Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Each week during the football season, the ArkansasSports360.com’s staff of Chris Bahn and Jim Harris conduct a no-holds-barred “pressbox roundtable” with selected experts/guest columnists for AS360.com, including former Razorback All-America defensive end Bruce James.

This week, we look at Arkansas' comeback win over Texas A&M, the struggles the Arkansas defense had in surrendering 628 total yards to the Aggies, and what the Hogs must do this week against Michael Dyer and the Auburn Tigers, who are a surprising 2-0 in the SEC in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. We also touch on the NFL and Dallas' Sunday collapse against Detroit.

Join in the conversation in the comments section below.

Jim Harris: OK, Arkansas pulled off its biggest comeback against a BCS conference team in eight years in overtaking Texas A&M 42-38 in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday. What did you take away from the Razorbacks' win?

Chris Bahn: Competitive spirit wasn't an issue this week. After hearing coaches and teammates challenge their drive, the Razorbacks did a nice job of overcoming an 18-point deficit and another assortment of injuries to win. That was impressive. There's still no consistency in the run game. Tackling by this bunch is an abomination. But there's some fight to this team. Gotta like that.

Bruce James, Razorback All-American defensive end, 1968-70: What I took away was Arkansas was an extremely fortunate football team in one of the most bizarre situations I’ve ever seen. I saw two football teams that were horrible on defense. To give up 628 yards and win the football game is just something I’ve never heard of. It’s something you would expect out of the WAC, but not out of two schools with the football tradition of Arkansas and A&M. Had they been playing one of the better SEC schools, Arkansas would not have come back and won that game. A good SEC school with as good a running game as A&M showed would have probably gone for it on those fourth downs where A&M punted, adjusted their secondary a little bit, controlled the football with their running game, and not played so poorly in the second half. This isn’t A&M doing it just against us, either; the same exact thing happened against Oklahoma State. This team is running out of gas, getting out-coached, and not able to play second-half football.

Justin Acri, program director, KABZ-FM, 103.7 "The Buzz": Arkansas can overcome its deficiencies on defense against equal talent with their high-powered offense. Also that Bobby P needs to be more involved in the defense if he can find the time. By all accounts, his defensive suggestions at the half made the difference in the final 30 minutes. Unfortunately, there is at least one team left, and maybe two or three, with superior talent to Arkansas' left on the schedule.

Harris: I can't believe Willy Robinson, the defensive coordinator, even volunteered that information that Petrino gave them some suggestions at the half. Yeah, he's the head coach, but I just cannot believe Willy gave that quote out. That shocked me. Great if Petrino can do that and did that, since he's the head coach, I just wouldn't expect a defensive coordinator to volunteer that information, that the staff needed an offensive-minded head coach to tell them what to do to slow A&M down.

Mickey Ryan, "The Game," Jonesboro sports talk radio: I took that in the worst of circumstances, on the road, with guys missing and beat up with injuries, and their backs against the proverbial wall, this team could still pull out a win. Also, that there's obviously some work to be done. Hopefully the second-half defense and rushing game are harbingers of things to come. Also, that Broderick Green is a bad, and fast-healing, dude.

TJ Carpenter, sports talk radio host, The HogSportsRadio.com: One of my favorite comedians, Ron White, has a saying, "That boy's got a lotta quit in him." I think College Station should put up a billboard with Mike Sherman and those words. Texas A&M is a great football team that can't close out games. Give Arkansas all the credit in the world for putting up the numbers and points they did on Saturday. Texas A&M's ineptitude in the second half allowed Arkansas to find an offensive identity and a running game in the fourth quarter. Arkansas now has a better sense of how they are going to move the ball on the ground, which should help Tyler Wilson and a defense decimated with injuries.

Harris: Great? Great teams close out games. I'll give you that A&M is a good team but never was deserving of its high ranking to start the year. Dave Campbell's Texas Football in preseason picked the Aggies to go 11-1 and, of course, I called them out on it.