FLOGGING IN FAYETTEVILLE
Arkansas’ running game manhandles UT 40-21.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — From Day 1, Steve Sarkisian went to work embedding his “All Gas, No Brakes” philosophy deep within the Texas program he took the helm of back in January. And the buy-in, that overworn phrasing all coaches seem to invoke, seemed strong — from players, from staffers, from fans who’d embraced the Longhorns’ future in the Southeastern Conference.
But Saturday night inside Razorback Stadium, Texas hit E on the fuel gauge. And in the process, made that potential 2025 entry date into the SEC a bit more tenable for an impatient legion of Longhorns fans.
Arkansas (2-0) took it to No. 15 Texas (1-1) in a 40-21 win in front of 74,531 spectators, most of whom reveled in chanting “SEC! SEC! SEC!” at even the slightest Texas misfortune. And on this night, there were almost too many to count.
“I think the majority of what happened was, we didn’t play great,” Sarkisian said. “There’s always concern when you go on the road in a hostile environment at night, of keeping your temperament of your team right so that you can go out and perform and execute.
And clearly that didn’t happen tonight. So that’s the thing that is probably the most disappointing that we’ve got to make sure that we get back right moving forward.”
The Longhorns got a hearty taste of SEC speed and size. And it wasn’t much to their liking.
The Hogs repeatedly smashed, grabbed and dragged down sophomore tailback Bijan Robinson (19 carries, 69 yards, one touchdown) at or before he even reached the line of scrimmage. And redshirt quarterback Hudson Card rarely had time to get the feet planted before a set of hands came grasping for him. He connected on just 8 of 15 passes for 61 yards, took three sacks and eventually ceded the role to junior Casey Thompson, though by that point the Longhorns were in the heart of a savage beatdown.
The squandered chances didn’t help, either, like Card overthrowing an open Jordan Whittington in the end zone, or Whittington going stone hands on what would’ve been a 35-plus yard completion near the Razorbacks’ red zone. Dual kicker and punter Cameron Dicker also bobbled a punt, which lead to a block, a recovery inside the red zone and a chip-shot field goal.
At the half, Texas had just 78 total yards of offense, four passing completions and zero points. Arkansas had 228 yards and 16 points while running 36 plays to the Longhorns’ 23.
Porous as the offensive line was, Texas’ defensive line didn’t perform much better in the trenches. Redshirt freshman quarterback KJ Jefferson has a linebacker build (6-foot-3, 245 pounds) and a running back’s feet, and he continually proved too elusive, too powerful for the Longhorns to drag down.
He led the Razorbacks on four first-half scoring drives, bending Texas but not entirely breaking it.
The script remained unchanged in the second half as Sarkisian made few adjustments, and none big enough to warrant a sudden surge.
Texas’ offense kept crashing into walls. Its defense, growing gassed from all that time on the field, slowed as Arkansas leaned on its hulking offensive line to hold blocks, create gaps and accumulate pancakes.
“I think over time they kind of wore us out; we couldn’t sustain any drives offensively,” Sarkisian said. “So our defense was on the field to a point to where we kind of wore out. And we never we never put any pressure on them to feel like they had to throw the ball.”
Sarkisian didn’t do much to alter the offensive playcalling. And he didn’t pull the plug on Card, talented as any second-year quarterback around the nation but clearly rattled, until Arkansas had built a 33-7 lead with just 16:50 remaining in the game.