Click here to view Texas A&M’s postgame press conference.
Game #5: Texas A&M 34, Arkansas 7
Records: Texas A&M (3-2, 1-2), Arkansas (2-3, 0-2)
Box Score
This football rivalry which brought you “Skipper the Tripper” and the “Oink Doink” on Saturday night added “The Profound Ground Turnaround.”
OK, so that line still needs work. Frankly, the Aggies still do, too.
But Texas A&M (3-2, 1-2) leaned heavily on a revived running game and worked over Arkansas (2-3, 0-2) for a 34-7 SEC victory before 108,657 at Kyle Field.
The Aggies' running game went from dormant to dominant. A&M rolled up 231 yards and capped four drives with rushing touchdowns.
They broke out a slump of sorts which extended to last season. Indeed, A&M had been held to fewer than 100 rushing yards in four of its last six games vs. Power Four opponents.
The Aggies rushed for just 91 yards in a loss to LSU last week.
But it was clear this game would be different when Rueben Owens II ran over an Arkansas tackler on the Aggies’ first drive.
“The first run that Rube had, he kind of, like, trucked the safety,” freshman running back KJ Edwards said. “That kind of set the tone. I knew it was going to be a good night with the run game.”
Coach Mike Elko thought so, too.
He needed it to be a good night for running. Receiver Mario Craver was limited with what appears to be a tender ankle. Receiver Ashton Bethel-Roman is just working his way back from an injury that forced him out of recent games.
Also, quarterback Marcel Reed has been struggling in the passing game.
“We had it in our mind that we felt like we’d be able to run the ball,” Elko said. “Hidden in the last two weeks, I think, has been some improvement in our O-line cohesion and our ability to run the football.
“So we wanted to lean on that part of the game. We wanted to establish it and then see where it would go from there.”
You never know where anything is going in this bizarre series. The Aggies have won 14 of the last 15 games, but most have been close, hard-fought contests.
Often, there’s been no rhyme or reason to explain the outcomes.
Like in 2014, when Arkansas tackle Dan Skipper was penalized for tripping to negate a long run that likely would’ve led to a 35-14 Razorbacks lead and eventual victory. Instead, the Aggies rallied to win in overtime, 35-28.
Then, in 2022, Arkansas kicker Cam Little missed a game-winning field goal when the ball doinked off the top of the right upright. A&M won 23-21.
This time, the reasons easily explain the rhyme. The Aggies, obviously committed to the run, ran on 72 percent of their plays.
“To get the commitment you need effectiveness,” Elko said. “It’s going to hurt us if we run the ball 72 percent of the time for three yards a carry and don’t get any first downs. That won’t be fun to watch, and that won’t be effective.
“In order to lean on the run game, the run game has to be effective.”
A&M ran on six plays in an opening eight-play drive that culminated with a Carsyn Baker 2-yard run.
The Aggies' next series featured eight runs on a 10-play drive for Edwards’ 20-yard sprint around left end to the end zone.
Reed had a 23-yard scramble on the march.
“I thought he was able to use his legs and get out on the perimeter a little bit,” Elko said. “I think when people allow him to do that, it makes it a little bit easier for him.”
Running Reed was a welcome sight. He’s seemed tentative to take off this season. In the win over Arkansas, he rushed nine times for 66 yards. Three were on scrambles that netted 54 yards.
The other six were on designed runs. That included a 1-yard touchdown dash in which he outran Arkansas cornerback Shelton Lewis to the pylon. The touchdown staked the Aggies to a 21-7 lead late in the second quarter.
Reed later scrambled 17 yards to help set up a 57-yard David Olano field goal, which enabled A&M to take a 24-7 margin at halftime.
Edwards closed A&M’s first series of the second half with another touchdown run. That score made it quite clear this game would not have the drama of so many previous A&M-Arkansas clashes.
Sure, there were other encouraging plays that did not involve the running game.
Safety Dalton Brooks intercepted a pass by Arkansas quarterback KJ Jackson and returned it to the 28-yard line to set up A&M’s first touchdown.
Tight end Kiotti Armstrong turned a shot pass into a 54-yard gain. Olano hit two field goals. Brooks and tackle Landon Rink stopped Arkansas running back Braylen Russell for a two-yard loss on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
Most encouraging, though, was just that the Aggies had an emphatic victory following disappointing losses to Kentucky and LSU.
Stronger opponents remain, including next week at Missouri. In fact, a strong argument can be made that Arkansas is the SEC's weakest team.
That doesn't matter. The Aggies needed a victory and got it emphatically.
“This was a major win just to get our confidence back,” Edwards said. “The past two weeks we’ve kind of been down as a unit. It’s a good thing we got this win, so we can keep it going.”
