After meeting in the Southwest Classic in the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys in nine of the past 10 years, No. 24 Texas A&M and Arkansas will play the final game in the series at the Arlington, Texas, stadium on Saturday.
Texas A&M (3-1, 1-0 SEC) may be without starting quarterback Conner Weigman for a third straight game since the sophomore injured his throwing shoulder against McNeese State on Sept. 7.
Aggies coach Mike Elko announced Monday that Weigman will be a game-time decision.
That means potentially more snaps for Marcel Reed, who came in against McNeese and started in the two Aggies victories that followed against Florida and Bowling Green.
Against the Falcons on Sept. 21, Reed threw for 173 yards and two touchdowns and led Texas A&M in rushing with 91 yards in a 26-20 victory.
“He’s got a big arm, he’s got tremendous athleticism. I still think there’s some progressions, reads, checks that he’s still working through,” Elko said about Reed’s progress. “I think those things have made tremendous strides from spring ball through fall camp.”
Arkansas (3-1, 1-0) has a dynamic quarterback of its own in Taylen Green. In a 24-14 win over Auburn last week, he struggled early, throwing interceptions on two consecutive Arkansas drives. But in the third quarter, Green responded with a 58-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Sategna. With Auburn’s defense closing in, Green scrambled to his left and hit Sategna on the 1-yard line, and Sategna fell into the end zone to put Arkansas ahead 14-7.
Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman said he is concerned with the need for scrambling with a line that isn’t allowing the Arkansas offense to reach its potential. On Saturday, Auburn had three sacks and seven tackles for loss, showing a unit struggling at the line of scrimmage.
“The most concerning part of offensive football from Saturday was the way that we did not protect the quarterback,” Pittman said. “And as we all know who played the game, at some point you’re going to try to do too much because you’re feeling like ‘we’ve got to make a big play because we’re not just consistently driving the ball down the field.'”
For Texas A&M, Elko doesn’t see their need for team improvements based on one or two different areas or focuses.
“It all boils down to consistency … and that’s a coach-speak answer to some degree,” said Elko. “I don’t think there’s the same glaring issue that shows up every single week, right? I think there’s progress.”
Arkansas leads the all-time series 41-35-3 but hasn’t beaten the Aggies since Sept. 25, 2021. In the nine-year series played at noted Arkansas alum Jerry Jones’ stadium in Arlington, Texas, the Razorbacks are 1-8.
While Pittman acknowledges the venue has helped Arkansas with Texas-based recruiting, it’s also a setback for the Razorbacks’ loyal fans back in Fayetteville.
“We’re playing one game out of the first five at home, and Auburn’s going to play five in a row at home, and I believe that it’s really hard to get the fan base excited if they don’t have an opportunity to see the hogs,” Pittman said. “This will give an opportunity at least one more every other year to have a home game.”
