A&M-Arkansas, Teague-West highlight Slovacek's I-35 Showdowns

Slovacek's logoTo honor the loyal football fans that travel great distances to support their favorite team, DCTF and our friends from Slovacek’s in West, Texas are proud to present The Slovacek’s I-35 Showdowns of the Week. Texas A&M (3-0) vs. Arkansas (3-0) 8 p.m. Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arkansas As the college football season turns the page to conference play, September success can sometimes be exposed as fool’s gold. When the Aggies and Razorbacks take the field at Jerry World Saturday night, they’ll be looking to prove that their early season triumphs were indeed signs of an ascent to the top of the murderer’s row that is the SEC West. The early returns have looked mostly spectacular for Texas A&M, who successfully handled their SEC opener in a road trip to Auburn last week and also have a win over UCLA under their belt. New Aggie quarterback Trevor Knight has enabled returning offensive playmakers like Christian Kirk and Josh Reynolds to not skip a beat, and true freshman tailback Trayveon Williams has added yet another big-play threat. On defense, coordinator John Chavis really seems to have the unit turning a corner, aided by Myles Garrett and the rest of the All America-caliber front four. Arkansas has also found success with a new quarterback, with freshman Austin Allen has picking up right where his brother left off a year ago in terms of efficient and deceptively potent play. After a slow start against Louisiana Tech, the Razorbacks ended TCU’s home winning streak before really finding their groove against Texas State last week. Rawleigh Williams, a Dallas Bishop Lynch grad, has run for 354 yards in taking over as the workhorse tailback role that Bret Bielema prefers in his offense. He’s running behind an offensive line that seems to have found a rhythm earlier in the season than with past Hog lines. Control over the line of scrimmage while Arkansas has the ball will be key in this matchup. If the Hogs can dictate the pace of the game and control the clock, as they did for much of the TCU game, they’ll drastically increase their odds of going 3-for-3 against teams from the Lone Star State. Teague (2-1) at West (0-3) 7:30 p.m. Friday at Trojan Stadium in West Non-district records can be deceptive, so don’t write off the West Trojans despite their 0-3 start. Coach David Woodard lined up a formidable slate of opponents to begin the season in anticipation of a tough road back to the playoffs through District 9-3A Division I. That road starts Friday night, when Teague comes calling. Tyler Kaluza, a sophomore who was part of the Trojans baseball team’s state championship last spring, took over as quarterback last week and ran for 100 yards and a score in West’s road loss to Carrollton Ranchview. He’ll be looking to help the Trojans keep pace with a high-powered Teague offense that has scored 45 points per contest. Donnie Osborn’s Teague Lions, however, will look to utilize their dominant running attack to overpower the Trojans and limit their time with the ball. Last week against Dublin, the Lions racked up more than 700 yards on the ground, led by Antonio Heard’s 237 and Jacovy McWilliams’ 177.