Texas A&M climbed to No. 9 in the AP Poll and No. 10 in the Coaches Poll after running past Arkansas 45-24 on Saturday. The Aggies did it with big plays on offense, and they did it with big plays on defense.

They swung the momentum late in the third quarter with the game tied at 17. Just when it appeared that Arkansas would be the team to take the lead, driving the length of the field after Texas A&M fumbled on the Razorbacks’ 2-yard line, the Aggies defense bowed up. They stopped the Razorbacks four times from inside the 2-yard line, and a 19-play drive that took nearly 10 minutes off the clock produced no points.

It was one of two goal-line stands from the Aggies’ defense. Armani Watts came up with the key tackle on fourth down. It was one of 10 tackles for a loss in the game, matching the Aggies’ SEC-leading average for 2016.

Watts, the junior free safety, surpassed 200 tackles for his career in the game. But it was a team effort on defense that prevented the Razorbacks from taking the lead.

“Everybody talks about fourth-down stops, but it took three others to create a fourth-down stop, you know, from closer than that,” Sumlin said. ”So it wasn’t just the fourth-down stop. It was the three before it.”

And it was the second play after that which gave the Aggies the lead for good. That’s when QB Trevor Knight delivered a strike to WR Josh “Rocket” Reynolds, who took it the distance for a 92-yard touchdown, the fifth-longest reception in school history, and the longest reception in a college game in AT&T Stadium history.

“A big-time momentum-changer,” said Knight, who laid a perfect pass in the hands of Reynolds around midfield and the shifty receiver broke a tackle before making his way to the end zone. It was his 21st career touchdown catch, third-most in school history behind Jeff Fuller (34) and Ryan Swope (24).

Reynolds surpassed the 2,000-yard plateau in career receiving yards, the sixth Aggies player to achieve that milestone. With the long touchdown play, Reynolds became the only player in program history with more than one 90-yard plus reception. He caught a 95-yard touchdown pass against Vanderbilt last season.

It was probably the most complete game for Knight, who has thrown for 1,055 yards this season and 7 touchdowns. But more importantly, he’s thrown just two interceptions in 141 pass attempts. He hasn’t thrown a pick in the first two SEC games.

But he’s proven to be a nimble runner as well. Second on the team in rushing, Knight has run for 308 yards and 5 touchdowns. He led Saturday’s 366-yard ground attack, the most by an Aggies team since joining the SEC, with a game- as well as career-high 157 yards (2 touchdowns).

“We’re trying to grow with Trevor,” Sumlin said. “Somebody asked me what his best stat is, and I said it’s winning.”

Knight’s running abilities enabled the Aggies to register their fourth straight 200-yard rushing game to start the season, a first for the team since 1997. With freshman Trayveon Williams carrying 12 times for a career-high 153 yards (2 touchdowns), it marked the first time the Aggies had two 150-yard rushers in the same game since 1990 when Darren Lewis (207) and Bucky Richardson (180) did it against SMU.

The Aggies have now started 4-0 in each of the last three seasons, something they haven’t done since 1939-41. It’s the fifth consecutive victory over Arkansas and the 11th victory for head coach Kevin Sumlin over a ranked opponent, which is second-most in school history behind only R.C. Slocum (17).

We’re not mentioning any of those milestones without big plays on both sides of the ball this past Saturday.