AUSTIN (KXAN) — It’s a rivalry renewed from the days of the Southwest Conference, and even though they’ve only played twice in the past 10 years, there’s still some teeth to when Texas and Arkansas play football against each other.
When the Horns and Hogs met in 2021 during Steve Sarkisian’s first year as the head coach, it didn’t go so well for Texas. Arkansas crushed No. 15 Texas 40-21 in Fayetteville and it was like they were still mad about losing “The Game of the Century” in 1969. After all, Arkansas hates Texas more than they like themselves.
“Hopefully we can put a better foot forward against them this time around,” Sarkisian said. “They’re built like all the other SEC teams, and we’ve got our work cut out for us, but I liked the mentality of the team this morning. They know there’s more work to be done.”
Sarkisian sometimes reflects on the last time the teams played. While it ended in a blowout, he liked how his team competed and fought. He just didn’t have the talent and level of execution to compete with SEC teams.
“At the time, they weren’t at the top of the SEC, so we knew we had a hill to climb,” he said. “It feels good knowing we’re going in there with what we think is a better roster and better understanding from a coaching standpoint of what’s needed.”
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The game is scheduled to kick at 11 a.m. CT from Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, and the Razorbacks have won five of the last meetings dating back to their 14-13 win over the Longhorns in 1991. That was the last time the teams played each other in the SWC before Arkansas left for the SEC.
No. 5 Texas leads the all-time series 56-23, and the Longhorns are 14.5-point favorites on the road against the unranked Razorbacks. That feels like a big number, but Texas has been very good in true road games since 2022, winning nine of its past 11. However, as the cliche goes with rivalries, you must throw out the record books.
“I don’t think this rivalry gets the exposure nationally as it probably should, but internally, it’s getting the attention it deserves,” Sarkisian said. “I was joking with the team the other day about how I didn’t know what Darrell Royal did to them back in the day, but they absolutely hate our guts. We learned that the first time around when we went there.”
Arkansas had a bye last week, and it gave starting quarterback Taylen Green a chance to get healthy after suffering a sprained knee Nov. 2 against Mississippi. Green is huge for a quarterback, 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, and is a threat to score both throwing and running. Sarkisian said Green is deceptively fast.
“Sometimes you don’t think he’s covering that much ground, but his stride length is so long,” he said. “Coach (Bobby) Petrino is an elite playcaller and schemer, so (Green) is put in really good positions in the zone read game and for shots downfield.”
With one loss in SEC play, Texas doesn’t want to end up in the logjam of 2-loss teams when it comes to qualifying for the conference championship game. The one way they know they can get to the title game is to live by the words of the late Raiders owner Al Davis.
Just win, baby.
“We have to view Saturday like it’s the SEC championship game,” Sarkisian said. “We don’t want to leave it up to anyone else to win or lose. We can control it ourselves, but we have to do it one game at a time.”