By Ian Palmer
The Arkansas Razorbacks take on the Texas A&M Aggies in an exciting NCAA football matchup this Saturday, September 27 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Razorbacks prefer to run with the ball while the Aggies would rather throw it, which makes this a showdown between teams with distinctly different playing styles.
bet365 NCAA football betting lines – Arkansas +8.5, Texas A&M -8.5, the Over/Under is 70.0 points with Arkansas at 5/2 to win and Texas at 10/31 to win.
The Razorbacks started the season with a loss to the Auburn Tigers, but have bounced back nicely with three straight victories. Their last game saw Arkansas hammer the Northern Illinois Huskies 52-14 in week four. The Razorbacks have gone 3-0 ATS and straight up over their past three contests. All four of their games have gone exceeded the over/under so far as the team is scoring 44.8 points per game on average, which is the third-highest in the nation.
The Razorbacks’ rushing offense has been in fine form and is leading the way. They’re averaging 325.5 yards on the ground this season, which is eighth best in the FBS and they’re rushing attempts average 47.3 per game. Sophomore running back Alex Collins is leading the team and is second-best in the SEC by averaging 122.5 yards per outing. He’s also scored five touchdowns in the first four games.
However, when it comes to scoring TD’s he’s been outdone up to now by junior Jonathan Williams who’s rushed for seven of them, which leads the conference. In addition, Korliss Marshall has played quite well with his season highlight being a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown last week against Northern Illinois. Arkansas hasn’t played too badly without the ball either as they kept the Texas Tech Red Raiders to 353 yards in a 49-28 win over them earlier in the season.
The Aggies also have a dangerous offense and a tough defense. They laid a 58-6 beating on the SMU Mustangs in week four when they were favored by 35 points on the road. The Aggies are a perfect 4-0 so far in 2014 and have gone 3-1 ATS in those games. The team’s average of 55.3 points per game is second-best in the country, but their defense doesn’t have to take a back seat to the offense.
Texas will need to slow down Arkansas’ backfield on Saturday and try to get the Razorbacks to pass the ball instead of run with it. The Razorbacks have passed for just 160 yards on average per game this campaign which ranks them at just number 114 in the FBS in that department. The Aggies will cause trouble for the Razorbacks’ secondary as quarterback Kenny Hill is fourth-best in the nation with 405 yards per game. He’s averaging 339.8 yards in passing and has thrown for 13 touchdowns so far, which gives Texas a good shot at winning and covering the spread.