It was a head scratching win at best for Texas A&M football. In a season that's been filled with too many downs for Arkansas, give Taylen Green a lot of credit. He made the Aggies worked for everything.
In the SEC, you never know what's going to happen on any given week. Even a 2-4 Arkansas can give the unbeaten Aggies some work to do.
There's plenty of work to do before the LSU game, and Mike Elko was sure to emphasize that. Here are three risers and one (obvious) faller in the Arkansas game.
Riser: Marcel Reed
Elko called this Marcel Reed's best performance of the season, as Reed went for 23/32 on completions with three touchdowns, no interceptions and 335 total yards on the pass and the ground.
Reed had just enough to keep Arkansas away from spitting distance, and looked about as good as he did all season long. Fans are going to need that momentum to carry over into the LSU game, and let's hope he can.
Riser: Rueben Owens II
The backup to Le'Veon Moss, Rueben Owens II, depended on his offensive line in this one, going for 14 carries, 69 yards and two touchdowns.
Reed did a good enough job for Owens to not worry as much, but I'm convinced he can get close to 100 rushing yards on his own. There's growing optimism that Moss will be back before the season ends, but the Aggies have shown that they are in great shape with Owens II leading the backfield.
Riser: EJ Smith
He didn't do anything too flashy, other than save his team exactly when they needed it.
On a 4th-and-short, Smith's number was called to get the football to try and convert for a first down. He runs into his own guy, doesn't panic, and gets the first. The play had Texas A&M fans on the edge of their seat, and Smith came through to potentially save the day.
Faller: Texas A&M defense
Elko told the cold, hard truth about his defense yesterday. The head coach talked about how the Aggies didn't perform up to their standard by allowing Taylen Green to fire open darts in the middle of the field.
As a team, they racked up four sacks, but the fourth quarter was frustrating to say the least.
This is a learning experience for them, but if they allow Garrett Nussmeier to fire open darts like they did with Green, it's not going to look good.
Riser: Ashton Bethel-Roman
This was Ashton's night, no doubt. He caught his first touchdown of the season, and then a caught a beautiful long ball by Reed in the fourth quarter to top it all off.
This WR room is stacked, and Bethel-Roman's breakout game just proved that.