Hogs, Sam Pittman know A&M will be tough challenge

FAYETTEVILLE — Sam Pittman and Arkansas would like nothing more than to leave AT&T Stadium on Saturday with a victory.

Arkansas (3-1, 1-0) and Texas A&M (3-1, 1-0) enter the game with identical records. Pittman was asked on Wednesday what he sees when he turns the A&M tape on?

“Well, defensively, their defensive line is really good,” Pittman said. “Really athletic. So, defensively, their schematics, Mike’s (Elko) always done a good job there. Third-down pressures. They have a lot of talent at every spot there, but the defensive line really stands out. Offensively, their offensive line. Very big. Their left guard is as good as anybody has, so they stand out. Their athletic quarterback, how (Marcel) Reed’s come in and the great game he had against Florida, and backed it up against Bowling Green. And I’ll tell you this, I love their tight ends. They’re big. They’re physical. They can run. They can catch, and then they play a plethora of running backs, and they’ve got length and speed at wide receiver. But in a nutshell, I’d say their d-line, their o-line, Reed’s ability to make plays with his feet as well.”

Reed is one of two quarterbacks for the Aggies. Conner Weigman has been hurt and is questionable for the Arkansas game. Reed has completed 32 of 57 passes for 422 yards and four touchdowns. He has carried 32 times for 217 yards and another touchdown.

“What he’s done well is he’s ran the offense,” Pittman said. “You don’t see a lot of confusion from his o-line to him. He has gotten out of bad plays. In other words, if he’s feeling pressure, he can run and make plays. He’s done a good job of not giving it to the opponent. To me, he’s shown a lot of class and a lot of poise by running the offense and taking what’s given. They do have quarterback designed runs with him and he’s very aggressive here. But to me, he’s just playing older than what his game experience would be.”

A&M has a first-year head coach in Elko. Pittman spoke about Elko this week.

“I like him,” Pittman said. “He’s a very, very smart guy. Very, very good defensively, obviously, and has proven at Duke and now that he’s a very, very good head coach. I like him. I respect him. I’ve gotten to know him at head coaches meetings. I’ll say this, he’s a very, very intelligent man, and has done a really good job there. But other than that, no.”

As far as scheme-wise, Pittman talked about what makes Elko such a good coach.

“A lot of it has to do with base downs, but I think he’s really, really a genius,” Pittman said. “I don’t know what the word is, very, very good in third down pressures. He’ll always have something new, and then he’ll have his old reliables. But again, it’s who’s coming, who you’re supposed to block, I think great defensive coordinators have a really good package for each game, and then they try to tweak the package for each game. He’s really, really good at that.”

Arkansas and Texas A&M will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday with the game televised on ESPN.