ARLINGTON — If the rivalry game itself can’t provide enough motivation, there’s always Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

“If you’re from Texas, which most of our kids are, you either grow up loving the Cowboys or hating them,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said Saturday. “So if you come here and play in this game, if you love the Cowboys, it’s your last chance to play at AT&T Stadium and get a win. If you don’t like the Cowboys, you can beat Jerry’s team again.”

Elko insisted that Jones, an Arkansas graduate, was “phenomenal” and that he didn’t want the comment to be misconstrued as anything other than playful banter. Listen: It’s easy to joke after Jones personally presented the Southwest Classic trophy following Texas A&M’s 21-17 win on Saturday.

It might have been the last laugh.

The rivalry game has been played in Arlington since 2008, except for a home game following Texas A&M’s entry into the SEC and a 2020 game at Kyle Field in College Station due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but will no longer be a neutral-site game at AT&T Stadium beginning in 2025. The elimination of conference divisions – a byproduct of the conference’s realignment and expansion – will also shift the rivalry to a semi-annual affair rather than an annual installment.

So for now, the No. 24 Aggies (4-1) have bragging rights. Backup quarterback Marcel Reed, starting a third straight game Saturday in place of the injured Conner Weigman, threw a 5-yard touchdown to tight end Tre Watson with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Texas A&M defense, which harassed Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green all afternoon, forced a punt and fumble from the Razorbacks (3-2) in the final six minutes of the game, giving the Aggies their fourth straight win since their season-opening loss against Notre Dame.

“Arkansas, Texas A&M and AT&T Stadium, how else is it going to work?” Elko said. “To the finish line. I had to play in the fourth quarter to win.”

Reed’s touchdown won. Le’Veon Moss’ legs made it possible. Reed’s touchdown capped an eight-play, 75-yard drive with 4:24 remaining in the fourth quarter, led by Moss. The junior running back totaled 52 of his game-high 117 rushing yards on the drive, broke free for a 23-yard run on third-and-4 from the Arkansas 49-yard line to spark the ball and carried the ball down to Arkansas’ goal. 5 yard line to set up the short touchdown pass.

“The focus was just getting this trophy on the plane,” Moss said. “We knew what we were going to do. We would win. We wanted to end this game the right way.”

Texas A&M’s defense took care of it. Junior defensive lineman Nic Scourton, a transfer from Purdue, sacked Green with 1:39 left in the fourth quarter to seal the Aggies’ win and put the finishing touches to a tireless effort.

“It was special,” said Scourton, who finished the game with four tackles and two sacks. “It was a special moment. It’s my first time playing here and it was a special moment. But the fact that this was the last game and we came out victorious was special.”

The Aggies totaled 10 tackles for loss, eight quarterback hits, three sacks and three forced fumbles and limited Arkansas to just 100 rushing yards. They included Lewisville native Green and held Ja’Quinden Jackson to just 37 rushing yards on 10 attempts. Arkansas punter Devin Bale ranked second on the team in rushing yards thanks to a 25-yard dash in the first quarter on a trick play that set up Jackson’s touchdown run. The Aggies failed on Arkansas’ second trick play attempt in the third quarter and committed a turnover on downs when Bale took the snap on a field goal attempt trying to gain a first down.

“We didn’t get off to a good start,” Elko said. “We didn’t get off to a good start today. But we went out and played a great second half. Sometimes it goes like that. You just fought through the ups and downs of the game.”

Arkansas took several one-score leads in the first quarter (the first with a touchdown pass on the opening drive from Green to Isaac TeSlaa, the second with a touchdown run by Duncanville native Jackson on his third possession) before the Aggies The game was tied by Reed’s five-yard touchdown run, set up by a fumble forced by Shemar Stewart three plays earlier in the second period.

The Aggies then ended five of their next drives with punts and totaled just 48 yards of total offense in the third quarter. In fact, the two teams combined for a total of 15 punts. Texas A&M redshirt freshman Tyler White — a former Southlake Carroll star who led the Dragons to a baseball state championship two years ago — hit nine times for 388 yards and kept the Razorbacks inside their own 20-yard line seven times firmly; Arkansas scored just once – on a Kyle Ramsey field goal in the fourth quarter that gave it a 17-14 lead with 4:12 to play – on drives that began after a white punt.

“Not only was he an effective punter,” Elko said, “he also made the right punts so we could control field position.”

In rivalry games, it’s the little things that matter.

Especially those with an unclear future.

“Any time you play a trophy game, any time you play a rivalry game, you want to get through it,” Elko said. “This thing will be in your building for a year and that certainly means a lot to the team. If it’s the last time we play this series here then we know we’ll leave with the trophy.”

Twitter: @McFarland_Shawn

Photos: Aggies defeat Arkansas in Southwest Classic at AT&T Stadium

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