Why Arkansas’ Ron Roberts sees Marcel Reed bounce back coming

Texas A&M’s offense spent last week stuck in the mud at LSU.

Ron Roberts doesn’t expect that same group to show up this time around.

Arkansas’ defensive coordinator figures Marcel Reed and the Aggies will arrive with something to prove. He also expects a game plan built around handing the ball off.

“If I’m a betting man, they’re kind of bouncing back,” Roberts said.

Roberts isn’t new to this matchup. This week makes it three years in a row he’s had to plan for Reed.

That’s plenty of time to learn what a guy can do when things are clicking.

A long day in Baton Rouge

Nothing went A&M’s way at LSU.

Reed completed 10 passes on 26 tries for 106 yards, and one of his throws ended up in the wrong hands.

LSU dropped him four times behind the line. His 10 carries lost 13 yards.

The Aggies finished the game with fewer than 200 total yards.

That game made it two losses in a row for A&M.

Roberts still isn’t ready to write Reed off because of it.

“I think very highly of the kid, I don’t know him as a person, but as a football player he’s got all the tools,” Roberts said. “It starts with him being, I think when he first started it was really, he’s a great athlete. Then you saw him last year really develop into a good quarterback.”

That’s a coach describing an athlete who learned the position. Most defenses would rather face one or the other, not both.

What Roberts sees on film

The physical gifts came up quickly when Roberts talked about Reed.

“He’s got a rocket arm, he’s got all the talent, he’s got all that stuff,” he said. “I thought he did some really football-savvy things in the past.”

He’s not pretending the slump isn’t real, though. He just can’t pin down why it’s happening.

“I know he’s probably struggling right now, I don’t know what the reasons are, but he’s a very talented young man and he’s a really good football player,” Roberts said.

Coordinators don’t usually hand out praise like that to the other team’s quarterback. When they do, it’s because they’ve watched plenty of tape on him.

Roberts has. One bad outing doesn’t erase what he’s seen.

Two offenses with the same headache

His read on what went wrong for A&M starts with the ground game, not the quarterback. Roberts believes the Aggies’ offense stalled because the run never got going.

He expects the Texas A&M staff to spend this week drilling that point home.

“I would imagine they’re preaching that they’ve got to establish the run game and they’re going to come in here and they’re going to run it,” Roberts said.

That should sound familiar to anyone who follows the Razorbacks. Arkansas has had its own trouble running the ball this season.

So this one could come down to which team fixes that issue first.

For the Hogs’ defense, the first job is keeping the Aggies from finding any traction on early downs.

If A&M gets comfortable on the ground, Reed’s legs and big arm become a much bigger problem.

Keep the run in check, and Roberts’ group gets a shot at a quarterback who’s still working through a rough patch.

Roberts just knows better than to expect him to stay there.