Luke Combs once sang the famous song, When It Rains It Pours.
That statement was true for Arkansas this afternoon.
Usually, these two programs meet every year for the Southwest Classic at AT&T Stadium, where there is a retractable roof that covers the entire stadium. Instead, the rivalry was back at the college sights, and this time around, there was a severe storm that couldn’t cover up the home team’s issues.
Texas A&M and Arkansas poured it on each other in the first half after the game got delayed two hours due to thunderstorms in the Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium area, but the second half was different. With a strong finish, A&M moved to 7-0 for the first time since 1994 and the first under coach Mike Elko.
“We’re making winning plays,” Elko said. “We understand how to make winning plays. There are a lot of positives. Four straight SEC wins. Now two big road wins.”
Oct 18, 2025; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback KJ Jackson (7) attempts a pass in the first quarter as Texas A&M Aggies defensive end Cashius Howell (9) defends at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images / Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images
At intermission, the Aggies were in unfamiliar territory, being up only one point at halftime. Quarterback Taylor Green led the Razorbacks down the field with under a minute to go, even after exiting the game earlier, and allowed his team to trail 21-20 with momentum for interim coach Bobby Petrino’s squad.
Defensively for A&M, stopping the run was a massive issue in the first half, with running back Mike Washington already at 126 yards on the ground alone off nine attempts. As a group, Arkansas sat at 218 yards rushing as well as 104 yards passing.
“Defensively, we picked a really, really bad time to have a bad game,” Elko said.
One of the main issues was that the Aggies were allowing way too many explosive plays, which allowed the Razorbacks to hang around. There were four plays of 15+ yards, including two 15-yard plays, as well as an 18-yard and a 34-yard gain.
Simply put, that was unacceptable considering how effective the last three weeks have looked for A&M when it played SEC opponents.
Against Auburn, Mississippi State, and Florida, A&M held each program to under 100 yards on the ground. Saturday afternoon, the defense allowed double that. What carried over was A&M being No. 1 overall on third down conversions, where it had success again, allowing Arkansas to convert only twice at halftime.
After an enthusiastic speech from Elko, the Aggies cleaned up their mistakes and weren’t struggling as much to get stops and control the line of scrimmage.
“In the second half, we played cleaner,” Elko said. “I don’t think we had the massive busts. In the first half, I thought we handed them a lot.”
Oct 18, 2025; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Texas A&M Aggies running back Rueben Owens II (4) celebrates after rushing for a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images / Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images
Since 2012, A&M hasn’t had such a solid start as it has had since it played Auburn and Mississippi State, where it scored three consecutive times. Reed led A&M on all three scoring drives and made a statement that defenses have to force stops early or else they’ll make a team pay.
“I thought he was calm in the pocket,” Elko said. “I thought he delivered the ball where it was supposed to go.”
Statically, Reed had another Heisman-caliber performance, starting his afternoon with his 13th passing touchdown of the season when he hit wide receiver Ashton Bethel-Roman in stride for a 24-yard touchdown.
Magic tricks kept on coming out of the hat when Reed’s 3-yard rushing touchdown was his fourth of the season and 12th of his career. Adding to that accolade, it was Reed’s fourth game this season and eighth of his career to combine for a rush and passing score.
Opening the third quarter up, Reed also had a 46-yard run, which was his longest of his career. Not long after, WR KC Concepcion’s 17-yard touchdown pass from Reed was his 31st touchdown through the air, which moved him to a tie with former Texans coach Gary Kubiak for 10th in program history.
“I thought that was Marcel (Reed)’s best game of the year,” Elko said. “He made plays with his arm and his leg.”
Offensive coordinator Collin Klein also did a phenomenal job and should get credited with once again bringing the receivers’ room involved, because nine receivers recorded receptions, with the tight end room stepping up tremendously.
Not only did the yards in the air matter, but the reliability of RB Rueben Owens to come in clutch while starting RB Le’Veon Moss, who was dealing with an injury, allowed the Aggies to have the upper hand. Owens had a huge third-and-short catch that extended the eighth drive of the evening to ten points after a burst of speed created a 12-yard score. The El Campo native registered his second rushing touchdown, which marked the first multi-score game of his career.
Capping the night off, Reed eclipsed 4,000 career passing yards and led the Aggies to 497 total yards.
“You have come with your best and we had to stay ahead,” Reed said on the radio postgame show. “When we get home tomorrow, we got a new game to focus on against LSU in the Bayou.”