Arkansas Close to Cotton Bowl Bid

Barry Foster’s two-yard touchdown run with 2:52 left Friday carried ninth-ranked Arkansas to a 23-22 Southwest Conference victory over 14th-ranked Texas A&M; and an almost certain Cotton Bowl bid.

Arkansas, 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the conference, can go to Dallas on New Year’s Day for the second consecutive year by defeating Southern Methodist in Little Rock, Ark., next Saturday.

The Aggies (7-3, 5-2) are expected to be invited to the John Hancock Bowl in El Paso against Pittsburgh on Dec. 30.

It was the first time the Razorbacks had defeated Texas A&M; here since 1981. The Aggies had a streak of 19 conference victories going into the game and hadn’t lost an SWC home game since 1984.

Redshirt freshman E.D. Jackson gained 49 yards on Arkansas’ winning 70-yard touchdown drive after field goals of 23 and 38 yards by Layne Talbot had given the Aggies a 20-17 lead with 8:14 left.

An interference call against safety Larry Horton on fourth-and-three at the Aggie 13-yard line kept the game-winning drive alive. Foster then pounded his way to the decisive touchdown.

Arkansas punter Allen Meacham took an intentional safety with 29 seconds left to get the Razorbacks out of a deep hole. The Aggies returned the subsequent free kick to their 46, but Ken Benson recovered quarterback Lance Pavlas’ fumble on the final play of the game.

Arkansas struck for two touchdowns in 52 seconds to take a 14-0 first-quarter lead, but the Razorbacks had to hang on for a 17-14 halftime edge.

Talbot’s first field goal tied the score at 17-17.

Keith McAfee then sprinted 46 yards to set up Talbot’s second field goal and give Texas A&M; the lead.