Southwest Roundup : Arkansas Plays Keepaway, Upsets Texas A

Arkansas didn’t accomplish all of the goals set by Coach Ken Hatfield, but it took care of the main one.

The Razorbacks’ offense kept the ball away from explosive Texas A&M;, and the defense kept the seventh-ranked Aggies out of the end zone twice in the fourth quarter of a 14-10 upset victory Saturday at Little Rock, Ark.

“One of the goals we had offensively was every time we got the ball to make a minimum of two first downs,” Hatfield said.

The 17th-ranked Razorbacks (8-2 overall, 5-2 in the SWC) came close. They made at least two first downs on five of eight possessions, and had at least one on every possession.

Texas A&M; (8-2, 5-1) retains the conference lead with games remaining against TCU next week and Texas on Thanksgiving.

Quarterback Greg Thomas ran 10 yards for a touchdown to give Arkansas a 14-7 lead late in the third quarter, and the defense made it stand.

Texas A&M; had two chances in the fourth quarter. The last one ended on fourth down from the Arkansas 12 when Kevin Murray’s pass into the end zone was broken up by Charles Washington with 28 seconds left.

“Give credit to Arkansas, but the best team didn’t win,” Murray said. “I can’t believe they beat us.”

Murray completed 21 of 35 for 180 yards, 12 of his completions to Keith Woodside.

“It was a great game,” Hatfield said. “It will go down in history. It was as fine a defensive effort as I’ve ever been part of.”

Texas 45, TCU 16--Bret Stafford threw three touchdown passes and Eric Metcalf ran for two scores as the Longhorns kept alive their faint hopes of winning the SWC title by routing the Horned Frogs at Fort Worth.

The Longhorns (5-4, 4-2) are trying to avoid their first losing season in 30 years.

Stafford connected on scoring passes of 4 yards to Steven Clark and 28 and 15 yards to Tony Jones.

TCU (3-7, 1-6) scored first on a six-yard pass from David Rascoe to Bill Tommaney and got three field goals from Lee Newman.

Baylor 23, Rice 17--Freshman Ed Lovell threw for one touchdown and ran for another as the 18th-ranked Bears held off the Owls at Houston.

Rice (2-7, 1-6), with no timeouts, drove to the Baylor one with 10 seconds left. Quarterback Mark Comalander was stopped short of the goal line by the Bears (7-3, 5-2) as time expired.

Lovell was playing in place of Cody Carlson, who had bruised ribs and a sore left knee.

Lovell completed 12 of 22 passes for 208 yards and 1 touchdown but threw 4 interceptions. He ran 8 times for 49 yards.

SMU 13, Texas Tech 7--Bobby Watters threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Ron Morris, and Brandy Brownlee added two field goals as the Mustangs beat the Red Raiders (6-4, 4-3) at Lubbock, Tex.

SMU (6-4, 5-2) played without running back Jeff Atkins, who has an ankle injury, and tight end Albert Reese, who was suspended after a publicized report that he has been living since last May in a rent-free apartment provided by an SMU alumnus.