AT&T Stadium – Arlington, TX
Kickoff: Saturday, 9:00 p.m. ET
Line: Texas A&M -6.5, Total: 51.0

Both #17 Arkansas and #10 Texas A&M will be hoping to stay undefeated when the teams meet at AT&T Stadium on Saturday night.

Arkansas is off to an excellent start to the season, as the Razorbacks have already picked up a road victory at TCU and have now scored 41.5 PPG in each of their past two games. Arkansas is usually a team that starts the season poorly, so this is a very welcoming sight for Razorback Nation. Texas A&M has been even more impressive, though. The Aggies have already defeated UCLA 31-24 as 4.5-point home favorites in the season opener and then they went on the road and beat Auburn 29-16 as 1.5-point road ‘dogs last week. This head-to-head series has been all A&M in recent years, as the Aggies have won four straight games against the Razorbacks (2-2 ATS). Last year’s meeting had A&M winning 28-21 as a six-point road favorite and that was largely due to the fact that the Aggies threw for 358 yards. It is, however, worth noting that Arkansas is 6-0 ATS versus teams who give up 17 or less PPG over the past three seasons.

The Razorbacks have been surprisingly explosive in the passing game this season, as QB Austin Allen (655 yards, 7 TD, 2 INT) has looked incredible in his first year under center for Arkansas. In the Razorbacks’ big road win over TCU in the second week of the season, Allen was 17-for-29 with 223 yards, three touchdowns and zero picks. He also rushed for one touchdown in that game, and Arkansas badly needs him to show up in this huge road game as well. A&M has a tough defense and Arkansas can’t afford a bad performance from Allen on Saturday. When looking to the pass, Allen will be hoping to find guys like WRs Drew Morgan (15 rec, 168 yards, 1 TD) and Keon Hatcher (11 rec, 204 yards, 2 TD) over the middle of the field. Both are good route runners with some serious big play ability. In the red zone, however, he’ll look to find TE Jeremy Sprinkle (9 rec, 97 yards, 3 TD). Sprinkle has scored in every game this season and is just a huge target for Allen in the end zone. He should cause some problems for A&M in this one. Defensively, the Razorbacks must be ready for a heavy dose of throwing. The Aggies like to attack defenses through the air and Arkansas can’t allow them to make big play after big play.

Texas A&M has looked like one of the elite teams in college football to open up the year and a lot of that has to do with DE Myles Garrett (8 tackles, 3.0 sacks). Garrett is the best defensive player in the nation, as he terrorizes opposing quarterbacks with his ability to rush the passer and is also tremendous in stopping the run. Auburn pretty much had to avoid rushing to the left side of the field last game and you can look for Arkansas to do a lot of the same this Saturday. The secondary, however, will need to be ready to make plays against a Razorbacks team that has passed the ball well through three games. Offensively, QB Trevor Knight (830 yards, 5 TD, 2 INT) needs to have a good game for A&M. He has played well this season and one thing that helps him is his ability to run the ball. Knight has rushed for 151 yards and three touchdowns this season, and defenses need to stay honest when he has the ball. Look for WR Christian Kirk (18 rec, 186 yards, 2 TD) to make some big plays in this one as well. Kirk is as talented in the open field as any receiver in the country and the Aggies will need big plays from him on Saturday.