A disastrous third quarter nearly cost the Longhorns a road loss in the rivalry.
It wasn’t pretty, but the No. 3 Texas Longhorns went on the road and managed to hold off the Arkansas Razorbacks in a hostile environment in Fayetteville on Saturday. The win puts the Longhorns over the nine-win mark for the second consecutive season and the second time in four years under head coach Steve Sarkisian.
The Longhorns haven’t managed that feat in 15 years — since the 2008 and 2009 seasons when they were in the National Championship picture. The biggest difference between those halcyon seasons and this year is the Longhorns were led by Colt McCoy and one of the top offenses in the land, while Sarkisian’s teams may be better known as Pete Kwiatkowski’s bunch, thanks to the defensive performances as of late.
Arkansas total offense: 231 yards (149 passing, 82 rushing)
One week after allowing more than 300 total yards for the first time this year, the Texas defense was back to their old, dominant ways and suffocated the Arkansas offense for most of the game. Arkansas finished the game with their worst offensive performance this season in total yards and yards per play, with their 10-point output tied with the LSU game for the lowest of the year.
It was Arkansas’ second-worst rushing performance of the year, with their lopsided loss to LSU as the other low-water mark this season. Coincidentally, it was star quarterback Taylen Green’s worst offensive performance of the year by nearly two yards, including minus-four rushing yards thanks to the Texas defense’s sack total.
Arkansas did most of their damage in the third quarter, turning in more total offense coming out of halftime than before the break. They averaged nearly 3.7 yards per rush, their best quarter of the game, and converted on three of their five third downs in that frame. Not coincidentally, it was the Texas offense’s worst quarter of the game, putting up just 39 yards, including an anemic nine rushing yards and converting just a single first down in the contest.
Time of possession: Texas 30:59, Arkansas 29:01
The Longhorns were in trouble heading into the fourth quarter against the Razorbacks with Arkansas en route to putting together another lopsided time of possession win to pull off an upset. The Hogs ended the third quarter leading the time of possession battle by more than four minutes, thanks to holding the ball for 11:25 seconds in the third quarter, during which Arkansas cut the Texas lead to just three points with their penultimate drive of the game, their second drive of nearly five minutes in the second half.
Texas had just two drives in that frame — a field goal drive and a three-and-out for minus-two yards. That second, abysmal drive took just 54 seconds off the clock and set up the Razorbacks for a 10-play, 39-yard drive that ended with a field goal, putting all the pressure on Texas. Something flipped for the Horns in the fourth quarter, however, in putting up an eight-play, 75-yard drive, their longest of the day, to go back up 10 points. After defensive tackle Alfred Collins made the play of the night stripping Arkansas’ CJ Brown to force a turnover, the Longhorns put together one of their most impressive drives of the year, draining the final 6:55 off of the clock, including converting on a 3rd and 13 and a 4th and 2 to seal the game.
That truly was the key to the game, with the Razorbacks depending on fourth-quarter scoring and time of possession to win games this year, The Razorbacks boast a plus-20 fourth-quarter scoring margin, while the Longhorns come out of games plus-30 in that same category. Part of the Arkansas’ success is their ability to sock away games, with a plus-8:50 time of possession margin in wins and a minus-5:29 margin in their six losses.
Texas defense: 9 tackles for loss, 6 sacks
The Longhorns’ ability to shut down the Razorbacks’ defense largely came down to their ability to create havoc in their backfield. Texas finished the game tied for their best sack output of the year with six (Mississippi State and Oklahoma), four of which came on first downs to keep the Arkansas offense off-schedule. The Razorbacks faced an average of 8.5 yards to go on third downs because of the early-down sacks, including attempts of 17, 20, and 22 yards.
Despite that, it was one of Texas’s worst third-down performances of the year, behind Florida and Mississippi State. All three of those games featured opponents who took advantage of Texas when they stayed ahead of the chains, converting at least half of their third downs on attempts of four yards or shorter. Three of the Razorbacks’ five conversions were one-yard rushes by running back Ja’Quinden Jackson, converting just two of their seven attempts longer than five yards.