Tennessee (4-0, 1-0 SEC) will return to action in Week 6 after an open date.

The Vols will next play at Arkansas (3-2, 1-1 SEC). The game will be contested at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

A kickoff time has been determined for the Tennessee-Arkansas Southeastern Conference matchup. The Week 6 contest is slated for 7:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday and ABC will televise the game.

READ: Updated SEC football power rankings after Week 5

Tennessee has two open dates in 2024. Josh Heupel discussed having two off weeks this season.

“It’s different, it’s been a long time since I have had two during the course of the year, early part of it,” Heupel said. “Certainly need to continue to improve fundamentals and technique, and as you get to the second one I’ll probably look a little bit more at the health of your roster. Being intentional and making sure you are ready for that last run.”

Sam Pittman. Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

ARLINGTON, Texas — The University of Arkansas special teams went 1 for 2 on fakes involving Devin Bale in Saturday’s 21-17 loss to No. 24 Texas A&M on Saturday at AT&T Stadium.

In the first quarter Bale — who punts, kicks off and holds on field goal and extra point attempts — rushed for a first down on fourth-and-15 from the Arkansas 46 when he gained 25 yards on a fake punt.

Bale’s run set up a touchdown that put the Razorbacks ahead 14-7.

After Bale fielded the ball from long snapper Ashton Ngo, he took a few steps as if getting ready to rugby kick, then took off running when he saw an opening.

“The fake punt was just a green light for Devin,” Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said. “We had seen that they turn their back and I trust the guy.

“So we just said, ‘Hey, if they turn their back and you feel like you can get 15 yards, take off,’ and he did.

“And, man, he did a phenomenal job with that. Big play.”

Bale also was involved in a fake field goal attempt in the third quarter with the game tied 14-14.

The Razorbacks lined up for what would have been a 50-yard attempt by Kyle Ramsey on fourth-and-6 from the Texas A&M 32 when Bale took the snap from Ngo and got up to run.

Instead of getting the first down, Bale was tackled for a 5-yard loss by safety Marcus Ratcliffe and defensive end Shemar Stewart.

Pittman said the Aggies initially showed the same look on field goal defense as they have this season, but they reacted differently.

“The problem was, they normally drop the two outside guys,” Pittman said. “We were trying to run Landon (Jackson) on a fake pass and we knew the guy would go with him if we could run him into the middle linebacker, and then kick out the outside guy because he always just came up and stopped.

“It was the exact same look, except they rushed off the edge, which they hadn’t shown this year. On a tackle-over situation to the boundary, they rushed and they got us on it.

“Obviously, I felt like we’d make it or I wouldn’t have called it. But we didn’t.”

Back issue

Arkansas starting tight end Luke Hasz came out of the game with 11:26 left in the third quarter and didn’t return. He caught a pass from Taylen Green for a 2-yard gain, got up and grabbed his back, then motioned that he needed to come out. He went to bench and didn’t return.

“He came into the game with a back (issue),” Razorbacks Coach Sam Pittman said. “We felt like he could get through the game. He obviously could not.”

Hasz suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against Texas A&M last season in the fifth game.

First loss

Arkansas offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino suffered his first loss in six games in which he’s coached at AT&T Stadium. He had been 5-0 in Arkansas-Texas A&M games with both teams.

Petrino was 3-0 as Arkansas’ head coach when the Razorbacks beat the Aggies three consecutive years, winning 47-19 in 2009, 24-17 in 2010 and 42-38 in 2011.

Petrino won again at AT&T Stadium when Arkansas beat Kansas State 29-16 in the Cotton Bowl to cap the 2011 season.

Last season, when Petrino was Texas A&M’s offensive coordinator, the Aggies beat the Razorbacks 34-22.

In a rush

Arkansas running back Ja’Quinden Jackson has as many rushing touchdowns as the Razorbacks did all of last season.

Jackson’s 8-yard touchdown run with 4:50 left in the first quarter to put Arkansas ahead 14-7 was his ninth rushing touchdown in five games.

The Razorbacks had nine rushing touchdowns last season in 12 games with KJ Jefferson, Raheim Sanders and AJ Green sharing the team lead with two each.

Arkansas has 17 rushing touchdowns this season.

First sacks

Landon Jackson, Arkansas’ senior All-SEC defensive end, finally got his first sacks of the season to make sure the Aggies didn’t get a score late in the second quarter to take a halftime lead.

Jackson broke through double-team blocking to sack Marcel Reed for a 9-yard loss to push the Aggies back to their 43.

With 25 seconds left before halftime and the scored tied 14-14, Texas A&M faced third-and-19 and chose not to run another play.

Jackson was credited for another sack in the third quarter, when Reed was called for intentional grounding.

Arkansas sophomore defensive end Quincy Rhodes got the first sack of his career when he tackled Reed for a 7-yard loss in the third quarter.

60,000-plus

Announced attendance for Saturday’s game — with the contract expiring for the Arkansas-Texas A&M to be played at AT&T Stadium — was 60,928.

It was a slight increase over last season’s attendance of 59,437.

The largest crowd at AT&T Stadium for an Arkansas-Texas A&M game was 71,872 in the teams’ first meeting there in 2009.

Going long

Taylen Green’s 75-yard touchdown pass to Isaac TeSlaa to cap Arkansas’ first possession was the longest play of the season for the Razorbacks.

The previous long play was Green’s 58-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Sategna in Arkansas’ 24-14 victory at Auburn last week.

Green’s touchdown pass to Sategna was on third-and-19. His touchdown pass to TeSlaa was on third-and-10.

Injury report

Arkansas starting cornerback Jaylon Braxton missed his third consecutive game because of a knee injury. Marquise Robinson started in Braxton’s place.

Hogs safety Hudson Clark dressed out but didn’t play because of a back injury that has sidelined him the last three games.

Tight end Andreas Paaske missed his second game in a row because of concussion protocol.

Guard Patrick Kutas still hasn’t played this season because of a back injury. Wide receiver Monte Harrison was out with an undisclosed injury.

Running back Rashod Dubinion missed the game because of a suspension.

Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman missed his third consecutive game because of a shoulder injury and again was replaced in the starting lineup by Marcel Reed.

Vs. Aggies

Arkansas leads its series against Texas A&M 42-36-3, but the Aggies have been dominant in SEC matchups.

Since Texas A&M joined the SEC in 2012, the Aggies are 12-1 against the Razorbacks, including 10-1 at AT&T Stadium.

Arkansas’ only victory in its last 13 game against Texas A&M was in 2021 when the Razorbacks won 20-10 at AT&T Stadium.

Quick score

Arkansas took a 7-0 lead on Taylen Green’s 75-yard touchdown pass to Issac TeSlaa with 13:49 left in the first quarter.

It was the second-earliest score in the history of the Southwest Classic, which started in 2009 with the game played in Arlington.

The earliest score came in Texas A&M’s 35-28 overtime victory in 2014 when the Aggies took a 7-0 lead on Brandon Williams’ 13-yard touchdown run with 13:55 left in the first quarter.

Honorary captains

Fred Marshall, a senior quarterback on Arkansas’ 1964 team that won a share of the national championship, served as an honorary captain along with R.C. Slocum, Texas A&M’s coach for 14 seasons from 1989-2002.

Marshall was an Arkansas teammate of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. The two sat together at Saturday’s game in Jones’ private box. The 1964 Razorbacks finished 11-0, capped by a 10-7 victory over Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl.

Slocum led Texas A&M to a 124-47-2 record overall and three consecutive Southwest Conference championships from 1991-93.

For starters

Arkansas opened in a two-tight end set as Luke Hasz — who has started every game — was joined in the lineup by Ty Washington. It was Washington’s first start of the season.

Quarterback Taylen Green kept the ball on a rushing attempt and was dropped for a 2-yard loss by defensive end Nic Scourton.

Rankled

Arkansas fell to 0-2 against ranked teams this season with its loss to No. 24 Texas A&M.

It was the second loss for Arkansas to a ranked team this season along with Oklahoma State’s 39-31 victory in double overtime on Sept. 7.

The Cowboys were ranked No. 16 for their game against the Razorbacks and rose to No. 13 in the subsequent Associated Press poll.

After a 22-19 home loss to Utah last week, Oklahoma State fell to No. 20.

The Cowboys’ 42-20 road loss at Kansas State on Saturday likely will drop them out of the poll.

Few college football rivalries can match the excitement of Texas A&M and Arkansas in the Southwest Classic, and the game’s final installment at AT&T Stadium Saturday was a testament to that. The Aggies beat the Razorbacks, 21-17, for their 12th win in the programs’ last 13 meetings.

Here are five takeaways from A&M’s victory:

A fitting end to the Southwest Classic in Arlington

In the Southwest Classic’s final season before returning to campus sites, there couldn’t have been a more appropriate ending to a 13-year run at the home of the Dallas Cowboys. The game was neck-and-neck throughout, and it came down to a flurry in the fourth quarter.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed’s five-yard touchdown keeper with nine minutes left in the second quarter knotted the score at 14 until a 45-yard field goal by Arkansas redshirt senior kicker Kyle Ramsey with 13:24 remaining in the game.

Fresno State transfer tight end Tre Watson’s first score as an Aggie couldn’t have come at a more opportune moment as he reeled in a five-yard touchdown with nine minutes left. A&M’s defense tightened from there on out, peaking with Purdue transfer defensive end Nic Scourton’s strip-sack of Boise State transfer QB Taylen Green to put the victory to bed.

Here’s hoping the rivalry’s excitement makes the trip to College Station and Fayetteville, Ark.

Le’Veon Moss breathed life into the Aggies’ offense

A&M’s offensive attack looked stale through most of the second quarter and throughout the third quarter, with the Aggies’ five complete drives ending in punts each time. Donning voltage green cleats, junior running back Le’Veon Moss was the Energizer Bunny for A&M as he put a spark into the scoring drive.

With just under 11 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Moss broke off three consecutive runs of 23, 8 and 15 yards before Reed found Watson for the go-ahead touchdown. Moss continued his fourth-quarter surge on the Aggies’ next possession, charging 30 yards down the sideline before a facemask penalty added 15 more yards.

Two additional 7-yard gains raised Moss’ total to a season-high 117 yards and an average of nine yards per carry. His performance came against the SEC’s fourth-best rush defense, with the Razorbacks allowing just 82.3 yards on the ground entering Saturday.

Moss has just three touchdowns this season, but his offensive impact with over 100 yards in each conference matchup is undeniable.

A&M’s turnover prowess was on display

Elko has discussed the conduciveness of winning the turnover battle in games to success in the SEC. That gameplan worked for A&M in Sept. 14′s win over Florida, when the Aggies reeled in three interceptions while committing no turnovers themselves.

A&M again came out on top in the turnover battle by a 3-0 margin. Florida transfer linebacker Scooby Williams recovered a fumble and Alabama transfer cornerback Dezz Ricks intercepted a pass in the first half, while the Aggies held on to the ball themselves with no turnovers.

Yet, no turnover was bigger than Scourton’s strip-sack of Green with a minute and a half remaining. Florida transfer nickel back Jaydon Hill flew in for the recovery, effectively sealing an A&M victory as the Aggies took over in Razorback territory.

Junior defensive end Shemar Stewart forced the second-quarter fumble by breaking up a handoff from Green to Jackson, paving the way for a 5-yard score two plays later. A&M didn’t get points off of Ricks’ pick, but it prevented Arkansas from scoring before halftime in a tightly-contested game.

Tyler White was the Aggies’ most valuable player

It was one of those games where A&M’s most impactful performer was the punter, and why not? White booted the ball nine times for 388 yards, an average of 43.1 yards per kick. That’s not an eye-popping statistic, but the redshirt freshman from Southlake seven punts inside the Arkansas 20-yard line ensured the Razorbacks were never gifted easy field position.

White’s stats won’t be as sexy as those of Moss, Scourton and junior wide receiver Noah Thomas, but his performance played just as big a role, if not bigger, in the Aggies escaping Arlington with a victory. Elko’s emphasis on special teams success is already paying dividends.

A&M’s run defense continues to show improvement

The Aggies held their third opponent in a row to 100 rushing yards or less, and the Razorbacks’ 100 yards looks even more impressive with Arkansas previously averaging 240 rushing yards per game. The dual-threat Green was limited to 12 yards on 12 carries, while Utah transfer RB Ja’Quinden Jackson managed just 37 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

A&M’s run defense looks better with each week after surrendering 198 and 180 rushing yards to Notre Dame and McNeese State, respectively, through the first two weeks of the season. Scourton and Hill each came up with sacks, with Scourton accounting for three of the Aggies’ nine tackles for loss.

Elko and defensive coordinator Jay Batman won’t be fans of the 279 yards and a touchdown allowed through the air, but it’s a testament to A&M’s elimination of the run game for Arkansas.

Find more Texas A&M coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.