Arkansas Razorbacks vs. Texas A&M Aggies: 50 Cool and Enlightening Facts

Sharp TuskOct 8, 2010

Arkansas and Texas A&M are both 3-1 entering this game, with both losing their last games by short margins.
In a Tourrette’s-like fit of irony, the Hogs are 102nd (103 yards per game) in D-1A rankings for rushing, while Air Force is No. 1 (373.60 yards per game). Texas A&M is 38th at 185 yards per game.
Arkansas is second in the nation in passing with 365 yards per game to the highest-flying team of all, the Rainbows (430.80 yards per game), while Texas A&M adds a No. 5 national ranking and an astounding 324.75 yards per game to its rushing attack.
Texas A&M (509.75) averages 41.75 yards more per game than Arkansas (468.00). OK, class, total yards per game is what stat? A. Total Offensive Efficiency, B. Where Teams Win or Lose games, or C. Total Offense.
After playing Stephen F. Austin, Louisiana Tech, and Florida International University, Texas A&M ranks 14th in the country in scoring offense with 39.5 points per game.
After playing Tennessee Tech, Louisiana Monroe, Georgia, and Alabama, Arkansas ranks 45th in the country in scoring offense with 31.5 points per game.
Texas A&M should check its quarterback inventory and count helmets. The Aggies are 114th in D-I with sacks allowed at 3.5 per game. Arkansas permits defenses to sack Mallett 1.5 times per game (41st in the country).
Not only is Texas A&M one of the worst teams in major college football in terms of sacks allowed, it is one of the poorest teams in procuring sacks (95th) with 1.25 per game.
If sacks were not good for A&M’s offense coming into this game, the Hogs bowl over opponents to get to the quarterback at one of the best rates in the country at 3.75 times per game. Usually the combination of allowing one of the highest rates of anything, while your opponent does that particular thing really well, is a big enough red flag that an Aggie can figure out what color it is by the time he’s finished examining it. The Arkansas Headhunters should rule Jerry’s World.
Speaking of Jerry’s World, Jerry Jones was my first football coach…really.
Against its opponents, Texas A&M has allowed 279.5 yards per game, 14th in D-I, while Arkansas has allowed 297.00, or 23rd in D-I. Did you know that if you transpose numbers like 279 and 297 that the difference between them will always be divisible by nine? I know; you do not care. Onward!
Since Arkansas’ 2009 game with Alabama, Arkansas’ defense has allowed only one game where the points it gave up less the points it scored totaled more than 24 points through four quarters. Those 14 games include two against No. 1's, two against ranked opponents (Auburn and LSU), and four others against unranked SEC opponents.
Arkansas’ defense in terms of scoring ranks 12th in the country this year allowing 14.5 points per game, while the Texas A&M defense allows 20.25 points per game ranking 42nd in the country.
The Hogs and Aggies are comparable in Tackles for Loss, with the Hogs logging 7.75 per game and the Aggies 7.5 per game.
It is just as well that Arkansas does not rely on its hand-off game too, as Texas A&M is third in the county in rushing defense, allowing 68.5 yards per game. Arkansas is 55th, allowing 140.25 yards per game.
In one of the places where this game gets interesting, the Razorbacks rank 15th in the country by allowing 156.75 passing yards per game, while A&M ranks 67th through allowing 211 yards per game. Watch this…Arkansas’ offensive weakness is Texas A&M’s defensive strength, while the Hogs’ passing strength is a mediocre talent of the Aggies. While the Aggies show more balance than Arkansas, they gain more yards through the air, which is Arkansas’ defensive strength. A&M’s ability to run seems to be decent and faces a defense which give up 44.75 yards fewer per game than it runs.
While Texas A&M rushed for over 190 yards per game against Stephen F. Austin, Louisiana Tech, and FIU, it managed 126 yards rushing against Oklahoma State.
Alabama rushed for 227 yards on Arkansas, while the Hogs gave up no more than 139 yards rushing in either of its three games.
In their close games, Arkansas led Alabama in the fourth quarter, while Florida International led Texas A&M in the fourth quarter. Arkansas lost, and A&M scored 21 fourth-quarter points to beat FIU. As against Georgia, Arkansas scored a final go-ahead touchdown in the last minutes.
Oklahoma State threw for 284 yards and rushed for 67 yards against A&M.
Texas A&M has scored 21 points in a quarter twice this year. The first was in the third quarter against Stephen F. Austin. The second was in the fourth quarter against Florida International. Arkansas scored 23 points in the second quarter against Tennessee Tech and 21 points in the third against the same team. Both teams have scored 17 points in one other quarter.
In an I-would-rather-leave-this-one-at-home-stat, both teams are tied for 101st in turnover margin at –1.
Arkansas has made all four of its field goal attempts this year, and Texas A&M has made 6-of-8.
Texas A&M has lost six fumbles and did not know where to find them. The Hogs have lost three. The Aggies have six picks, and the Razorbacks have four.
While A&M has logged 24 more first downs than Arkansas, it has also punted four more times than Arkansas.
Arkansas has scored on 13 of 14 attempts in the red zone, while Texas A&M has made good on 18 of 21 attempts. The Aggies have more points 106 versus 79. However, Arkansas has 10 touchdowns in 14 attempts (71.4 percent), while Texas A&M has made it to the end zone on 13 of 21 attempts (61.9 percent).
Arkansas would rank 22nd in the country in percentage of touchdowns in the red zone per overall attempts, while Texas A&M would rank 55th.
Defensively against Arkansas, teams have had eight drives into the red zone scoring five touchdowns and two field goals. Texas A&M has permitted five touchdowns and two field goals, although 11 times this year, teams drove into the Aggies red zone. Eight drives by opponents into the red zone can be one of those mixed numbers, but only one team has allowed opponents in the red zone six times. Three teams have done the same seven times, and two other teams have allowed opponents in the red zone eight times. Twenty-three teams have allowed fewer red zone drives than A&M has.
Only South Florida has taken fewer third down attempts at 38 than Arkansas and Nebraska, who both have 44. Only eight teams have made fewer third downs than Arkansas’ 17. On the other end of the spectrum, only 11 teams have made more third-down conversions than Texas A&M’s 36. The Aggies have had 70 third-down attempts this year and converted just over 50 percent of them.
The last stat begs tons of questions and leads to much more information. Just how many drives has each team had this year to have had 44 and 70 third-down conversion attempts? Arkansas has had 46 drives this year, while Texas A&M had had 66.
Putting the third-down attempts with the number of drives, Arkansas averages one third-down conversion attempt per drive as does Texas A&M.
Of A&M’s 66 drives, the Aggies have scored touchdowns on 20 of them, field goals on six of them for a total of 26 scores in 66 attempts, or a 39 percent scoring average per drive and a 30 percent touchdown per drive percentage. Two of the Aggies’ official drives are interceptions returned for touchdowns.
Defensively, Texas A&M is allowing third-down conversions at the rate of 27 percent, while Arkansas’ opponents are converting at a rate of 36 percent. Opponents have converted 18 of 67 tries against the Aggies and 21 of 58 against the Hogs.
Arkansas’ 46 drives have produced 16 touchdowns and four field goals or a 43 percent scoring average with a 35 percent touchdown average.
Texas A&M has turned six opponent turnovers into points with five touchdowns and one field goal. Arkansas has turned two interceptions into one field goal and one touchdown.
When Arkansas’ offense has scored touchdowns, its average starting place is the 35-yard line. The average starting yard line for Texas A&M touchdowns is their 36. There is no significant difference when field goals are added to the mix.
For drives where neither team scores, the average starting point is the 25-yard line for Texas A&M and the 31-yard line for Arkansas.
Texas A&M has scored seven touchdowns with drives starting before their own 25-yard line while the Hogs have scored three. Move the line to Arkansas’ 30 and the Hogs’ offense has produced nine touchdowns from those starting points. Texas A&M has the same number starting before the 30-yard line, i.e. nine touchdowns.
Both teams have eight drives starting at the 50-yard line or in their opponents’ territory.
Texas A&M has started realistically 13 drives this year before their 20-yard line. Three were at the end of games. Two began there because of opponents’ turnovers, while the others were from punts or kickoffs. Arkansas has five drives starting before their 20-yard line, four because of punts and one because of an interception.
In drives starting before the 20-yard line, the Hogs have scored twice, one touchdown and one field goal. The Aggies have four scores, two touchdowns, and two field goals.
Arkansas’ defense has produced five turnovers this year while Texas A&M’s has produced 10.
Texas A&M is ranked 114th of 120 in the number of turnovers with 14. The Hogs are 67th with nine for the season.
By Jeff Sagarin’s assessment, Arkansas is ranked 21st in the country with his BCS Computer ranking of 24 and his Predictor ranking at 20. The difference between the two is in part whether points are considered in the calculation. Texas A&M is ranked 46th, according to Sagarin with a BCS ranking of 59th and a Predictor ranking of 36th. By his system, Arkansas is favored by 16 points.
By Sagarin’s estimation, Arkansas’ strength of schedule ranks 101 out of 245 DI and DI-AA schools, while the Aggies’ schedule ranks 109.
Las Vegas lines on this game have narrowed in favor of Texas A&M, and now have books as low as Arkansas -5 with some at -5.5 and some at -6. Funny, when the particular entries for this game are clicked for the different casinos, they all have “administrator error” as of this writing.
In kickoffs, Arkansas is holding steady with six touchbacks this year, while Texas A&M has yet to log a touchback. The difference in return yardage is less than a yard between the two clubs.
The difference in net punting, which includes the return yardage, is negligible between the two schools.
Arkansas is penalized about 12 more yards per game than A&M.
This is substantially the same Texas A&M team put up 19 points last year against Arkansas in 2009. While both teams will claim change in the last year, without question Arkansas’ defensive players are capable of getting to the quarterback frequently. Neither Aaron Murray nor Greg McElroy enjoyed the hits they sustained while Jerrod Johnson appears to have weaker protection. In 13 of the last 14 games, the Hogs gave up a net of 24 points or fewer per game, and there is little reason to expect differently here in light of Arkansas’ performances against Georgia and Alabama this year. Texas A&M can shut down Arkansas’ running game all it wants, but the Aggies gave up 38 points to Oklahoma State last week, which might be considered to have a comparable passing game. Vegas better continue the “administrator’s error” on the betting lines because this is a two-touchdown game.