Bret Bielema and his Arkansas program need a win in a big way this weekend against Texas A&M. After losing to the Aggies each season since they joined the league, a win Saturday would go far in cooling any hot seat talk in Fayetteville.

The Razorbacks have had two weeks to prep for this game after receiving an early bye, which have helped Bielema’s teams in recent seasons bounce back to big wins.

During his appearance on the weekly SEC Coaches Teleconference, Bielema talked about the matchup. Here’s a summary of what was said during the call:

  • Have you made a decision on a kicker for Texas A&M? It will depend on how practice goes this week. I don’t really want to airmail any gameplans just yet.
  • What area has improved the most during the bye week? We always concentrate the most on us. Ownership starts at the top so it starts with me. I really like this team and I like what I’ve seen this week as far as how this team responded
  • Why hasn’t Austin Allen and the passing game been firing yet? We have five receivers last season that signed NFL contracts, the guys on the outside have changed dramatically. All the guys are now healthy, hopefully, we will have better results moving forward.
  • How has Allen been handling that personally? He’s still the same kid that threw the football as well as he did last year. I think he’s feeling better, we just have to allow him to do what he does. He doesn’t have to do everything on his own and we enforced that since TCU.
  • How has A&M changed since year’s past? The QB play is a bit different than year’s past. The OL lost some veteran players, they still have a ton of talent WRs
  • Biggest challenge of the game? I think the biggest challenge is us. We are ready to win this game but we have to go out and do it. We’ve let it get away a few times. A&M is the only thing we are worried about this week.
  • Playing in Arlington, how does that add to this game? Two teams that came in the league a bit late, playing in this venue is unique. I can’t say one school has the edge over the other in terms of attendance. I’m excited to get over there and I hope the players are. The uniforms have been a big hit. It should be fun.
  • What did you see in the UCLA-A&M tape? Momentum swings are huge, you can’t put a price tag on those. It’s amazing the way the game can change quickly in today’s game. Guys staying healthy, it’s a huge factor in the game.