10 Things to Know – Texas A&M

After using its bye week to get healthy, Arkansas (2-2, 2-2 SEC) returns to the field by traveling to Texas A&M (3-1, 3-1 SEC) on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 6:30 p.m. CST on SEC Network.

10 Things to Know Before Kickoff

1. - The Razorbacks captured their first home SEC win since 2016, when they defeated Ole Miss 33-21 at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Oct. 17. Arkansas scored 24 points off seven turnovers, recording six interceptions in a game for the first time since 2003 against Mississippi State, and held the Rebels 21 points under their season average.

2. - Versatile sophomore WR Treylon Burks set career-highs in receptions (11), receiving yards (137) and rushing yards (46) while also making a TD grab that was the No. 1 play on SportsCenter against the Rebels. He became one of six Razorbacks since 1997 to make at least 10 catches for over 100 yards and a touchdown in the same game. Interestingly, four of those six performances have come from Hogs that hail from Warren, Ark., including Burks, Greg Childs and Jarius Wright (who did it twice). Burks became the first SEC player since Tennessee’s Alvin Kamara in 2016 to record at least 130 receiving yards and 40 rushing yards in the same game.

3. - Veteran WR De’Vion Warren has jumped out to a fast start in his senior campaign, leading Arkansas with three receiving touchdowns while recording the second-most receiving yards (231). A week after earning his first career 100-yard receiving game in the upset win at No. 16 Mississippi State, Warren made a career-high five catches for 95 yards and scored two touchdowns for the first time in his career at No. 13 Auburn. The senior’s average of 21.0 yards per reception ranks fourth in the SEC and 15th nationally.

4. - Despite playing one or two fewer games than most of the nation’s leaders, Arkansas’ defense ranks first in the country with 10 interceptions, which is the most through the school’s first four games since 2000, and is tied for first nationally registering three defensive touchdowns. The Razorbacks lead the SEC in third down conversion defense (32.4%), red zone defense (61.1%), passing efficiency defense (109.16), turnovers gained (13) and turnover margin (1.50). Defensive coordinator Barry Odom’s unit has made an exceptional improvement from last season on third downs, lowering the opponent’s conversion rate from 45.5% to 32.4%, the 17th best mark in America. Opposing offenses are facing an average of 7.2 yards needed to reach the line to gain on third down.

5. - Senior LB Grant Morgan played the game of his career against the Rebels, recording career-highs of 19 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss with an interception return for a TD and 1.0 sack. He became the second FBS player since 2000 to have at least 15 tackles with 3.0 tackles for loss and an interception return for a touchdown. Morgan took home SEC co-Defensive Player of the Week, Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of  the Week and Chuck Bednarik Award Player of the Week honors for his performance. The former walk-on is fifth nationally averaging 13.0 tackles per game and his 53 total tackles are the most by a Hog in the season’s first four games (since 2000).

6. - Walk-on redshirt freshman DB Hudson Clark has taken Razorback nation by storm this season and accomplished something no other rookie has done before in school history. He intercepted Ole Miss QB Matt Corral three times, becoming the first SEC freshman to pick off three passes in the same game since Mississippi State’s Darren Williams in 2003 against Troy and the first Hog to ever do it. For his performance, he was named SEC Freshman of the Week and Jim Thorpe Award Player of the Week. The Dallas native is one of two FBS players to pick off three passes in a game this season. Coincidentally, another freshman walk-on DB, Wake Forest’s Nick Andersen, had three against No. 19 Virginia Tech. Clark possesses the eighth-highest PFF defensive grade (80.0) in the FBS among cornerbacks who have played at least 200 snaps. The Football Writers Association of America placed Clark on its Freshman All-American Watch List.

7. - Redshirt freshman DB Jalen Catalon has been a tackling machine, and his average of 11.3 tackles per game leads all FBS freshmen. Against Ole Miss, he became the first SEC player since 2000 to post at least nine tackles with an interception return for a touchdown and a fumble recovery. Since 2000, he is the only SEC freshman to record 45 or more tackles through the first four weeks of the season. Along with Clark and OL Brady Latham, he was also named to the FWAA Freshman All-American Watch List.

8. - The Arkansas and Texas A&M matchup is one of the most contested games in school history, as the two were Southwest Conference rivals from 1915-91 and played every year from 1927-91. The Razorbacks have an all-time series lead of 41-32-3 and are playing in College Station for the first time since 2012, where they hold a 17-14-1 advantage. The last six matchups have been played at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, with three of those games needing overtime to decide a winner. Arkansas is in search of its first win at Kyle Field since a memorable Nov. 24, 1989 victory when the No. 9 Razorbacks took down the No. 14 Aggies, 23-22, locking up the Southwest Conference title and a Cotton Bowl berth. Current Arkansas radio analyst, then-QB Quinn Grovey, rushed for a 25-yard score on the opening drive and engineered the game-winning drive, which was capped off by a Barry Foster two-yard plunge into the end zone, securing a 23-20 lead with 2:52 remaining.

9. - The ghosts of Halloween have played nice to Arkansas through the years, as the Hogs are 11-6-1 and have not lost on the final day of spooky season since 1942. Arkansas posted exactly 63 points in each of its last two games on Halloween, overmatching UT Martin 63-28 in 2015 and Eastern Michigan 63-27 in 2009. The Aggies are the Hogs most common Halloween opponent with Arkansas holding a 5-2 advantage in Oct. 31 battles. Texas A&M handed Arkansas its last Halloween loss in 1942, 41-0, but Arkansas followed by winning the next four spooky meetings against the Aggies. Arkansas’ first-ever matchup against the Aggies was also it’s first on Halloween, a 6-0 setback in 1903, when the forward pass was illegal and both touchdowns and field goals were worth five points.

10. - Just like the Razorbacks, Texas A&M is coming into this weekend’s game after a bye week, and before the break, defeated Mississippi State, 28-14. The Aggies are led by senior QB Kellen Mond, who has the most passing yards in school history (8,363) and needs 267 yards of offense to supplant Johnny Manziel (9,986) as the school’s record holder. Texas A&M’s offensive line has only surrendered two sacks, which is one of the top marks in the country among teams that have played four games. The Aggies defense surrenders an average of 75.5 rushing yards per game, ranking seventh in the FBS and second in the SEC. Clarksburg, W.Va. native Jimbo Fisher is in his third season as head coach and is 20-10 in College Station.