Back to grim reality for Arkansas football. The hopeful signs flowing from the Tulsa win did not appear in College Station on Saturday night. The Razorbacks were the opposite of razor sharp in Kyle Field. They got buried by the Aggies in a game which was over after the third quarter.

Texas A&M endured a brutal and wretched September. The Aggies couldn't throw, couldn't score, couldn't show discipline. Coach Mike Elko did a terrible job of preparing his offense, rooted in his awful hires at offensive coordinator and QB coach after staff vacancies emerged in the offseason. With A&M, its coach, and its offense all struggling, there was a hope in the Arkansas camp that it could at least make A&M work for this victory and keep this game competitive deep into the second half.

That didn't happen, and it flowed partly from KJ Jackson's early interception. A quarterback going on the road at night in the SEC needs to be able to avoid early stumbles and storms. Jackson couldn't do it, and that mistake set the tone for the game. Texas A&M was able to get a quick 14-0 lead. Arkansas punched back with a Chris Marshall touchdown, but that was it. The Hogs didn't have much of anything else left in the tank. The Texas A&M defense put the clamps down and pushed its lead to 24-7 at the half. The Arkansas offense remained locked down in the third quarter. Ryan Silverfield was not able to make necessary adjustments, and Jackson was utterly stifled along with the rest of the UA offense. A&M kept increasing its lead to 34-7 at the end of the third quarter.

The cause for optimism going into this game was that the Arkansas defense could find its footing against a less-than-great SEC offense. Getting blown out by Georgia was one thing. Maybe Arkansas could stand its ground on defense against Texas A&M and its feeble offense, a unit which scored just six points at LSU a week earlier.

That hope did not pan out. Texas A&M ran the ball on 15 of its first 18 plays. The Aggies had success playing bully-ball and powering the pigskin against Arkansas' defense. The Hogs got punched in the mouth and were put on their heels.

There was nothing good to take away from this game. It was a complete beatdown in which neither side of the ball did its part. It's back to the drawing board for next week. A lot of regrouping must happen ... again.

Source: Yahoo Sports