10 Things to Know - Texas A&M
Arkansas heads to Arlington, Texas to take on Texas A&M in the Razorbacks’ annual showdown with the Aggies in the Southwest Classic at AT&T Stadium. Bob Wischusen, Brock Huard and Allison Williams will call the game on ESPN at 11 a.m. Here are 10 things to know going into Saturday’s game against an old Southwest Conference rival.
1. The Razorbacks and Aggies will meet in Arlington for the ninth time in history with the first meeting coming in 1903 in the first-ever game between the two schools with the Aggies winning 6-0. Arkansas, however, leads the all-time series 41-30-3.
2. New Arkansas head coach Chad Morris is a Texas A&M graduate, earning his degree in mathematics in 1992. Morris did not play football for the Aggies, however, and is one of five FBS coaches who did not play college football. The match-up with the Aggies features two of the SEC’s newest head coaches in Morris and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher. The league has five new head coaches this season.
3. Arkansas’ defense is the top-ranked rush defense in the SEC after holding the Auburn running game to just 91 yards last week. The Hogs are allowing 88.3 yards per game on the ground and are one of three teams in the league to hold opponents under 100 yards rushing per game, including Texas A&M (92.5 ypg).
4. The Razorbacks’ defense recorded nine tackles for loss last week at Auburn to bump the team’s average up to 7.8 TFLs per game, fourth-best in the SEC. Six different Hogs contributed to the TFL effort last week.
5. Arkansas’ defensive effort at Auburn last week was one of the best ever under head coach Chad Morris at the college level. The Razorbacks allowed just 225 total yards against the Tigers, including 91 on the ground and 134 through the air. The Tigers had just 13 first downs while the Hogs recorded nine tackles for loss, including four sacks. Below is where the effort ranks in Morris’ collegiate head coaching career.
Defensive efforts under Morris
225 yards total offense – 2nd
91 yards rushing – 6th
134 yards passing – 8th
13 first downs – T-1st
9 tackles for loss – T-5th
4 sacks – T-5th
6. RB Rakeem Boyd led the Arkansas offense in rushing (66 yards) and receiving (39 yards). Boyd is one of 20 native Texans on the Razorbacks’ roster along with numerous ties on the coaching staff to the Lone Star state, including former Texas A&M and current Arkansas defensive coordinator John Chavis.
7. The Razorbacks have lost the pregame coin toss in all four games this season. Over the last three games, the Hogs have received the opening kick and picked up three first downs on their initial drive of those games. Arkansas’ opening drive of the second half, however, has produced points at Colorado State (TD) and at Auburn last week (FG). The Razorbacks drove 68 yards on 10 plays at Auburn before Connor Limpert kicked it through the uprights from 29 yards out for the score.
8. The Arkansas defense has been stout against the run through the team’s first four games, giving up an average of just 88.3 yards per game to lead the SEC. Last week at Auburn, the Razorbacks held their third straight opponent to less than 100 yards rushing limiting the Tigers to just 91 yards on the ground despite Auburn entering the game averaging 235.3 yards rushing per game. Arkansas had not held three straight opponents to less than 100 yards rushing since 2012 when the Hogs held Auburn, Kentucky and Ole Miss in check.
9. The Razorbacks elected team captains for the remainder of the season this week. Hjalte Froholdt, Dre Greenlaw, De’Jon Harris and Santos Ramirez were voted team captains by their teammates. Froholdt is set to start his 30th straight game on Saturday. Greenlaw is the SEC’s leading active tackler and Harris is the Hogs’ leading tackler through four games. Ramirez will start his 27th career game on Saturday.
10. Former Razorback team captain Jerry Jones is the owner and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, who call AT&T Stadium home. Jones lettered for the Hogs from 1962-64 serving as team captain for Arkansas’ undefeated national championship team in 1964. His teams went a perfect 3-0 against Texas A&M during a nine-game winning streak against the Aggies. His son, Steve, lettered for the Hogs from 1984-87 and his grandson, John Stephen, is a freshman quarterback for the Razorbacks.
