Report: Raheim Sanders set to return from injury vs. Texas A&M

Arkansas is expected to have top running back Raheim Sanders back for this weekend’s game against Texas A&M.

The Razorbacks had been hopeful that Sanders would be fit enough to play against the Aggies, and On3’s Matt Zenitz confirmed via sources that he has made enough progress to return.

Sanders hasn’t played since the first week of the season, dealing with a knee injury.

“Well I’m as confident as I’ve been since the Western Carolina game,” coach Sam Pittman said during the week. “I would be lying to you if I told you that I’m sure he’s going to play. I feel better about his opportunity to play, but we still have to see how he recovered from yesterday’s limited reps that he participated in and go from there. But, he — this week I thought he was further ahead on Monday than what I thought he would be. Didn’t swell up too bad on him yesterday.”

Sanders hasn’t played since Week 1, when he suffered a knee injury during a 56-13 win over Western Carolina. The junior ran for 42 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries against Western Carolina before suffering the injury.

He’s one of the SEC’s best playmakers when healthy.

In 2022, Sanders finished as the SEC’s second-leading rusher, gaining 1,443 yards on the ground, which was good enough for fourth-most in Arkansas single-season history.

Arkansas out to even up the rivalry

When Raheim Sanders and the Razorbacks take on the Aggies on Saturday, they’ll do so looking to turn around a really tough run of recent results in the rivalry.

Arkansas has lost 10 of the last 11 games against Texas A&M. Pittman is hopeful that that fact alone is motivation for his team going into the weekend.

“The rivalry for us has to mean more than them,” Pittman said. “I don’t know how much you can truly respect an opponent that you’ve beaten 10 out of 11 times.

“We’re one out of the last 11. I’ve been on some of those overtime losses where the game looked like it was ours — just like last year. It’s definitely a rivalry for us. You don’t see many series lopsided at 1-10 like that. But we did go through some rough, rough years.”

Arkansas and Texas A&M are set for a noon ET kickoff with a broadcast on the SEC Network.