Razorbacks report

Rhoads says good Knight

Texas A&M quarterback Trevor Knight runs across the field in celebration after running back Trayveon Williams scored a touchdown in the second half during an NCAA college football game against Auburn, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas players have three games of Texas A&M film to study senior quarterback Trevor Knight.

Defensive backs coach Paul Rhoads has gone through game prep for Knight twice when he was head coach at Iowa State and Knight was playing for Oklahoma.

"I know what he's capable of," Rhoads said. "He is extremely athletic. He's got a very gifted arm. He can make all the throws, and he can get himself out of trouble like no other."

Knight left Oklahoma after the 2015 season after losing the starting job to Baker Mayfield, and he was immediately eligible for the Aggies, who had an opening at quarterback with the transfers of Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray.

Knight has passed for 830 yards and 5 touchdowns and has rushed for 151 yards and 3 touchdowns. He's been adept at slipping out of pressure, with only 23 yards in losses.

"He's an elusive guy. Even when teams have gotten pressure, he's managed to maneuver and work his way out of that pressure," Arkansas defensive line coach Rory Segrest said.

"We've been playing running quarterbacks the last three games," defensive end Deatrich Wise said. "We're ready for him."

Said linebacker Brooks Ellis: "He runs around pretty well and makes some good throws. We've just got to do our best to disrupt him and make him uncomfortable."

Knight ran for 123 yards and a touchdown in a victory over Iowa State as a freshman in 2013, then had 230 passing yards and 3 touchdowns and 146 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns in 2014 against the Cyclones.

"I can remember telling Bob Stoops at media day how much I thought of him as a quarterback," Rhoads said. "I think he's a great player. He was a two-time captain there before he left the program. That tells you what the kids think of his leadership."

Top lines

The Arkansas defensive linemen see Saturday's game against Texas A&M as a way to enhance their reputation. The Razorbacks have 10 sacks this season, fourth-highest in the SEC, but the Aggies -- led by ends Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall -- receive more publicity. Texas A&M ranks second in the SEC with 12 sacks.

Tackle Jeremiah Ledbetter said there's pride on the line for the competing front fours.

"I would say there is, just us from last year coming to where we are now, just to show people we can be the best defensive line," Ledbetter said.

Arkansas end Deatrich Wise said Garrett has earned his reputation.

"He's had fantastic years," Wise said. "I also want to show the world that I'm also a great defensive end, too, and that Deatrich Wise is one of the top ends in the nation."

'Feisty' Austin

Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos described quarterback Austin Allen's sideline demeanor last week as "a little feisty," in what he called a positive way.

"He was encouraging his teammates. He was showing emotion on the sideline," Enos said. "He's a guy that's kind of laid back, so when you see him show emotion, I think it's something a lot of guys on our team haven't seen before. I certainly have seen it, but in the last two weeks I've seen it really come out. It plays to the fact the guy's a winner."

Seeing red

Texas A&M has scored eight touchdowns on 17 trips to the red zone, which is a little irksome for Coach Kevin Sumlin. The Aggies' touchdown percentage in the red zone of 47.1 percent ranks No. 111 out of 128 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

The Aggies have scored on 15 of 17 red-zone trips (88.2 percent) to rank No. 54, just ahead of Arkansas (14 of 16, 87.5 percent). The Razorbacks have 12 touchdowns after driving inside the 20-yard line, a 75 percent rate that is tied for No. 31 nationally.

The Aggies drove inside the Auburn 20 five times last week, but they had to settle for four field goals from Daniel LaCamera and scored one touchdown.

"Third down conversion in the red zone are things that weren't very good last week and we recognize that," Sumlin said. "We had balls that were a little bit high. We had some miscues. One time we had a back go the wrong way."

Arkansas' nonscoring drives in the red zone came on an interception versus Louisiana Tech and a missed field goal at TCU.

No and no

Deatrich Wise said he's always got a chip on his shoulder when the Razorbacks play teams from Texas.

"I never did get recruited by any of the Texas schools," Wise said. "None of them."

Asked whether Texas A&M recruited him or whether he went to any A&M camps, Wise replied, "No and no.

"No animosity. I guess I wasn't good enough to play for anybody in Texas."

Homework for Pulley

Cornerback Ryan Pulley told his Twitter followers Sunday evening: "School Work Always Gives Me A Headache," a lament of more than a few college students.

Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema saw the tweet and replied: "You get your first touchdown pick six and now you start this on social media? Enjoy the headache and keep working."

Pulley responded, "You know I'm going to keep grinding coach."

Pulley has burst into the spotlight with back-to-back performances by shutting down TCU's Taj Williams, then returning an interception 25 yards for a touchdown last week.

Bielema told reporters on Monday that the lessons he likes to teach extend beyond football.

"I just thought it was entertaining. He said he had a headache whenever he had homework," Bielema said. "I wanted to zing him because he got his first pick-six.

"He takes his academics very seriously. I just wanted to jab him, because I love the kid. I absolutely love Ryan. Some of our players will put things on social media that they think is just kind of funny, but if I'm a NFL scout and I see that on someone's timeline, they're going to think he doesn't like academics."

Hackett sack

Bret Bielema said junior linebacker Khalia Hackett was removed off his special teams assignments last week and is not currently on the 70-man hotel roster. Freshman De'Jon Harris took reps as a reserve linebacker last week after Hackett saw action on defense at TCU.

"Khalia is a very talented player," Bielema said. "He's done a lot of really good things. ... Just on the field we needed to have better production out of the assignments we've given him. Those weren't happening the way we felt as coaches it needed to happen, so that's why we went with a younger player."

Defensive coordinator Robb Smith said, "We're really excited about De'Jon and Dwayne [Eugene], and we've got to push those guys forward this week in practice, and when Khalia gets his opportunities he certainly has to make the most of them. As you know, this thing is very fluid and can change rapidly."

Twin rankings

For the 10th time in the 73 meetings between Arkansas and Texas A&M, both teams will be ranked for Saturday's game. The Aggies are No. 10 in the Associated Press Top 25, while the Razorbacks are No. 17. Both teams are unbeaten at the time of their game for the first time since 1927.

The last time Arkansas played a game in which both teams were ranked came on Jan. 7, 2012, when the No. 7 Razorbacks downed No. 11 Kansas State 29-16 in the Cotton Bowl in Coach Bobby Petrino's final game at Arkansas.

Extra points

• Defensive linemen Taiwan Johnson and Deatrich Wise will join Coach Bret Bielema for his weekly radio show On the Air with Bret Bielema on Thursday at 7 p.m.

• Texas A&M has outscored its opponents in every quarter, including a 30-0 margin in the third quarter.

• Arkansas will get the ESPN broadcast team of Joe Tessitore, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe for Saturday's game. The same trio worked the Razorbacks' 41-38 double-overtime victory at No. 15 TCU two weeks ago.

Sports on 09/21/2016