Three reasons Texas A&M gets back to their winning ways against Arkansas
Pressure finally manifests against KJ Jackson
Texas A&M was one of the best teams in the nation at generating pressure on the quarterback last year, but this season has been quite a different story. The Aggies are all the way down at 119th in the nation in sacks, recording only 4 so far on the season. They're not much better in overall tackles for loss, coming in at 101st in that statistic on the year.
The Aggies will have a chance to get right against the Arkansas Razorbacks, who are 128th in sacks allowed in the country. It's a weakness-on-weakness stat, but if A&M can cover downfield, then they'll have the chance to get to the quarterback in this one.
There's a lot less to be worried about with this Arkansas offense than there was with LSU, so I think A&M will be better-equipped to shut down the pass game here. While there are still a lot of kinks to work out with this defense, getting some pressure home against the QB will be a balm that cures many of those ills.
Running game bolsters A&M offense
It's no secret that A&M needs to find something on offense to give this team a lift, and it looks like the rushing attack may be where they need to look. For as bad as the offense has been overall, the run game has been more than just a little bit decent— in fact, they've been pretty good.
A&M is in the top quarter of teams in the country when it comes to rushing success rate, notching nearly 50% of their running plays as successful. Meanwhile, the Razorbacks are, generally speaking, really susceptible to the run, which could make for some big plays for the Aggies.
If they involve KJ Edwards in the game plan more than they have in the last few weeks, we could be looking at some pretty explosive gains for the Aggies as well. Hopefully, they'll be able to form more of a rush-oriented identity against the Hogs and get out of dodge with a win.
Aggies stay clean in turnover column
This is the most important one. The Aggies are no doubt a much better team than Arkansas, but the one thing that lets less-talented teams hang around is when they win the turnover battle. The Aggies need a clean sheet here, and that falls on Marcel Reed first and foremost.
Texas A&M's QB has given the ball away at least once against each of their three Power 4 opponents; while they balanced it out by gaining three turnovers against Arizona State, they've been far less effective over the past two Saturdays.
When Reed is called on to pass, he needs to make safe and smart decisions with the ball. When Rueben Owens, KJ Edwards, Jamarion Morrow, and Carsyn Baker are toting the rock, they need to prioritize ball security at all costs. Far too often we've seen players straining for extra yards, only for a defensive player to successfully strip the ball. A&M needs to avoid doing any of that if they hope to win this game.
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