Arkansas was defeated by Texas A&M 24-17 on Saturday. It was another entertaining chapter in the Southwest Classic, which was decided by one possession for the fourth time in five years. Texas A&M, of course, has been victorious in each of those games and in seven straight overall in the rivalry.

It was another loss for the Razorbacks (1-4), but they can at least come away from this one with a lot to feel good about. This wasn’t expected to be a competitive game, and it certainly didn’t look like it would be once the Aggies jumped to an early 17-0 lead. But Arkansas’ defense tightened, and the offense did enough to get back into the game. Ultimately, the Razorbacks came up 55 yards short of tying the score late in the fourth quarter.

Here are my grades for the Hogs’ performance in Week 5:

Offense: C

Arkansas continues to underwhelm offensively, but the Hogs at least showed some signs of life against the Aggies. The performance was highlighted by a pair of 75-yard touchdown drives. During the second of those late in the game, quarterback Ty Storey impressively had a hand in all 75 yards — 64 passing and 11 rushing. That was Storey showing, for the first time against a quality opponent, he can get the offense rolling.

The emergence of running back Rakeem Boyd continued Saturday. He’s proving to be the best playmaker on the offense. He had a game-high 25-yard run and 4 catches for 33 yards. He’ll likely have more opportunities coming his way in the very near future.

The offensive line is one area that’s still especially poor. Storey was sacked 5 times, and the Hogs rushed for just 55 yards. It’s going to remain a struggle offensively unless that unit can improve drastically, and there isn’t much hope that’ll happen.

Defense: A

Texas A&M averaged more yards per play against Clemson (7) in Week 2 and against Alabama (5.5) last week than it did against Arkansas (5.2). That says a lot about how well the Hogs’ defense played.

In fact, the defense played plenty well enough to win. The Aggies’ offense can claim credit for just 17 points against the Hogs, their fewest this season. If not for a kickoff return touchdown to begin the game, it’s very possible Arkansas would’ve pulled off a major upset.

Arkansas’ play at linebacker was outstanding thanks to the combined efforts of De’Jon Harris and Dre Greenlaw. Harris had 16 tackles, 12 of them solo. Greenlaw had 13 tackles and 2 interceptions. With those two continuing to lead the way, this defense looks capable of leading Arkansas to an SEC win at some point this season.

Special teams: C

For a fourth consecutive week, Arkansas was let down by its special teams in a big way. Everyone is going to wonder what might have been in this game if not for the 100-yard kickoff return. Obviously, that’s what turned out to be the difference.

It wasn’t all bad, though. Reid Bauer had two 50-yard punts, and his coverage team was significantly better than in previous games. Connor Limpert also made his only field-goal attempt, a 47-yarder.

Coaching: B

The opening kickoff was a bad look for the coaching staff. Head coach Chad Morris promised all week they would get the issues with kick coverage fixed, and then that happened.

Other than that, the coaching was better than it has been all season. The offense still isn’t lighting up any scoreboards, but the Hogs were at least much better prepared and organized on that side of the ball. The defensive plan from John Chavis was well-designed, and his players executed it effectively.

Overall: B

Arkansas should feel good about this performance. The most important thing is they looked like a better team than they were last week. And it’s the second straight week that can be said. Assuming Alabama doesn’t ruin the Razorbacks’ trend of steady improvement next week, this team can be far more competitive than expected over the final six games of 2018.