Texas A&M 28, Arkansas 21: What We Learned

[caption id="attachment_19017" align="aligncenter" width="640"]Photo by Will Leverett Photo by Will Leverett[/caption] It wasn't pretty, but Texas A&M mounted a big fourth-quarter comeback to take down Arkansas in the Aggies' SEC opener, winning 28-21 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. What did we learn from this game? DCTF's Greg Tepper breaks it down.Texas A&M’s identity is pretty clear. In past years, Texas A&M has been a hard team to decipher. Credit Kevin Sumlin for changing things up from week to week, and for introducing new wrinkles every time you saw his Aggies. But in 2015, a third of the way through the regular season, I feel like we have a pretty good idea of what A&M is this year. They’re a team with a dominating defensive line (Myles Garrett’s fourth quarter strip-sack was crucial to forcing overtime) and one of the best receiving corps in the country (give us a second and we’ll gush about Christian Kirk). And those are two units that can absolutely take over a game. Past that, I think Texas A&M is a solid-not-spectacular team. In past years, they’ve had sensational quarterback play or a tremendous offensive line or a ballhawking secondary, but I’m not sure that’s the case this year. Instead, the Aggies will lean on that dynamic and deep defensive line and receiving corps to win games, and that’s going to make them extra-fun to watch (and sometimes, like today, extra-stressful to watch for Aggie fans). Christian Kirk is on another planet. Kirk Game WinnerHoly moly, the wide receiver for the Texas A&M Aggies is as dynamic a freshman as we’ve seen since…well, since Speedy Noil last year. We first saw him dazzle us with his punt return in the opener against Arizona State, and he continued that with a huge game on Saturday against Arkansas, hauling in eight catches for 173 yards and two touchdowns — including the game-winner in overtime. His breakaway speed is breathtaking, and while he’s still got a little room for improvement (specifically in his route-running), that only makes him even more frightening for defenders, not less so. Amari Cooper is gone, and Christian Kirk may be the new monster wide receiver in the SEC. There’s defensive trouble on the horizon. Alex Collins looked like the Alex Collins we expected him to look like, as the Arkansas running back ran for 150 yards and a touchdown. Texas A&M had trouble slowing down the Arkansas running attack, especially as the game progressed, and the Hogs ended up averaging about 5.5 yards per carry. Now, go look around the SEC, and check out the running backs left on A&M’s schedule. LSU’s Leonard Fournette. Alabama’s Derrick Henry. Auburn’s Peyton Barber. These are super-talented running backs that, quite frankly, play on better teams than Arkansas. A&M’s defensive improvement so far this year has been impressive; if the Aggies are going to make that big leap onto the national radar, it’ll need to continue in the coming weeks.