During the Week 5 Saturday slate, the Arkansas Razorbacks will face off against the Texas A&M Aggies. This is a pivotal point in the season for both programs and the 83rd matchup in program history.
Looking at the odds for this year’s matchup, Texas A&M enters as a 14-point favorite and is a -625 favorite to win outright on DraftKings Sportsbook. Arkansas holds +455 odds of winning outright, with the game total set at 50.5 points.
This article previews both teams and offers a pick for the Week 5 CFB matchup.
Arkansas at Texas A&M Preview
Arkansas Razorbacks:
The Arkansas Razorbacks are off to a 2-2 start to the season, but they are 1-3 against the spread to this point. They opened the season with a 31-14 victory over Northern Alabama, but fell short of the 40.5-point spread. The Razorbacks then dropped back-to-back games at the hands of Utah and Georgia by a combined score of 88-27, failing to cover the spread in each. Most recently, the Razorbacks got back in the win column with a 34-6 victory over Tulsa, successfully covering the 9.5-point spread.
KJ Jackson stands in at quarterback for the Razorbacks and has completed 62.1% of his pass attempts on the season for 927 passing yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. He has also added 79 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground. It is a widespread rushing attack for this Arkansas team. Jackson leads the team with 35 rush attempts, while Braylen Russell and Sutton Smith each add 33 rush attempts of their own and a touchdown apiece. Cam Settles also has 20 rushing attempts on the season. However, there is a clear leader in the passing game as Chris Marshall leads the entire SEC with 28 receptions for 473 yards and a touchdown this season. Ismael Cisse is next on the team with 90 yards through the air, but adds a team-high two receiving scores.
As a team, the Razorbacks are averaging 23.0 points per game, which ranks 105th out of the 138 qualifying D1 teams. Their rushing game has been problematic, with Arkansas averaging 89.5 yards per game on the ground, which ranks in the bottom 18 of D1 teams. Defensively, opponents are scoring 27.0 points per game against the Razorbacks, which ranks 102nd in the country.
Texas A&M Aggies:
The Texas A&M Aggies enter with a 2-2 record as well and are 2-2 against the spread on the year. They opened the season up with a 50-0 victory over Missouri State to start the season and followed this up with a 48-20 win over Arizona State. The Aggies covered the 38.5- and 14.5-point spreads in both wins. But Texas A&M is coming off back-to-back losses. It was beaten outright by Kentucky as 16.5-point favorites, falling 31-21. Most recently, LSU blew out Texas A&M 35-6, as the Aggies failed to cover the 8.5-point spread.
Marcel Reed stands in at quarterback for Mike Elko’s squad and has completed 55.4% of his passing attempts for 738 passing yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions. Reed has also added 104 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground. Rueben Owens leads the rushing attack with 248 yards on the ground and one touchdown, while KJ Edwards adds over 100 yards of his own and Carsyn Baker adds a team-high two rushing scores. Through the air, Mario Craver contributes a team-high 225 receiving yards and a pair of scores. Isaiah Horton leads the team with three receiving touchdowns and adds 213 yards through the air.
The Aggies are averaging 31.2 points per game so far this season, which ranks 69th out of the 138 D1 teams. They are averaging 151.5 rushing yards per game, which ranks in the top half of college football. Defensively, opponents are scoring 21.5 points per game against Texas A&M, which ranks 58th in the country.
Arkansas at Texas A&M Pick
These teams faced off just last year, which resulted in a thrilling 45-42 victory by Texas A&M. But this is a much different Aggies team, and there has been plenty of turnover on both sides since this point.
Arkansas is looking to build off the momentum of securing its first FBS victory of the season last week against Tulsa. It has not won an SEC game since beating Mississippi State in October of 2024. But to be fair to the Razorbacks, they have dropped back-to-back games against Georgia by 28 points and Utah by 33 points, who have each earned a place in the conversation for best reams in the country.
Texas A&M does not quite crack this list, and the 14-point spread feels too significant. The Aggies have dropped back-to-back games and allowed 66 total points in the process. Their CFB playoff hopes are essentially gone, and the program simply did not measure up to the expected standard of teams like Kentucky and LSU. It would say a lot about the program if Texas A&M is able to put the previous two disappointing losses behind it and attempt to move forward on its goals for the season. But these were the types of losses that tend to linger with a team, and expect this to show face tonight.
Arkansas has a respectable short passing game that was in good form against Tulsa. Expect this to be enough to cover up its shortcomings in the running game and for the Razorbacks to move the ball effectively enough. Texas A&M has its own struggles to move the football, which have been further magnified by some interception issues from Marcel Reed as of late. The Aggies have thrown four interceptions in the past two games, and some questions have begun to emerge about Reed’s outlook at the position.
Ultimately, expect this game to remain more competitive than the 14-point spread indicates. Texas A&M has failed to cover the spread in 14 of its last 18 games against non-AP-ranked teams, while Arkansas has managed to cover the spread in seven of its last eight road games in October. Count on Arkansas doing enough to hang around in this matchup, and for the real bet outlook to be backing Texas A&M as being incapable of putting this game away by this significant a margin.
