Texas A&M vs. Arkansas: How the Aggies Can Avoid Being Upset by Razorbacks

The No. 6 Texas A&M football team will play the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The second conference game of the season for both teams should be a competitive affair that the Aggies will win if they play sound, fundamental football.

Texas A&M enters the game with a 4-0 record and a 1-0 mark in the SEC. Arkansas is 0-1 in the SEC with a 3-1 mark overall.

The game will feature a contrast of offensive styles. The Razorbacks want to run the ball, control the clock and grind the opposition into submission with physical play. The Aggie offense features a no-huddle spread attack that tries to push the ball down the field as fast as possible.

Arkansas head coach Brett Bielema is a staunch opponent of the no-huddle offense and has supported rules to slow it down. Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin is one of the innovators of the spread offense and has used it to set multiple offensive records at every school he has coached.

The contrast of styles is one extra narrative in a game featuring two teams vying for a leg up in the quest for the West division title in the SEC.

This is a look at what the Aggies must do in order to avoid being upset by Arkansas.  

Play Focused Football

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The Texas A&M offense methodically took apart South Carolina in a 52-28 victory in Columbia to start the season. The Aggie offense needs to play with that same kind of focus and urgency against Arkansas. 

The offense has looked sloppy in consecutive wins over Rice and SMU, and the Aggie wide receivers cannot have the number of dropped passes against the Razorbacks that they have had to past two games. 

The speed and talent of the Arkansas defense will mean there are much smaller margins for error on offense. Aggie quarterback Kenny Hill needs to be on the same page as his receivers. The offense needs to eliminate the silly penalties and do the small things right, in order to ensure that they are as efficient as possible. 

Linebackers Have to Tackle Well

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The success or failure of the Aggie defense on Saturday afternoon is going to rely largely on the play of the linebackers.

If the linebackers can tackle effectively, then the Aggies will be able to control the Arkansas running game. If Arkansas running backs are breaking tackles left and right, then the game will turn into a shootout. 

When the Aggies played Rice, the Owls held onto the football for over 43 minutes because they were able to convert on third downs to extend drives. They did this mainly because their running backs and skill players continually broke the tackles of the Aggie linebackers. 

This was an affliction that affected the Aggies in 2013. It was common to see the Aggies' smallish linebackers being shrugged off the backs of the bigger running backs in the SEC. In 2014, the Aggies are bigger in stature at the linebacker position. 

The presence of 6'3", 244-pound middle linebacker Jordan Mastrogiovanni and 6'3", 235-pound outside linebacker Shaan Washington give the unit a lot more size than in 2013. If they tackle well against Arkansas, then the defense should be able to get off the field on third down. 

Force Arkansas to Pass

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Arkansas wants to beat teams by grinding out yards with their running game. If you can force the Razorbacks to pass, then you stand a good chance at beating them. 

The Aggies have to win the battle on first and second down in order to force the Razorbacks into passing situations. If they can force Arkansas into known passing situations, then they can unleash their pass rush on Razorback quarterback Brandon Allen and cause negative plays. 

If Arkansas has success running the football, then that will effectively negate the A&M pass rush and lessen the chance of the Aggies creating turnovers. 

Get Up by Two Scores Quickly

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If the Aggies can get up by two scores early in the game, they will force the Razorbacks out of their comfort zone, and Arkansas will have to abandon the running game. The Aggies have a very good pass rush with 17 sacks in four games. 

Arkansas has only thrown the ball 80 times in their first four games. If the Aggies get up early, then Arkansas will be forced to throw the ball, which will allow the Aggie pass rushers to do their thing. 

This is an Arkansas team that did not win an SEC game in 2013. If they get down big early in the game they may accept defeat a little more readily than a lot of teams.

If the Aggies deliver a knockout blow early, they could force Arkansas out of their comfort zone on offense and create a lot of doubt among the Razorback players. 

Cover Hunter Henry

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Hunter Henry is a 6'5", 250-pound sophomore tight end for the Razorbacks. He only has four catches for 55 yards and a touchdown on the season, but he is one of the most effective weapons the Razorbacks have on offense. 

Arkansas loves to throw the ball down the field to Henry on play-action passes. He had four catches for 109 yards against the Aggies in 2013. 

Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mark Snyder will likely have senior safety Howard Matthews cheating up near the box most of the game in order to help against the Arkansas running backs. 

That means that the responsibility for covering Henry will fall to true freshman free safety Armani Watts. The Aggies will need Watts to read his keys and not get drawn in by play-action fakes.