Future conference rival handles Horns
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Texas’ Saturday night reunion with former Southwest Conference rival and soon-to-be Southeastern Conference foe Arkansas went miserably.
The Longhorns, who tumbled from No. 15 out of the Top 25, took a beating at sold-out Razorback Stadium, falling 40-21 to an Arkansas (2-0) team that played fast and physical and seemed to revel in smashing the favored visitors. And the 74,531 fans were so ravenous during a postgame field storming that Texas had to flee to the visiting locker room lest it get trampled.
“This was not a performance I was anticipating,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said following the game. “But, you know, we’ll find out about ourselves and what we’re made of. I really believe this one game is not gonna define us, but we got work to do, that’s for sure.”
Here are some takeaways and observations from a deflating defeat in Fayetteville:
Casey Thompson might have overtaken Hudson Card at QB
The offensive line didn’t do starting quarterback Hudson Card any favors Saturday night. More on them later, but those pass protection struggles didn’t explain away all of the redshirt freshman’s woes against an overwhelming Arkansas defense.
Card completed just 8 of 15 passes for 61 yards, took three sacks, lost a fumble near his own goal line and spent a significant portion of the night in a frantic state because of the Razorbacks’ trench dominance. He also missed open wide receiver Jordan Whittington on a deep shot to the end zone, though Whittington returned the favor by dropping a 35-plus-yard pass that would’ve set up Texas near the red zone. Card also missed on a few good looks to receivers Xavier Worthy and Joshua Moore before finally ceding the ball to junior Casey Thompson with 1:50 left in the third quarter.
Thompson played with more poise and used his legs wisely (44 rushing yards), leading the Longhorns to two touchdowns on two drives. He scored twice on the ground, completed 5 of 8 passes for 57 yards and made the final score a tad more digestible.
When asked about the situation moving forward, Sarkisian said they’ll “have to take a look at it.”
For a moment, Texas had momentum. And in a blink, it was gone
Texas safety B.J. Foster could’ve been the savior. His acrobatic tip-drill interception off quarterback KJ Jefferson set up Texas at the Arkansas 26 early in the second half. That led to senior tailback Bijan Robinson’s 1yard touchdown run and made Arkansas’ lead more approachable at 16-7.
Arkansas answered with straight wrath. The Razorbacks’ six-play, 81-yard scoring drive took less than two minutes. Receiver Tyson Morris blazed behind the coverage for a 45-yard catch to kickstart the charge, then
tailback Dominique Johnson went for 19 and 12 yards on consecutive runs.
Running back Trelon Smith drove it home from 1 yard out, putting the Razorbacks up 23-7. The Longhorns never recovered.
Razorbacks ran wild
Arkansas picked up 333 yards and four touchdowns on 47 carries. N Razorbacks rushed for 100 yards, but five ran for between 44 and 75 yards on a night when the Longhorns’ defensive line, considered a strength, “wore down,” according to Sarkisian,
It marked the first time since Nov. 25, 2016, that Texas had allowed 300 rushing yards. This wasn’t accomplished by chipping away, either. The Razorbacks recorded 11 runs of 10-plus yards and five runs of 20plus.
Raheim Sanders had a 26yard touchdown run. Freshman AJ Green had the nailin-the-coffin 30-yard scoring scamper that put Arkansas ahead 40-14 midway through the fourth quarter.
O-line had a bad night
Arkansas finished the night with 11 tackles for loss, three sacks and three quarterback hurries. And those numbers probably felt like an undersell to anyone watching the game.
Robinson lost yards on four of his 19 carries and gained fewer than two on seven attempts. And neither quarterback had much time to plant and throw as the Razorbacks overwhelmed an offensive line that showed some signs of weakness even last week against a far less imposing Louisiana-Lafayette
line.
“I think this was a big, physical defensive front,” Sarkisian said. “I think the movement that they utilized up front caused us a few issues. And from a scheme standpoint, putting our players in the best position to be successful, the reality of it was we weren’t tonight and we weren’t up front. And we’re gonna need to be better than we were tonight.”
Arkansas had superior game plan
Credit second-year Arkansas coach Sam Pittman for devising a strategy that played to the Razorbacks’ strengths.
The Razorbacks’ early commitment to the ground game with their 6-foot-3, 245-pound dual-threat quarterback running the show allowed Arkansas to keep Texas on the field early on, with the sun still beating down and temperature sitting in the 90s. The Razorbacks ran 36 plays and possessed the ball for nearly 17 minutes in the first half while building a 16-0 lead and wearing down a defensive front that Texas considers a strength.
Texas going three-andout on five of its first seven possession didn’t help its fatigued defense, either.
“We just couldn’t get anything going offensively,” Sarkisian said. “The three-andouts, the inability to win on first down, inevitably put us in third-and-long, and the execution wasn’t quite there on third down.”