There is a second half so far Arkansas And Texas A&M in a rivalry battle. And at the start of the fourth quarter, he was up 14, Aggies head coach Mike Elko knew his offense would have to be stepped up.

Since the game was tied early in the second quarter, the Aggies’ offense – and that of the Razorbacks – had remained inactive. To get things going, Elko said his team would have to expand the field a bit.

“We have to find ways to push the ball down the field. We need to create some separation and we need to do a better job of putting them in better positions,” Elko said.

The Aggies head coach was certainly pleased when his team marched down the field on the ensuing drive to take a 21-17 lead with nine minutes to play.

And while Elko was talking to a sideline reporter Taylor McGregorthe Razorbacks got into scoring position. In a game where points were scarce, Elko said a stop was necessary.

“We just have to bow out here, we have to find a way to get off the field,” Elko said.

The Aggies eventually did that, forcing a field goal attempt that the Razorbacks converted to take a 17-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman previously called for more consistency

While Pittman may not have gotten the offensive consistency he wanted after the first quarter, his team’s defense answered the bell.

During ESPN’s broadcast after the first quarter, Pittman shared his desire for his team to limit big plays — something that apparently happened when Elko later complained about a lack of explosives.

“So inconsistent in attack. We have a bad situation here. We have an offside. We have to be better and more consistent. We have to protect the quarterback,” Pittman said. “That’s what we said when we came in here, but we’re not doing very well. Defensively, we said don’t give up explosive plays, and all they did all night was make one play in this first quarter and that turned into six. So we gotta get the guy on the ground here when he catches a 30-foot catch, we gotta get him on the ground!

And ultimately, Pittman felt his team needed to take a deep breath and settle down.

“But we have to settle in, we have to play better up front,” Pittman said. ‘We have to protect Taylen (green) And defensively we can’t give up big plays and we’re playing pretty well defensively.”