The Longhorns head to Fayetteville hoping to avoid losing a third straight to the Razorbacks.
With three games left, th No. 3 Texas Longhorns are in control of their path to the SEC Championship and ultimately the College Football Playoff — win and they’re in. While conference realignment has shaken up many of college football’s traditions, Texas is the rare team that regained two historic rivalry games, reigniting the first of them this weekend against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynold Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
The last time the Longhorns played the Razorbacks on the road it was a brutal blowout in Steve Sarkisian’s first year in Austin. While that game was a black eye at the time, Sarkisian and staff took the lessons learned in that matchup and took it to the recruiting trail — revamping the offensive and defensive lines to remedy the biggest issue that plagued them in that game.
Now, Texas comes back with elite players on the offensive line and a defensive front seven that continues to get better week after week. On the other sideline, Sam Pittman has seemingly gotten himself off of the hot seat and could do even more to put himself back in the fanbase’s good graces with a win over Texas to gain bowl eligibility.
I’d put Texas-Arkansas at third, but there’s a pretty big gap between that and the top two. There’s a lot of history with Arkansas, but the rivalry has cooled off lately—they’ve only played six times since 2000. The hatred, especially from Arkansas fans, is still there, just waiting to heat up again. Give it a couple of years in the SEC, and I think that gap will start to close.
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In their last matchup against OIe Miss, Arkansas got absolutely shredded by Jaxson Dart to the tune of 515 yards and six touchdowns with 254 of those yards going to Jordan Watkins along with five of the touchdowns. Watkins has played the role of Ole Miss’ WR2, but has played a larger role with their WR1 Tre Harris being out due to injury.
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In the pass rush, their only standout players for Arkansas are defensive ends Landon Jackson (4.5 sacks) and Nico Davillier (1). Their run-stopping ability is functionally solid throughout their entire defense. Jackson (23 tackles, 18 stops) is also their best run stopper, followed by nose tackle Eric Gregory (18, 14) and defensive tackle Cameron Ball (15, 14) on the line. Behind them, mike linebacker Xavian Sorey Jr (35, 29), and will linebacker Brad Spence (13, 11) are great at eating up the rest of the gaps.
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How to Watch
TV: ABC
Time: 11:00 AM Central
Radio: Texassports.com. Broadcasts are also available on Sirius 132, XM 199, and App Ch. 953
Online Streaming: WatchESPN
Odds: Texas -16.5, according to FanDuel
Weather: High of 60 degrees and sunny