Texas A&M is about to begin a three-game home stand against Auburn, Mississippi State before heading out on the road for three straight contests— a trip that includes their first game against Arkansas in Fayetteville since the 2013 season.
Fans have known since the schedule was announced that this was one of the top opportunities for a trap game on the entire schedule. The Aggie game has been a thorn in the side of Arkansas fans for the past ten years in Jerryworld, where the Hogs only won once since A&M joined the SEC, often losing in improbable fashion.
A&M making the trip up to Fayetteville, however, will certainly be a game that the Arkansas fanbase will be charged up for. The hope around College Station has been that the Hogs, now losers of two in a row, would come into that game pretty deflated— but a recent piece of news could complicate things.
Arkansas mulling possibility of midseason transition to Bobby Petrino, making A&M fans wary
As many Aggie fans know, the OC up at Arkansas is Bobby Petrino, who held the same position at Texas A&M in the 2023 season. He came in at the zenith of the dysfunction under Jimbo Fisher, and probably would love nothing more than to repay the Aggie program for his tumultuous time in College Station.
Now, as has been predicted by anyone familiar with Petrino at all, with the Hogs struggling, their OC is apparently angling to be named the interim coach in the event that the brass in Fayetteville makes a change:
Update on Arkansas’ coaching situation, per @bmarcello.
— Michael Main (@MichaelMain__) September 22, 2025
"Buyout money doesn't matter at this point. If they feel like it's gong to be the best situation, they will make a move in the middle of the season.”
“Bobby Petrino has been working the phones…he’s positioning himself to… pic.twitter.com/OX5C7HtCzu
The exact worst way this could go for the Aggies is that Arkansas loses big to Notre Dame, and either over the bye before their game at Tennessee, or following a loss in Knoxville, they decide to fire Pittman and promote Petrino— a still-beloved figure in the Arkansas fanbase. Then, with rival A&M coming to town with a possible top-10 ranking, the environment is absolutely rabid for a win.
We saw something similar happen in 2022 with Cadillac Williams leading the Auburn Tigers to an emotional win over the Aggies as interim coach in a late-season night game. The Hogs will look to use a game like this as a rallying point if this series of events plays out this way, and with an extremely explosive offense at their disposal and Bobby P back in the driver's seat, the fanbase would be extremely charged up.
This is all projection at this point, but with this latest reporting, it just feels like things could happen this way. The Aggies will have to be well-prepared before going to Fayetteville no matter what, but with a trip to LSU directly after they see Arkansas, this is a definite trap