Game preview: Arkansas' offense vs. Texas A&M's defense
AggieYell.com’s preview of the matchup between No. 4 Texas A&M (6-0, 3-0 SEC) and Arkansas (2-4, 0-2 SEC) continues with a look at the Razorbacks offense vs. the Aggie defense.
Where, when, weather and TV
Where: Frank W. Reynolds Stadium, Fayetteville, Ark.
When: 2:30 p.m. central time, Saturday, Oct. 18
Weather: Thunderstorms, some severe, are expected before gametime and during the game. Temperatures in the low 70s, dropping through the 60s during the game.
TV: ESPN (Mark Jones, play-by-play; Roddy Jones, analyst; Quint Kessenich, sideline)
Arkansas offensive depth chart
QB: #10, Taylen Green (6-6, 235, RS-Sr.)
#7, KJ Jackson (6-4, 225, RS-Fr.)
#13, Trever Jackson (6-3, 202, RS-Fr.)
#8, Grayson Wilson (6-3, 215, Fr.)
RB: #4, Mike Washington Sr. (6-2, 228, Sr.)
#0, Braylen Russell (6-1, 238, So.)
#1, Rodney Hill (5-10, 193, RS-Jr.)
FB: #47, Maddox Lassiter (6-4, 250, RS-So.)
TE-H: #88, Rohan Jones (6-3, 242, Sr.)
TE-Y: #83, Jaden Platt (6-5, 265, RS-So.)
WR (X): #9, O’Mega Blake (6-2, 187, RS-Sr.)
#14, Andy Jean (6-1, 189, RS-So.)
#5, Ja’Kayden Ferguson (6-2, 187, Fr.)
WR (W): #6, Raylen Sharpe (5-9, 169, RS-Sr.)
#15, Kam Shanks (5-8, 169, RS-So.)
WR (Z): #3, CJ Brown (6-1, 200, So.)
#2, Courtney Crutchfield (6-2, 195, RS-Fr.)
LT: #51, Corey Robinson II (6-5, 311, RS-Sr.)
#75, Kavion Broussard (6-6, 317, RS-Fr.)
LG: #55, Fernando Carmona (6-5, 325, RS-Sr.)
#70, Blake Cherry (6-5, 316, Fr.)
C: #52, Caden Kitler (6-3, 305, RS-Jr.)
#53, Kash Courtney (6-4, 297, Fr.)
RG: #50, Kobe Branham (6-5, 329 RS-Fr.)
#74, Marcus Dumervil (6-5, 306, RS-Sr.)
RT: #76, E’Marion Harris (6-7, 313, RS-Jr.)
#71, Shaq McRoy (6-8, 344, RS-Fr.)
Texas A&M defensive depth chart
DE: #50, Dayon Hayes (6-3, 264, Gr.) OR #18, TJ Searcy (6-5, 255, Jr.)
#30 Solomon Williams (6-1, 250, RS-Fr.) OR #92 Sam M’Pemba (6-3, 252, RS-So.)
DT: #5, DJ Hicks (6-3, 295, Jr.) OR #11, Tyler Onyedim (6-3, 295, Gr.) OR #17, Albert Regis (6-1, 317, Gr.)
#55, Dealyn Evans (6-4, 314, RS-Fr.) OR #99, Landon Rink (6-2, 294, Fr.)
NT: #17, Albert Regis (6-1, 317, Gr.) OR #5, DJ Hicks (6-3, 295, Jr.) OR #11, Tyler Onyedim (6-3, 295, Gr.)
#88, DJ Sanders (6-3, 315, Fr.) OR #99, Landon Rink (6-2, 294, Fr.)
DT: #11, Tyler Onyedim (6-3, 295, Gr.) OR #17 Albert Regis (6-1, 317, Gr.) OR #5, DJ Hicks (6-3, 295, Jr.)
#59, Chace Sims (6-3, 294, Fr.) OR #99 Landon Rink, (6-2, 294, Fr.)
JACK: #9, Cashius Howell (6-2, 248, R-Sr.)
#15, Rylan Kennedy (6-3, 239, RS-So.) OR #10, Marco Jones (6-5, 258, Fr.) OR #92, Sam M’Pemba (6-3, 252, RS-So.)
LB: #21, Taurean York (5-10, 227, Jr.)
#54, Jordan Lockhart (6-1, 229, So.) OR #27 Daymion Sanford (6-2, 222, Jr.)
LB: #0, Scooby Williams (6-2, 230, Sr.)
#27, Daymion Sanford (6-2, 222, Jr.) OR #23, Noah Mikhail (6-2, 223, Fr.)
NICKEL: #7 Tyreek Chappell (5-11, 180, RS-Sr.)
#19, Bravion Rogers (5-11, 188, Jr.) OR #8, Jordan Shaw (5-11, 182, RS-So.) OR #14, Jayvon Thomas (5-11, 196, Jr.)
CB: #4, Will Lee III (6-1, 189, Sr.)
#6, Julio Humphrey (6-1, 195, R-Jr.)
#14, Jayvon Thomas (5-11, 196, Jr.)
CB: #2, Dezz Ricks (6-1, 188, R-So.)
#6, Julio Humphrey (6-1, 195, R-Jr.)
#20, Adonyss Currie (6-0, 174, Fr.)
S: #1, Bryce Anderson (5-10, 186, Sr.)
#29, Myles Davis (6-1, 196, So.) OR #13, Rashad “Tom Tom” Johnson Jr. (6-1, 198, Fr.)
S: #25, Dalton Brooks (6-0, 193, Jr.) OR #3 Marcus Ratcliffe (6-2, 209, Jr.)
#33, Jarred Kerr (5-11, 190, Sr.)
#13, Rashad “Tom Tom” Johnson Jr. (6-1, 198, Fr.)
Injury update
Arkansas: RB AJ Green, TEs Jeremiah Beck Jr. and Andreas Paaske and WRs Monte Harrison, Ishmael Cisse and Jalen Brown are all out.
Texas A&M: S Bryce Anderson is out.
Arkansas offensive statistical leaders
Passing: Green, 119-189 (63%), 1,654 yards, 14 TD, 5 INT
Jackson, 5-7, 106 yards, 1 TD
Rushing: Washington, 80 carries, 524 yards (6.6 YPC), 5 TD
Green, 71 carries, 504 yards (7.1 YPC), 3 TD
Russell, 40 carries, 212 yards (5.3 YPC), 3 TD
Receiving: Blake, 35 receptions, 464 yards (13.3 YPC), 3 TD
Sharpe, 21 receptions, 249 yards (11.9 YPC), 2 TD
Brown, 14 receptions, 192 yards (13.7 YPC), 2 TD
Texas A&M defensive statistical leaders
Tackles: York, 39
Ratcliffe, 33
Sanford, 27
Tackles for loss: Howell, 8.5
Sanford, 5.5
York, 3.5
Sacks: Howell, 7.5
Sanford and Hayes, 2.5
Regis, 2
Interceptions: Sanford and Scooby Williams, 1
Forced fumbles: Seven players with 1
Fumble recoveries: M’Pemba, York, Brooks and Hayes, 1
Head to head: Arkansas’ offense vs. Texas A&M’s defense
| Category | Arkansas | National/SEC rank | Category | Texas A&M | National/SEC rank |
| Scoring offense | 36.3 PPG | 27th/5th | Scoring defense | 20.3 PPG | 42nd/13th |
| Total offense | 511.5 YPG | 6th/3rd | Total defense | 294.5 YPG | 19th/5th |
| Rushing offense | 218.2 YPG | 17th/2nd | Rushing defense | 103.3 YPG | 22nd/8th |
| Passing offense | 293.3 YPG | 19th/4th | Passing defense | 191.2 YPG | 38th/7th |
| First downs | 154 | 14th/4th | First downs defense | 96 | 21st/6th |
| 3rd down conversion % | 57.1% | 3rd/2nd | 3rd down conversion defense | 20.8% | 1st nationally |
| Red zone conversion % | 91.7% | 34th/9th | Red zone defense | 93.8% | 121st/16th |
| Sacks allowed per game | 1.83 | 63rd/8th | Sacks per game | 3.5 | 5th/3rd |
| Tackles for loss allowed per game | 4.17 | 24th/5th | Tackles for loss | 7.8 | 7th/3rd |
| Turnovers | 11 | 114th/16th | Turnovers forced | 6 | 87th/9th |
| Turnover +/- | -5 | 119th/15th | Turnover +/- | +1 | 57th/9th |
| Time of possession | 29:57 | 67th/11th | Time of possession | 32:145 |
What Arkansas wants to do
Keep doing what they’ve been doing, with the exception of turning the ball over.
Arkansas out-gained Tennessee last weekend, but fumbled four times and lost three of them. They turned the ball over twice against Arkansas State (2 interceptions), once against Ole Miss (1 fumble), three times against Memphis (2 interceptions, 1 fumble), and twice against Notre Dame (1 fumble, 1 interception). Ball control has not been their forte.
Their running game, outside of the fumbles, has been. Washington and Green are already over 1,000 yards rushing combined. They have been able to run the ball on everyone and have gone over 30 carries in every game except one (29 against Arkansas State). Green is a threat to run either on RPO plays, called runs or scrambled, especially if he can get outside of the pocket and around the ends.
Green has put up a lot of yards through the air, but he’s really started to look for one receiver: O’Mega Blake. Blake has 14 more receptions than the next receiver and he’s where Green always starts his progression. The tight ends, Jones and Platt (the former A&M tight end), have both been weapons in the passing game and not just on short routes. Jones is averaging a ridiculous 32.7 yards a catch and Platt is averaging 17.2 YPC.
The Razorbacks have been able to move the ball on everyone, both on the ground and through the air. But they have found ways to self-destruct and that they have little margin for error with how badly their defense has played.
How A&M may try to counter
Do what they’ve been doing the last three weeks: win on first down in order to win on third down.
Nobody has had as low a third down conversion defense rate as A&M had at this point in the season in decades (at the least). A lot of that has to do with the defense being stout on first down. That’s going to be tougher against Arkansas than any other team they’ve faced, as the Razorbacks are third in the nation on 3rd down conversions. Something has to give, and if the Aggies are able to keep Arkansas in 3rd and medium to long situations, that’s not where a turnover-prone team wants to be — and they’ve had trouble holding onto the ball when the field is dry.
One of the keys will have to be keeping Green in the pocket. The Aggies have not faced a mobile quarterback yet, and he’s one of the best. The objective has to be to minimize the damage he can do with his legs, and then see if Will Lee and Dezz Ricks can take Blake away.
It’ll be tough to shut the Arkansas offense down, but the objective should be to slow them down and force a few punts. If the Aggie offense does what it normally does against a defense that is a whole lot worse than the others they’ve faced, that should be enough.
