Three reasons why Arkansas beats Texas A&M on Saturday
The No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks survived a scare last Saturday, as they came from behind to beat Missouri State, 38-27.
This week, they shift their focus to their next SEC game. Arkansas travels to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys, to battle rival Texas A&M in the Southwest Classic.
Texas A&M rebounded after a stunning home loss to Appalachian State two weeks ago by defeating Miami, 17-9 at Kyle Field.
According to the current ESPN Football Power Index, Texas A&M has a 57% chance to win Saturday. But, according to general stats, Arkansas could easy leave “Jerry World” with a win to move to 4-0.
Here are three reasons why Arkansas defeats Texas A&M on Saturday:
If KJ Jefferson keeps doing his thing
AP Photo/Michael Woods
KJ Jefferson is off to as hot of a start as we all predicted. Last Saturday against Missouri State, the junior quarterback passed for a career-high 385 yards in the win.
Through three games, Jefferson has passed for 770 yards and has rushed for 169 additional yards, giving him an average of 313.3 yards per game. Why is that number important? Because Texas A&M’s offense collectively averages 313.7 yards per game.
If Jefferson has an “average” day, it could turn into a long day for Texas A&M.
If Raheim Sanders keeps eating
AP Photo/Michael Woods
To everyone outside of Arkansas, running back Raheim “Rocket” Sanders has been a surprise. Through three games, Sanders leads the SEC with 440 yards. He is the leading rusher for an offense that averages 243 yards per game.
Arkansas’ strong rushing attack will go against the SEC’s No. 12 ranked rush defense. Texas A&M allows an average of 154 yards per game. If all goes according to plan, Arkansas’ run game could have another successful game.
If the pass rush becomes too much to handle
Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
Of course, the rhetoric heading into this week is the number of passing yards that Arkansas has allowed. The Razorbacks allow 353 yards per game, which is dead last in both the SEC as well as the NCAA.
Arkansas does however lead the SEC in sacks with 17, which is three more than the next team, USC.
What will help Arkansas this week is the number of yards that Texas A&M averages per game. The Aggies post an abysmal 313 yards per game, which is the lowest in the conference.
If the lethal combination of [autotag]Drew Sanders[/autotag], [autotag]Jordan Domineck[/autotag], [autotag]Zach Williams[/autotag], and [autotag]Bumper Pool[/autotag] have a great day getting to the backfield, the passing defense could see an improvement.
