Texas A&M football survived by the hair of their chins against Arkansas on Saturday; here are four takeaways from the 24-17 victory.
Yes, Texas A&M football looked shaky against an Arkansas team that had lost three in a row. Yes, it wasn’t the kind of performance we expected from a team that had shown fight and looked completely different from the previous regime.
That said, a win is a win. Texas A&M moves to 3-2 and has a Kentucky team coming to College Station that looks a hell of a lot better than most expected. The Wildcats are 5-0, having dispatched of three SEC opponents already. Florida, Mississippi State and South Carolina all learned Kentucky is for real.
There is plenty to work on from the Arkansas game, so let’s just dive right into it with four takeaways from the win.
1. We got bad Kellen Mond
Whatever progress Kellen Mond had made with Jimbo Fisher coming into this game was almost completely wiped away with this performance against the nation’s No. 104 pass defense. He finished 17-for-26 with 201 yards, no touchdowns and two very costly interceptions.
The Aggies moved the ball well for most of this game, they just had too many mistakes that left points on the field. Mond’s two interceptions were both on the plus side of the field, and should have been easily avoided. One interception was in the red zone. Both were made by the same Arkansas defensive back who Mond seemingly just didn’t see. They were questionable decisions and poor throws.
Arkansas had given up 389 yards and 281 yards to Colorado State and North Texas quarterbacks. If Mond is supposed to lead this team anywhere, he has to be better than those guys.
There is certainly something to be said for Arkansas holding Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham to 134 passing yards. It seems they have turned a corner these last two weeks. However, Auburn’s offense has struggled all season. They could barely score on Southern Miss over the weekend.
Mond needs a bounce back game against Kentucky in a big way.