The Arkansas Razorbacks take on the Texas A&M Aggies Saturday night under the lights of Kyle Field in College Station. Will it be a Halloween horror show, or another thriller between the rivals? Here’s what to expect from the hogs tomorrow night.
The Razorbacks are headed to College Station to play A&M for the first time since 2012, when Texas A&M finally got a call-up to play in the SEC and renew the rivalry in a conference setting. Sam Pittman has the hogs fired up, along with all of the fans, going into his first meeting as a head coach against the aggies. Here are some things we’ll see tomorrow night when Arkansas and A&M take the field.
It Will Be A Slug Fest
Now here’s the thing. This game is going to be a war between the two opponents. Although the Razorbacks haven’t beaten A&M since 2011, all the games have been highly contested one score games excluding a couple of blow outs, and we have even seen three overtime games in the past six years. Plus game is not in Arlington at AT&T Stadium, where the hogs have not had a pleasant time over most of the past decade.
This team is not like other teams that the aggies have faced in the past. Sam Pittman has an ace in his pocket with Barry Odom running his defense, and a guru on the offensive side with Kendal Briles calling plays. I believe that the first half of the game will be where most of the scoring will come from with both teams, then the second half being where we see both teams struggle to find any opening. Arkansas will make the right adjustments to stifle the aggies offense.
Arkansas Gets the Run Game Going
Now Arkansas will need the run game to be a factor in this game and that is vital to their success. I believe this is the week that we see both Rakeem Boyd and Trelon Smith put their stamp on a game.
One of the major strengths that Razorbacks have shown through this first part of the season is their red zone scoring. Boyd and Smith will have chances to touch the ball and try to get in for some scores when Felipe Franks gets them down there. Both teams are coming off bye weeks and have seen enough tape to know what both teams have went to through the first few weeks.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Briles try to keep A&M guessing by mixing in some more designed quarterback runs from Felipe Franks. It gets too predictable when they bring in Malik Hornsby and KJ Jefferson for runs. With Franks the aggies have to be aware of the threat of throwing the ball, and Franks is more than mobile to make some big plays with his legs.
I think that this game will be highly contested and a classic in Sam Pittman’s first matchup against Texas A&M, I do believe that Arkansas will win by a final score of 31-28, having all fans screaming Woo Pig.