SEC Preview: Texas A&M Aggies take on Arkansas Razorbacks

The Texas A&M Aggies and Arkansas Razorbacks both open SEC play this weekend in AT&T Stadium in Arlington Texas.  Both teams enter with one loss on their record. The Aggies are 2-1 after an opening week loss to UCLA followed by wins over Nicholls and Louisiana Lafayette. The Razorbacks are 1-1 after a week one victory over Florida A&M then a loss to TCU in week two. The Razorbacks did not play last week.

Dominant Aggies

Since taking over the head coaching position in 2012 for Texas A&M, Kevin Sumlin has never lost to the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Aggies have won the last five meetings, but Sumlin says the past success is not a reason to be over confident going into this weekends match-up with the Razorbacks.

Quarterback Play

The quarterback play of both teams may just be the deciding factor this weekend. Arkansas returns veteran quarterback Austin Allen. Although he has started out slow this year, Kevin Sumlin believes he is still one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC.

Texas A&M’s quarterback, on the other hand, will be seeing action in his first SEC game this weekend. When starter Nick Starkel went down with a broken ankle, freshman Kellen Mond took over the starting job in week one against UCLA. Kevin Sumlin says now with two starts under his belt, Mond is slowly starting to become more confident under center for the Aggies.

Bye Week Advantage

Arkansas head coach Brett Bielema doesn’t want his team to underestimate the Aggies, even with an inexperienced quarterback at the helm. Bielema said with the bye week his team was more focused on making themselves better.

A major focus for the Razorbacks during the bye week was an emphasis on controlling their emotions and the momentum of the game. This was an issue for the Razorbacks last year, which resulted them in blowing big early leads when they were unable to get the momentum back on their side. This is an issue Texas A&M had early this year, when they let UCLA comeback from a 34-point deficit in week one. Bielema knows controlling the momentum in this weekend’s game will be a major key to who comes out on top.

Uniform Watch

Arkansas will be taking the field this weekend in uniforms that honor Jerry Jones.  Jerry Jones a former player on the Arkansas Razorbacks was just recently inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.  To honor this achievement of their former player, the Razorbacks are modeling their uniforms off the Dallas Cowboys.

"I don’t know that I’ve had anything happen to me that has been as meaningful as this gesture." – Jerry Joneshttps://t.co/ckMiLPnLAq

— Arkansas Razorbacks (@ArkRazorbacks) September 17, 2017

Arkansas-Texas A&M will kickoff at 12 ET, and coverage of the game will be on ESPN.