Saturday night's game against Arkansas at Cowboys Stadium was supposed to be Jerrod Johnson's chance to show the nation he's the best quarterback it knew nothing about.

Early in the game the Texas A&M junior made one of those plays bartenders love, because patrons exert so much energy celebrating it's time to buy another round. The 6-foot-5, 243-pounder showed his God-given athletic ability by rolling right to avoid the rush, yet he had the sense to keep his eyes focused down field to spot freshman wide receiver Brandal Jackson breaking free. Johnson just seemed to flick his powerful right arm to deliver a perfect throw and hit Jackson in stride for a 60-yard touchdown.

That was as good as it gets. It also gave A&M a 10-0 lead, with the maroon-clad faithful soaking in the moment. It was the kind of play Johnson had made with regularity in the team's first three games, which weren't on TV and were against sub-par competition.

But after A&M's last offensive play, Johnson was laying face down on the turf at JerryWorld. He had been leveled by Arkansas redshirt freshman defensive end Tenarius Wright, who forced a fumble to cap a 47-19 victory for the Razorbacks.

As Johnson pulled himself up and checked his body parts, he had to be asking himself what happened to make such a good start to a game end so badly.

It was pretty simple. He certainly didn't have his best game. But he also didn't get enough blocking from his offensive line or the best support from head coach Mike Sherman. That's not the balance A&M was looking for.

Johnson was sacked only twice, but he took more hits in three hours than monster.com did.

"Jerrod won't make it through the season if we have something like that again," senior guard Michael Shumard said. "We're really lucky Jerrod is a bigger kid. If he were like Miami's quarterback [Jacory Harris] and were 180 pounds, he might not have escaped that game."

Johnson is a tough customer. He took the brunt of the 39 sacks A&M allowed last season, in which Shumard said A&M's game plan appeared to be "straight drop-back passing and praying."

The Aggie faithful -- and Johnson -- were hopeful those days were behind, but Arkansas pressure made Johnson look average. He threw for 345 yards, but needed 58 throws to do it. New Mexico, Utah State and UAB had trouble tackling Johnson, but Arkansas held him to 3 yards on 10 carries.

"To his credit, he never once complained about a thing," Sherman said. "If I were him, I probably would have come off the field after that last sack and punched me in the face for having him out there and getting hit like that."

Sherman also realizes he gave up on the running game too early, which allowed the Razorbacks to zero in even more on Johnson.

Johnson, though, has to shoulder some of the blame. He missed open receivers and had two turnovers, including the one that gave Arkansas a 21-10 lead, in the process failing to capitalize on an Arkansas fumble deep in Razorbacks' territory.

Yeah, he was victimized by a couple of huge dropped passes, but great quarterbacks find a way to lift erring teammates to victory, also making play-calling and personnel issues nonfactors.

Johnson has yet to do that on the big stage. He's 5-8 as a starting quarterback, looking for his first signature victory. His predecessor, Stephen McGee, had back-to-back victories over Texas. Reggie McNeal didn't have a winning record, but he had a victory over top-ranked Oklahoma that will forever be in the school's annals.

Johnson will have plenty more shots, starting Saturday against 15th-ranked Oklahoma State. The nation didn't see Johnson at his best against Arkansas, but they did see him give his best.

"He showed great composure," Sherman said. "He's making a lot of progress in a lot of areas. He still has a ways to go but I think he's making progress."

Johnson has made a believer of Sherman, who allowed him to throw 28 incompletions. That's as many passes -- or less -- than McGee attempted in 23 of his 30 games as a starter.

Unfortunately, throwing a lot of passes in one game at A&M isn't a good thing. Johnson put his name in the record book alongside Edd Hargett for most throws, trailing only a 64-pass effort by Branndon Stewart against Colorado in 1996. All three were losses.

Hargett, though, has a 1968 Cotton Bowl victory over Alabama and Stewart has a Big 12 title victory over Kansas State in 1998.

Johnson's certainly working hard to get that big victory, but he could use some help.

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Shumard, who missed the last part of the Arkansas game, was wearing a boot on his right foot at Monday's press conference.

"He has a severely sprained ankle," Sherman said. "He didn't do anything this morning, won't do anything this afternoon and probably won't do anything tomorrow. But he claims he'll be ready to play. We'll just have to wait and see."

If Shumard can't play Saturday, then junior transfer Matt Allen or sophomore Evan Eike would start, Sherman said. True freshman Patrick Lewis played well enough against Arkansas to earn a starting spot at right guard.

Another option on the offensive line is true freshman tackle Rhontae Scales.

"We're pushing the envelope with him in practice and trying to get him a lot of reps, and we really want him to exert himself and become a player for us this season if we can," Sherman said.

Star wide receiver Jeff Fuller (broken right fibula), who has missed two games, is still 2-3 weeks away, Sherman said.

Oklahoma State also is battling injuries. Wide receiver Dez Bryant and cornerback Perrish Cox should be ready, reported The Oklahoman, while running back Kendall Hunter and defensive end Jermiah Price are questionable.

"We have placed everybody on a day-to-day basis and hopefully we'll get some of those guys back," OSU head coach Mike Gundy said. "They've been running. Some guys have practiced and it's just a day-to-day basis if we'll get some of those guys back."

Bryant, Hunter and Cox missed the Grambling State game on Sept. 26, but the Cowboys had the advantage of being off last week.

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Arkansas' Wright was named the SEC's defensive lineman of the week for his game against A&M. The defensive end had three tackles, two for losses, one sack and forced two fumbles. He stripped Johnson inside Arkansas' 20-yard line, allowing linebacker Jerry Franklin to pick it up and go 85 yards for a 21-10 lead.

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A&M's game at Kansas State game on Oct. 17 wasn't picked up for television and a starting time hasn't been announced. Kansas State apparently is looking into a pay-per-view option.

Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.

Here are Texas A&M's winningest quarterbacks

Corey Pullig (1992-95)33-6-1

Kevin Murray (1983-86)25-6-1

David Walker (1973-74, 76-77)25-9-0

Bucky Richardson (1987-88, 90-91)24-6-1

Branndon Stewart (1995-98)20-11

Joel Hunt (1925-27)18-4-2

Stephen McGee (2005-08)18-12

Mark Farris (1999-2002)17-9-0

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