FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — With weather perhaps playing havoc with the schedule in this one and thunderstorms predicted, it’s hard to get a good read on this Arkansas’ game against Texas A&M for some folks.
It probably shouldn’t be. The Aggies may have their best team in awhile.
Only the old-timers will remember when No. 2 Texas A&M came rolling into a dreary day in Little Rock in 1975 ranked No.2 in the country and wouldn’t do a bowl deal where the loser went to the Sugar Bowl.
The Razorbacks just shrugged, then went out and won the game, 31-6 on a key catch by Teddy Barnes, who coach Frank Broyles called immortal later. That reception spurred a flood of points as the Aggies collapsed.
Upsets in the Hogs’ favor against the Aggies have happened before.
It’s just hard to predict them. This year is one of those years because there is no evidence Arkansas matches up well against A&M, especially the defense.
This is the type defense that historically has given Bobby Petrino’s offenses problems (just remember Alabama and LSU in 2010 and 2011). They are big, physical and fast.
Petrino’s offenses rely on finding mismatches and it may be a little difficult to find those this week and that’s not positive for the Hogs.
Plus, with the game back in Fayetteville, we have no idea if that’s going to break the curse that has led to some goofy Hogs’ losses in Arlington. It’s looked for a decade like they are trying to find new ways to lose the game.
This one they may not have to look very hard because A&M doesn’t appear to be over-ranked at No. 4 in the country. Aggies 34, Hogs 24
SEC Picks for Week 8
(10) LSU at (17) Vanderbilt – We’ll find out if the Commodores are real or is LSU the team better than anybody thinks. It may be the first time LSU has been a 2.5-point underdog against Vandy in dcades, Considering they beat LSU last yer and are actually ranked this year, the temptation is to go with them, but I’m not there mentally, yet. I keep waiting on the ‘Dores bubble to burst. Tigers by 4.
(14) Oklahoma at South Carolina – The Sooners may have thought John Mateer was going to be as sharp coming back from a hand injury as he was before. Somehow I didn’t think that was going to happen because just a few weeks is enough to throw the timing off but Oklahoma didn’t lose just because of him. There were other guys out there that didn’t play as sharp as they had been playing. Plus, no one seems to understand Arch Manning is improving every week. The Longhorns have problems in the offensive line which has been an issue for a couple of years now. The Sooners just have to shake it off and will against a Gamecocks team maybe a little over-rated in preseason. Sooners by 11.
(5) Ole Miss at (9) Georgia – Before the season I didn’t think the Rebels would have problems at quarterback but I wasn’t basing that on Trinidad Chambliss, who has suddely flung his name into the Heisman race. Nobody else saw that coming, either. Ole Miss is undefeated, but they’re going to drop at least one this season and going on the road to Athens is the most likely candidate. As long as they don’t get blown out they probably won’t even drop out of the Top 10 with a loss. Besides, Georgia isn’t the same dominant team they were a few years ago as the field has leveled, including them. They should have enough in this one. Bulldogs by 6
Mississippi State at Florida – Florida’s Billy Napier is expected to be the coach fired in the SEC this week and a loss to the Bulldogs just might do it. Jeff Lebby has them playing much better this year, but they just are a couple of players shy of being able to close out wins against pretty good teams. They are competitive, though. This one could be the test and everybody remembers when the Arkansas team in 2023 went to Gainesville and came away with a 39-36 win and that was the Hogs’ only league win that year. Let’s start the coaching carousel spinning. Napier keeps it going another week. Gators by 6.
(21) Texas at Kentucky – Pete has this one as his Good Grief game, but I’m not sure of that. Texas usually has a drop-off after a big win and beating Oklahoma last week in the Cotton Bowl certainly counts as that. The Wildcats are on the verge of being terrible and they are scratching their heads over Mark Stoops’ buyout. It may be one of those deals where they have to borrow from the basketball program to pay off the football coach. The only problem with that is who would want the job. Longhorns by 3.
(11) Tennessee at (6) Alabama – Another game in a week of good matchups all across the league. The Vols have looked like a team that stars fast and fades in the stretch of games. That happened in a way against Georgia and it gave Razorback fans some optimism headed into the Texas A&M game this week. Vols coach Josh Heupel starts fast and then tries to play the clock, speed the game up and come away with a win. It would be interesting to see how the Tennessee offense would do if he kept the throttle on the floor for an entire game. Crimson Tide by 2
(16) Missouri at Auburn – It’s about time for Auburn to pull out a win. At least get it out of their system before they come to Fayetteville next weekend to play the Hogs. That usually doesn’t work out particularly great for Arkansas because Hugh Freeze seems to have their number (remember Liberty?). It was tempting for me to mess with Pete’s picks on this one because he had Tigers winning, which I assumed was a clever trick to say after it was over he was talking about the winner. When you’re down that far in the contest you’ll try anything, I guess. Mizzou by 8.
