Arkansas bullies Texas in 40-21 win

It was pandemonium in Fayetteville as fans stormed the field following the Arkansas Razorbacks’ biggest win in a decade.

It was all Razorbacks all game long. The Arkansas offense ran all over the Longhorns while Texas had no counter to the swarming defense of the Hogs. Texas was held scoreless and tallied just 78 total yards and three first downs in the first half, only crossing the 50-yard line once.

KJ Jefferson played very well in the first half, providing a huge spark in front of a packed house. Dominique Johnson scored the first of four rushing touchdowns for Arkansas following a missed Cameron Dicker field goal, and they didn’t look back from that point on.

The only issue Arkansas ran into in the first half offensively was that they couldn’t cash in great field position with touchdowns, having to settle for a pair of field goals, but that proved to be a non-factor in this one. A record crowd inside Razorback Stadium was as loud as imaginably possible as they watched Arkansas hold the 15th ranked Longhorns scoreless in the first half, leading 16-0.

The second half started much like the first half ended. A three-and-out from Texas quickly gave the ball back to Arkansas. However, Texas’ defense stepped up to aid its offense, as BJ Foster made a beautiful play to intercept KJ Jefferson, setting Texas up inside the 30. Texas strung together a pair of first downs, setting up a one-yard Bijan Robinson touchdown run, showing a visible pulse from the Longhorns offense, but they soon flatlined.

The ever-resilient Hogs answered with a touchdown, and Texas’ following two drives were a turnover on downs and a fumble, both resulting in points for Arkansas, the latter leading to a one-play drive; a 26-yard touchdown run from Raheim Sanders, as they continued to pile on.

Plain and simple, Arkansas was the better team in every facet, and they especially dominated the trenches. Their defensive front smothered Texas in the backfield all night long. They totaled three sacks and 11 tackles for loss and held the Longhorns to 256 total yards and just 4-13 on third downs. The offensive line was paving roads for the rushing attack as Arkansas ran for 333 yards and four touchdowns at 7.1 yards a pop.

KJ Jefferson answered the questions from a week ago, playing a near mistake-free game. He only threw 19 times but was instrumental to Arkansas’ monster ground attack. This team has found its identity, and Sam Pittman has proven to be the perfect coach to lead the charge. He has completely turned around the Arkansas program from rock bottom, and their trajectory is only up. They will host Georgia Southern next week before three consecutive weeks on the road against top 20 opponents: Texas A&M at AT&T Stadium, in Athens against Georgia, and Oxford against Ole Miss. It’s a gauntlet of a schedule for Pittman’s squad, but if this game proved anything, it’s that Arkansas will be up for the challenge.