A week after a lopsided defeat to Georgia left the Texas Longhorns searching for answers, No. 17 Texas delivered a resounding response on Saturday, overwhelming Arkansas 52-37 in a game that felt far closer than the final margin indicated.
For the better part of the first half, the Razorbacks hung tough and reminded everyone why head coach Steve Sarkisian refused to overlook them. Coming out of the locker room, however, Texas flipped the script in dramatic fashion, hanging 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to turn a nail-biter into a rout.
Afterward, Sarkisian was quick to praise Arkansas while underscoring the danger his staff saw coming all week.
“We knew how dangerous this team was, and what could happen to you is you stare at the record. That’s not a 2-8 team (now 2-9). That’s a team that’s a hell of a lot better than that,” Sarkisian said.
The numbers back him up. Arkansas had already taken Tennessee and Texas A&M to the wire with three-point losses and pushed LSU to the final play before falling by a single point. Their explosive offense consistently stressed even the SEC’s stoutest defenses.
Saturday’s eruption marked a stark contrast to the fatigue Texas displayed against Georgia. Sophomore quarterback Arch Manning, handed the reins once again, put together arguably the finest performance of his budding career. Manning carved up the Razorbacks for 389 passing yards and an eye-popping four passing touchdowns, while also scoring once on the ground and hauling in a receiving touchdown for good measure.
The 52 points were the most Texas has ever hung on Arkansas since the series began in 1894, and only the second time these old Southwest Conference foes have met since the Longhorns joined the SEC.
Now 8-3, Texas turns its attention to a season-defining rivalry showdown next week against undefeated, No. 3-ranked Texas A&M. A College Football Playoff spot looks like a long shot in an ultra-competitive SEC landscape, but a victory in College Station would serve as a monumental statement and could dramatically alter the Longhorns’ postseason trajectory as December approaches.
For a team that desperately needed to prove last week was an aberration, Saturday’s fireworks offered exactly that, and then some.
