Arkansas-Texas A&M Highlights Week 5 Vegas SEC Predictions
Saturday Blitz Vegas SEC Predictions Week 5
Game of the Week
Arkansas Razorbacks at No. 6 Texas A&M Aggies
Line: Texas A&M by 9
Here’s a game of the week that we probably didn’t think we’d have at the beginning of the year. Arkansas is fighting its way to relevance among the SEC West powers, and Texas A&M wants to maintain the respect that it took after blowing out South Carolina to open the season. We’ll find out a lot about both teams in this game, mainly how good Arkansas can be and if the Aggies are a fluke. It’s also worth noting how exciting this game can be since it’s between two former Southwest Conference rivals.
Arkansas has built up lots of momentum under head coach Bret Bielema in his second season. At 3-1, it’s only loss is a bad one on opening day to Auburn. But this team earned lots of respect after dominating Texas Tech, and it’s been putting up points by running the football. Running between the tackles, running to the outside, and running pretty much anywhere they can. This rushing attack is exactly what the Hogs need to compete with Texas A&M on Saturday. They are going to want to run the ball a lot against a Texas A&M defense that is definitely better than last year but still very suspect. Arkansas’s defense, meanwhile, has been okay but has struggled defending the pass. To be fair, they’ve ran into a lot of teams that put up lots of yards, and those team’s actually didn’t have the same numbers against the Razorbacks that they have against other teams. Still, the defense will have to show up and play very well Saturday for Arkansas to pull off the upset against an offense that looks unstoppable right now.
It’s Round Two for Texas A&M. The Aggies had a blowout win to gain respect the first game of the season, then they filled their slate with three straight cupcakes. Now, Arkansas comes to town looking much better than expected, especially on offense. The game for Texas A&M comes down to two factors: Kenny Hill and the rush defense. Hill simply needs to keep doing what he’s been doing, which involves throwing for lots of yards and touchdowns. Other potent offenses have made Arkansas’s defense appear to be weak right now, but that’s simply due to the fact that the Razorbacks haven’t played enough bad teams to help their average. Hill has to look as potent as he’s looked up to this point. For Hill to have a chance to score a lot, the Aggies are going to have to find a way to stop that deadly Arkansas rushing attack. The Razorbacks have been stalling teams by gashing them on the ground, and Texas A&M’s defense is still suspect, so it has got to come through Saturday. If not, they’re in trouble.
Prediction
The Aggies will have trouble stopping Arkansas’s run throughout the entire game, making this something worth at least checking up on for four quarters. Hill will also struggle early and have a couple of bad throws. But Texas A&M’s offense will still be too potent for Arkansas to handle, and as the game continues on, Hill will find his rhythm and put up points the way he has been doing while Arkansas has trouble keeping up. By the end of the game, it will surprisingly look like a solid Aggies victory on the scoreboard despite the fact that Arkansas will have played tough with them the entire time.
Texas A&M: 41 Arkansas: 31