FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Bret Bielema appreciates the “history lessons” this week from some national sources.
It's been a nightly refresher course for the Razorbacks that they haven't beaten Texas A&M the last few seasons. Arkansas' last win in the series came in 2011, two years before Bielema and this year's seniors arrived.
“Our guys turned on (ESPN) SportsCenter last night, they saw that no one is giving us a chance,” Bielema said on his Thursday radio show. “They were told that by Vegas they can't win. They are reminded they have not beaten (Texas A&M coach) Kevin Sumlin.
“It's great info and a good history lesson, but this is this year's team and it's about this game and this week.”
There are some history lessons that Bielema likes. They are useful in preparation for the trip to Arlington, Texas, to play the Aggies on Saturday in AT&T Stadium. It can be loud in what they call Jerry's World.
“We have had loud noise piped into our practices all week,” Bielema said. “We have made some tweaks to how we've done things and we want to be prepared (for the knowledge).”
That was in reference to the nine penalties called on the Hogs last year, some for illegal procedure or offsides because of communication issues. It's more about that than the fact that some might think the Hogs owe the Aggies something.
“I appreciate what you are saying (about owing something), but I tell our team every day that you earn everything,” he said. “We didn't earn it. We had nine penalties. That may be the norm around college football, but it's not the way we expect our team to play. That's too many.”
Bielema said his offensive line appears to have grown in the past couple of weeks. He's not talking about added weight. Actually, he thinks quarterback Austin Allen has grown, too.
“I think we've had growth with Austin and growth with our offensive line,” he said.
The growth in the O-line has to do with some position changes. Frank Ragnow has moved from center to guard with Jake Raulerson and Zach Rogers splitting time at center. Colton Jackson and Brian Wallace are splitting time at right tackle.
“I like the direction we are headed in the O-line,” he said. “We have two who are combining to be one at center and at tackle. They graded out well last week.”
The Aggies have a much hyped defensive end tandem of Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall.
“They have tremendous edge players,” Bielema said. “I think we have two good edge players, too, Jeremy Sprinkle and Dan Skipper. They are well thought of by the guys at the next level. They have two edge guys like that, too.
“I've told them that the guys at the next level pay attention. I think our guys want to prove something. How you do that isn't when you play against mediocre guys. This is when they pay attention.”
Bielema said there is excitement about this week and some of it hinges on the overtime outcome of the last two seasons when the Hogs lost leads in the fourth quarter and lost in overtime.
“Our defensive guys are definitely excited,” he said. “That's a fair assessment. The last couple have escaped them. They take it personal. Our defensive coaches have put a lot of time into this game, as have our players.”
Bielema said this is a different Texas A&M offense. The run is the first priority in stopping the Aggies. Quarterback Trevor Knight is a runner first, passer second.
"You have to build a trap," Bielema said. "That's the first thing we have to do to stop (Knight). You have to keep him in the trap. Against TCU, we let the quarterback out of the trap. A&M designs things for the quarterback and so that's a concern.
"Against these people (at A&M), we have to start with defending the run. In the past, they've had the run game, but it started with defending the medium pass. This year, we have to stop the run and make them play left-handed."
Bielema said it should be a great atmosphere.
"I tell them that the reason it's a big game is because of them," he said. "It is that, the start of SEC play. We've gotten better every week and I see no reason we won't be better this week, too."