Arkansas Razorbacks at Texas A&M Aggies

Texas A&M is chasing its second straight trip to the College Football Playoff. Arkansas just wants to feel normal again.

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ARKTA&M

ARKTA&M

OverUnder

Best BetTexas A&M

A&M enters as the clear favorite off an 11-2, CFP-berth season with Marcel Reed back at the controls. Arkansas is starting over with a new coach and an unresolved quarterback race, which is a tough combination on the road in the SEC. Back the Aggies here — the continuity edge is too lopsided.

Arkansas

• +Ryan Silverfield went 50-24 at Memphis
• +40-plus transfers overhauling the roster fast
• +Nothing left to lose after 2-10 season
• −Finished 2-10 last year, worst in decades
• −Unsettled QB battle between Jackson and Hill
• −Brand-new staff installing systems on the fly

Texas A&M

• +Reached first CFP berth in program history
• +Marcel Reed returns as proven starter
• +Preseason top-15 team loaded with skill talent
• −Lost OC Klein and DC Bateman to other jobs
• −Reed still needs more consistent decision-making
• −First-year coordinators untested in those seats

Mike Elko's Aggies are the ones with something to protect. Texas A&M went 11-2 a year ago and made the program's first-ever College Football Playoff appearance, and Marcel Reed is back for his second full season as the guy tasked with getting them further. Arkansas is the opposite story — a 2-10 collapse that got Sam Pittman fired in September and ended with Ryan Silverfield, fresh off a 50-24 run at Memphis, taking over an entirely new-look roster.

Silverfield didn't just get a new job, he got a new team. Arkansas is bringing in more than 40 transfers, and the headline battle in Fayetteville all offseason has been at quarterback, where returning sophomore KJ Jackson is squaring off with Memphis transfer AJ Hill for the job. A&M, meanwhile, is breaking in first-year playcallers on both sides after Collin Klein left to become Kansas State's head coach and Jay Bateman bolted for Kentucky — and early preseason rankings still have the Aggies comfortably inside the top 15 nationally.

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ARK Arkansas

TA&M Texas A&M

None of that changes the shape of this one on paper. A&M enters with continuity at the most important position on the field and a roster that's already been to the mountaintop; Arkansas enters trying to figure out who's taking snaps.

Arkansas Razorbacks

Sep 26?vs Tulsa—

Sep 19?vs Georgia—

Sep 12?@ Utah—

Sep 5?vs North Alabama—

Texas A&M Aggies

Sep 25?@ LSU—

Sep 19?vs Kentucky—

Sep 12?vs Arizona State—

Sep 5?vs Missouri State—

A&M's answer for how it scores points hasn't changed much. Isaiah Horton and Mario Craver give Reed two established targets on the outside, and Ruben Owens II fills out a backfield that can lean run-heavy if the Aggies want to protect a lead. Arkansas rebuilt its receiver room from scratch, adding Boise State's Chris Marshall and LSU's Jelani Watkins to pair with returner CJ Brown — talented pieces, but ones still learning a new offense behind a new quarterback.

Arkansas Razorbacks

(0)

Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report

Texas A&M Aggies

(0)

Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report

That gap in continuity is really what this game comes down to. Texas A&M is building toward another playoff run and has the personnel to survive an early hiccup. Arkansas is still figuring out who it is under Silverfield, and a trip to College Station this early in his tenure is a tough proving ground no matter how many new faces are on the roster.