Texas A&M came into this game with Arkansas needing a win in the worst way, and Mike Elko did exactly what they needed to make sure they got that. The Aggies clearly had a completely different offensive philosophy in this one, and it paid off exactly like A&M fans were hoping to see.
It wasn't flashy, but it was workmanlike, and it played right to the Aggies strength so far: running the football. A&M was successful on more than half of their running plays against the Razorbacks, who were susceptible in that aspect of their defense coming into this game.
That doesn't mean what the Aggies did in this game should be written off, though, in the least: A&M found what was working and they stuck to it in an impressive way. The Aggies needed to enforce their will in the run game, and they did just that— and by the end of things, Arkansas was physically beaten down.
Texas A&M controls the game against Arkansas to get first conference win
This is exactly who this team needs to be this season: much like 2020, they need to commit to the run first and foremost and then build the passing game off of the strength of that rushing attack. That not only gives them a strategy, but it gives them an identity, which is what this A&M offense has been severely lacking so far this year.
It has also become clear that that run game needs to come chiefly from the electric abilities of the freshmen KJ Edwards and Carsyn Baker. Edwards registered two scores on the ground tonight, one of which was a dynamic 20-yard scamper that he bounced outside immediately upon taking the handoff.
His vision and ability to hit the right hole at the right time is something that senior RB Rueben Owens simply lacks, which is a disappointment for this point in his career. No. 4 was highly-touted coming into college, but he hasn't quite lived up to what fans had hoped he would be.
Edwards has shown way more explosiveness, and he's frankly shown just as much power when he gets the ball. This isn't going to be a one-RB show given the depth of the room and the wear and tear of the season, but Edwards needs to take the lead at this point.
We also saw something exciting out of some of the young players. TK Norman in particular had a big day on offense, registering more touches than he ever has in his Aggie career in this one game. Chance Collins drew some oohs and aahs with a huge hit in the third quarter against an Arkansas running back.
The Aggies were excellent on third down tonight, in large part thanks to their ability to stay productive in early downs in the run game. They faced short distances to go most of the time, and that was because they were so good running the ball early on.
For all the flak that Marcel Reed has gotten, too, he had a nice performance tonight. It was the lowest-pressure game he's had since the opener, but he was largely clean of the questionable ball placement that we've seen too often so far this year.
There were even a few plays where he put the ball right where it needed to go, only for it to fall through the receivers' hands— not a net positive for the Aggies, let's say, especially given Mario Craver's absence for a large part of this game, but if Reed can fix his accuracy, then the chances for the offense to return to a working state seem far more auspicious.
Craver's status continues to be a point of worry for fans as well, but he at least registered some positive plays in this one before leaving. The Aggies will need him a lot going forward, so it may have been precautionary to keep him mostly out of the second half— just like it was for A&M to not see hide nor hair of Jamarion Morrow despite him being available for this game.
The one area where things have simply continued to disappoint is in the pass rush. Arkansas had given up quite a few sacks coming into this one, but the Aggies weren't able to get home often— and outside of a few patented Mike Elko third-down schematic-genius plays, he simply wasn't sped up much by the A&M defense.
That has to change moving forward if the Aggies are going to have success against the remainder of their conference schedule. The upcoming game against Missouri now looks a whole lot tougher since the Tigers absolutely dismantled a top-10 Florida team today, and after how the Aggies have destroyed Mizzou the past two years, they'll be looking for their own pound of flesh against A&M.
Win that one, though, and things start to look exciting again for the Aggies. You have an easy win at home against the Citadel on the 17th before the trip to Alabama heading into the bye week, and while it seems too much to think that the Aggies could topple the Tide right now, stranger things have happened. We'll see soon if this was a mirage of a win for the Aggies, or if it's a legitimate opportunity to build on.
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