opponent lets off some steam.
Anyway, let’s do this again next year!
More college football
- The first thing I need you to know about is this Maryland fan who bashed a beer can into her face, then housed it. The Terps lost to UCF, but did they really?
- The second is this squirrel that ran for a long touchdown while Louisville’s crowd and the ACC Network crew cheered it on.
With those two things out of the way, we can move on to important results business:
- Penn State beat Iowa with this walk-off touchdown, escaping Kinnick Stadium’s mastery of top-five teams.
- TCU claims the day’s most impressive win, going to Stillwater and whooping Oklahoma State.
- Kentucky’s annual Florida loss was just as agonizing as ever.
- Is Georgia now the, uh, rest of the SEC’s only hope to stop Bama?
- Vandy made Bama mad.
- After NC State upset No. 12 Florida State, one Wolfpacksman (Wolfpacker! Wolfpackperson! Pack Member!) spat on FSU’s midfield logo.
- Arizona State knocked off No. 24 Oregon, ending a 13-year drought.
- Baylor gave Oklahoma a scare. The main thing you should know is that Baker Mayfield talked some hot trash before the game and, at one point, got flagged immediately before throwing a TD.
- Was that four-point win over UMass the new Most Butch Jones Game Ever?
- And a bunch more! Visit your team’s site!
Elsewhere:
- Jim Harbaugh called out Donald Trump for the latter’s recommendation that a private company fire its employees over free speech.
- The annual spree of Maryland QB injuries means you might need this 15-person list of potential replacements.
- And here are some angry emails by Nebraska fans, sent before the team goofed around for a while against Rutgers.
- College GameDay at New York City looked like ... College GameDay.
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