From @masonchoate
The Arkansas Razorbacks (3-1, 1-0 SEC) have the chance to pick up an early-season ranked victory when they take on the No. 24 Texas A&M Aggies (3-1, 0-0 SEC) on Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Arkansas began conference play last weekend with a 24-14 win on The Plains at Auburn in a game in which the Razorbacks forced five turnovers. Texas A&M narrowly defeated Bowling Green, 26-20, in a competitive home game at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.
As these two teams prepare to meet at AT&T Stadium for the 13th time since 2009, it's worth noting that the only Arkansas head coaches with wins over the Aggies in the span are Bobby Petrino and Sam Pittman. Now serving as offensive coordinator on Pittman's staff, Petrino was 3-0 against the Aggies during his time as Head Hog from 2008-11.
"When Bobby was there, they were rolling," Pittman said Monday. "Had good football teams but we haven’t talked about that far back. I don’t know. I’m glad he’s on our staff and hopefully we can go get us another one."
As for high school star ratings for this year's squad, Arkansas' starters average out at 3.4 stars, while Texas A&M checks in at 3.3 stars per starter.
While the Aggies have had a handful of five-stars starting in recent history, this year's squad features some transfers from smaller schools starting, such as receiver Jahdae Walker out of Grand Valley State, tight end Tre Watson from Fresno State, right guard Ar'maj Reed-Adams from Kansas and others.
Similar to last week's matchup with Auburn, the Razorbacks have graded out better than the Aggies in every offensive category other than pass blocking on Pro Football Focus, which is a football analytics website that provides grades for each individual player and full teams after analyzing each game for all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. Grades are given from 0-100, with the higher the grade signifying better performance.
Here's a look at how both teams stack up based on stats from this year and high school star ratings:
Offense
Texas A&M || Arkansas
Scoring: 31.0 (t-62nd) | 40.5 (20th)
Total yards: 417.8 (53rd) | 524.0 (8th)
Passing: 161.8 (116th) | 240.0 (16th)
Rushing: 256.0 (8th) | 259.0 (11th)
Third downs: 40.8% (66th) | 61.0% (2nd)
Sacks allowed/game: 0.8 (t-18th) | 2.3 (t-98th)
Turnovers: 3 (t-26th) | 6 (t-88th)
Defense
Texas A&M || Arkansas
Scoring: 18.3 (t-41st) | 20.0 (t-47th)
Total yards: 318.8 (51st) | 325.0 (57th)
Passing: 189.0 (52nd) | 242.3 (98th)
Rushing: 129.6 (62nd) | 82.8 (14th)
Third downs: 29.2% (t-20th) | 30.8% (t-28th)
Sacks/game: 1.3 (t-109th) | 1.8 (t-77th)
Turnovers forced: 6 (t-41st) | 7 (t-23rd)
NR - Not rated
Team Grades (Texas A&M | Arkansas)
Overall: 83.2 | 90.6
Offense: 75.2 | 84.5
Passing: 58.6 | 84.5
Rushing: 80.0 | 86.5
Receiving: 65.8 | 71.9
Pass blocking: 77.5 | 63.9
Run blocking: 72.4 | 74.4
Defense: 69.4 | 68.5
Run defense: 78.2 | 78.9
Tackling: 73.0 | 51.0
Pass rush: 63.1 | 60.3
Coverage: 60.3 | 59.4
Special teams: 68.2 | 76.5
PFF Comparison - Texas A&M vs. Arkansas
The Arkansas Razorbacks (3-1, 1-0 SEC) have the chance to pick up an early-season ranked victory when they take on the No. 24 Texas A&M Aggies (3-1, 0-0 SEC) on Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Arkansas began conference play last weekend with a 24-14 win on The Plains at Auburn in a game in which the Razorbacks forced five turnovers. Texas A&M narrowly defeated Bowling Green, 26-20, in a competitive home game at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.
As these two teams prepare to meet at AT&T Stadium for the 13th time since 2009, it's worth noting that the only Arkansas head coaches with wins over the Aggies in the span are Bobby Petrino and Sam Pittman. Now serving as offensive coordinator on Pittman's staff, Petrino was 3-0 against the Aggies during his time as Head Hog from 2008-11.
"When Bobby was there, they were rolling," Pittman said Monday. "Had good football teams but we haven’t talked about that far back. I don’t know. I’m glad he’s on our staff and hopefully we can go get us another one."
As for high school star ratings for this year's squad, Arkansas' starters average out at 3.4 stars, while Texas A&M checks in at 3.3 stars per starter.
While the Aggies have had a handful of five-stars starting in recent history, this year's squad features some transfers from smaller schools starting, such as receiver Jahdae Walker out of Grand Valley State, tight end Tre Watson from Fresno State, right guard Ar'maj Reed-Adams from Kansas and others.
Similar to last week's matchup with Auburn, the Razorbacks have graded out better than the Aggies in every offensive category other than pass blocking on Pro Football Focus, which is a football analytics website that provides grades for each individual player and full teams after analyzing each game for all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. Grades are given from 0-100, with the higher the grade signifying better performance.
Here's a look at how both teams stack up based on stats from this year and high school star ratings:
Season Stats - Texas A&M | Arkansas (FBS rank out of 134 teams)
Offense
Texas A&M || Arkansas
Scoring: 31.0 (t-62nd) | 40.5 (20th)
Total yards: 417.8 (53rd) | 524.0 (8th)
Passing: 161.8 (116th) | 240.0 (16th)
Rushing: 256.0 (8th) | 259.0 (11th)
Third downs: 40.8% (66th) | 61.0% (2nd)
Sacks allowed/game: 0.8 (t-18th) | 2.3 (t-98th)
Turnovers: 3 (t-26th) | 6 (t-88th)
Defense
Texas A&M || Arkansas
Scoring: 18.3 (t-41st) | 20.0 (t-47th)
Total yards: 318.8 (51st) | 325.0 (57th)
Passing: 189.0 (52nd) | 242.3 (98th)
Rushing: 129.6 (62nd) | 82.8 (14th)
Third downs: 29.2% (t-20th) | 30.8% (t-28th)
Sacks/game: 1.3 (t-109th) | 1.8 (t-77th)
Turnovers forced: 6 (t-41st) | 7 (t-23rd)
Star Comparison (using Rivals ratings)
Star Comparison - Texas A&M vs Arkansas| Texas A&M | Stars | Arkansas | Stars |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB Marcel Reed | 4 | QB Taylen Green | 2 |
| RB Le'Veon Moss | 4 | RB Ja'Quinden Jackson | 4 |
| TE Tre Watson | 2 | TE Luke Hasz | 4 |
| WR Noah Thomas | 4 | WR Andrew Armstrong | 2 |
| WR Jahdae Walker | NR | WR Tyrone Broden | 2 |
| WR Cyrus Allen | 3 | WR Isaiah Sategna | 4 |
| LT Trey Zuhn III | 4 | LT Fernando Carmona Jr. | 2 |
| LG Chase Bisontis | 4 | LG E'Marion Harris | 4 |
| C Kolinu'u Faaiu | 3 | C Addison Nichols | 4 |
| RG Ar'maj Reed-Adams | 2 | RG Joshua Braun | 4 |
| RT Dametrious Crownover | 3 | RT Keyshawn Blackstock | 4 |
| DE Nic Scourton | 4 | DE Landon Jackson | 4 |
| DT Shemar Turner | 4 | DT Eric Gregory | 4 |
| DT Albert Regis | 3 | DT Cam Ball | 3 |
| DE Shemar Stewart | 5 | DE Nico Davillier | 4 |
| LB Scooby Williams | 4 | LB Brad Spence | 3 |
| LB Taurean York | 3 | LB Xavian Sorey Jr. | 4 |
| NB Jaydon Hill | 3 | HOG Doneiko Slaughter | 4 |
| SF Bryce Anderson | 4 | S Jayden Johnson | 3 |
| SF Marcus Ratcliffe | 3 | S TJ Metcalf | 4 |
| CB Will Lee III | 3 | CB Jaylon Braxton | 4 |
| CB Jayvon Thomas | 4 | CB Marquise Robinson | 2 |
NR - Not rated
Pro Football Focus Comparison (using season grades)
Team Grades (Texas A&M | Arkansas)
Overall: 83.2 | 90.6
Offense: 75.2 | 84.5
Passing: 58.6 | 84.5
Rushing: 80.0 | 86.5
Receiving: 65.8 | 71.9
Pass blocking: 77.5 | 63.9
Run blocking: 72.4 | 74.4
Defense: 69.4 | 68.5
Run defense: 78.2 | 78.9
Tackling: 73.0 | 51.0
Pass rush: 63.1 | 60.3
Coverage: 60.3 | 59.4
Special teams: 68.2 | 76.5
PFF Comparison - Texas A&M vs. Arkansas
| Texas A&M | PFF Grades (Snaps) | Arkansas | PFF Grades (Snaps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB Marcel Reed | 67.5 (181) | QB Taylen Green | 90.4 (287) |
| RB Le'Veon Moss | 69.6 (137) | RB Ja'Quinden Jackson | 81.7 (181) |
| TE Tre Watson | 55.5 (181) | TE Luke Hasz | 67.7 (193) |
| WR Noah Thomas | 61.9 (209) | WR Andrew Armstrong | 80.0 (199) |
| WR Jahdae Walker | 58.6 (116) | WR Tyrone Broden | 53.0 (244) |
| WR Cyrus Allen | 65.4 (208) | WR Isaiah Sategna | 75.0 (185) |
| LT Trey Zuhn III | 70.3 (280) | LT Fernando Carmona Jr. | 77.6 (296) |
| LG Chase Bisontis | 69.4 (274) | LG E'Marion Harris | 59.6 (308) |
| C Kolinu'u Faaiu | 74.2 (166) | C Addison Nichols | 63.6 (231) |
| RG Ar'maj Reed-Adams | 69.9 (267) | RG Joshua Braun | 69.2 (296) |
| RT Dametrious Crownover | 73.8 (196) | RT Keyshawn Blackstock | 63.2 (296) |
| DE Nic Scourton | 74.3 (159) | DE Landon Jackson | 75.4 (217) |
| DT Shemar Turner | 58.6 (149) | DT Eric Gregory | 72.2 (173) |
| DT Albert Regis | 57.6 (122) | DT Cam Ball | 61.0 (174) |
| DE Shemar Stewart | 76.6 (146) | DE Nico Davillier | 68.9 (166) |
| LB Scooby Williams | 68.0 (104) | LB Brad Spence | 48.1 (124) |
| LB Taurean York | 52.8 (175) | LB Xavian Sorey Jr. | 64.8 (187) |
| NB Jaydon Hill | 52.5 (158) | HOG Doneiko Slaughter | 51.8 (207) |
| CB Will Lee III | 64.5 (172) | CB Jaylon Braxton | 56.0 (77) |
| SF Marcus Ratcliffe | 62.8 (171) | S Jayden Johnson | 67.5 (214) |
| SF Bryce Anderson | 69.3 (156) | S TJ Metcalf | 70.7 (242) |
| CB Jayvon Thomas | 57.1 (162) | CB Marquise Robinson | 64.2 (148) |
