FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas and No. 24 Texas A&M will meet Saturday in Arlington's AT&T Stadium with the Aggies a slight favorite.
Both teams are 3-1 on the season and each won the lone SEC game they have played. The Aggies have reeled off three wins in a row since dropping the season opener 23-13 to Notre Dame in College Station. A&M has defeated McNeese 52-10, Florida 33-20 and Bowling Green 26-20. Sam Pittman is anxious to see his improved squad play on Saturday.
"Excited to go to Dallas," Pittman said. "Texas A&M has a really good team, very physical offensively. Big offensive line, huge offensive line, really well coached. Has a lot of speed in their skill positions, a lot of big receivers. Quarterback Marcel Reed, we’re familiar with him. We tried to recruit him here. He’s got a strong arm and an ability to run. I think he might’ve been their .. I think he rushed for 90 or 91 yards last week. They play a lot of different running backs. All of them have a great skill set: Fast, speed, physical. Then I really like their tight end corps.
"No. 17 (Theo Melin Ohrstrom), I don’t know how to .. I don’t want to disrespect him by not knowing how to say his last name, but Theo, he’s made a couple of touchdown catches. He’s a really good route runner. So there on offense, a lot of things to be concerned about and to plan for. Defensively, they’re really good on their front four. They have a lot of depth there too. A lot of athleticism there. Have some returning guys at linebacker that made a lot of tackles a year ago and then their secondary is really good.
"Special teams wise, their kick returner/punt returner is dynamic. The (Terry) Bussey kid. But he was the No. 1 athlete in the country I think a year ago when A&M recruited him. A year or a year and a half ago. So a very good team. Their one loss is to a really good Notre Dame team. So we’re excited to go into Jerry Jones’ place, the former Arkansas Razorback, and play the Aggies."
Arkansas one win in AT&T Stadium since Bobby Petrino left as head coach. Pittman's Hogs won 20-10 in 2021. There have been some very close losses for the Hogs since 2011.
"Well, I guess this is Year 10 and I don’t know how many we’ve won," Pittman said. "How many have we? One? It was a couple years go. So obviously it hasn’t been a great series for us. But there’s excitement in recruiting about the game. There’s excitement for the players. We have a lot of Texas kids and going back to Dallas and playing in the stadium. And great alumni of Mr. (Jerry) Jones.
"But, to be honest with you, with Little Rock and with Dallas, we’re playing one game out of the first five at home and Auburn’s going to play five in a row at home. I believe that it’s really hard to get the fan base excited if they don’t have an opportunity to see the Hogs. This would give an opportunity, at least one more every other year, to have a home game. So as grateful as we are for going to Dallas, it’s the last time obviously we’d like to win it and bring the trophy back."
The series will switch back to a home and away next season with the Hogs set to host the Aggies in Fayetteville. The Aggies have used two quarterbacks. Reed has completed 32 of 57 passes for 422 yards and four touchdowns. He also has rushed 32 times for 217 yards and one touchdown. Conner Weigman has completed 23 of 44 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns. He also has rushed 11 times for 65 yards. Pittman talked about what Reed does well.
"What he’s done well is he’s ran the offense," Pittman said. "You don’t see a lot of confusion from his o-line to him. He has gotten out of bad plays. In other words, if he’s feeling pressure, he can run and make plays. He’s done a good job of not giving it to the opponent. To me, he’s shown a lot of class and a lot of poise by running the offense and taking what’s given. They do have quarterback designed runs with him and he’s very aggressive here. But to me, he’s just playing older than what his game experience would be."
Arkansas' standout defensive tackle Cam Ball also chimed in on the Aggies quarterbacks following Tuesday's practice.
"We're preparing for both quarterbacks right now," Ball said. "I know they have a redshirt freshman. Just basically watching him on film, he's one heck of a player to be so young. He can move around in the pocket, do a lot of things with his feet, and he's also a good thrower, too. But like I said, we're preparing for both, so whoever shows up out there will be prepared for the both of them."
Weigman is listed as questionable on Texas A&M's injury report. A&M Coach Mike Elko provided an update on Weigman Wednesday on the SEC Teleconference.
"Yeah, he’s taking reps on the side right now," Elko said. "I think he’s progressing and getting better. We’re hopeful that we’re going to have him available on Saturday. It will kind of be more of a game-time decision in that regard."
Does not knowing who will be the A&M quarterback hamper the Hogs preparation for them?
"Oh, probably not a whole lot," Pittman said. "Connor’s athletic as well as Marcel. Probably not a tremendous amount of difference in how we’ll prepare for that game."
Considering the lack of success for Arkansas in this game, Pittman was asked what the Hogs could do to flip the outcome?
"I think every game is unique along with every team and you look back at my four previous years down there — well, the first one was supposed to be in Arlington and somehow COVID moved it to College Station," Pittman said. "Don’t understand that one, still don’t. But, somehow it was a home game. I need to get off of that, but another three down there. Potentially, we could’ve won at least two of those games. Got to find a way to finish the game. I don’t think it’s a mystique about A&M or playing in Dallas or anything like that, I just think we got to figure out how to finish and hold onto the ball. Just basic things you do in every game. But I do love the atmosphere going into that stadium with half the people from Arkansas and half the people from Texas A&M. It’s really, really cool and it’s a great environment to be and it’s really fun. Funner whenever you win, but you know. We’ll try to do that this week."
Arkansas' defense forced five turnovers against Auburn this past Saturday including four interceptions. Elko took notice.
"Obviously I think they’re really dynamic," Elko said. "I think they’ve got a lot of experience in their front seven. A lot of guys in that defensive front have played a lot of football. They’re really athletic at linebacker. And I think they’ve got a lot of kids on the backend with really good length and athleticism that can cover.
"Any time you go into Auburn — which is not an easy place to play — and play at the level they did, I think that’s just a testament to the level they’re playing at right now. So we’re going to have our hands full for sure."
The Razorbacks will face Texas A&M on Saturday in Arlington's AT&T Stadium with the kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. on ESPN.
Photos Courtesy of Craven Whitlow CW3 Sports Action
