By Steve Habel/Associate Editor
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HOUSTON – One thing can be taken for certain from Texas’ 31-7 loss to Arkansas Monday at the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl: a month of homework, a bevy of additional practices and all the positives from winning three of its final five regular-season games did little to mask the fact that the Longhorns, ultimately, are just not a very good team.
Arkansas – a squad that, like Texas, won six regular games and could have won more – was better prepared, more physical and absolutely dominant over the Longhorns in every aspect of the game, a fact that was readily apparent to the record 71,115 fans on hand at NRG Stadium and a national television audience drawn to the matchup by its call to rivalry and the promise of seeing a battle between two team on a rise.
The Razorbacks took [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level1)]the game right to Texas and the performance turned in by the Longhorns drew the immediate wrath of senior cornerback Quandre Diggs on his way out of the door after his final game as a member of the Texas football program.
“There are people in that locker room that don’t deserve to wear the (Texas) uniform,” Diggs lamented. “That game was an embarrassment to the program.”
Harsh words, for sure, but they hit the mark. Texas managed just 59 yards of total offense on 43 plays, the fewest yards by any FBS team in a game this season.
The output totalled just nine more yards than the lowest total ever by a Longhorn team (50, against Southwestern, in 1943), and it took a final, 29-yard drive that ended in an interception to get past that dubious mark.
“(A game like this) is an embarrassment to this program,” said Texas coach Charlie Strong, who was as frustrated and angry as he’s been all season after the loss. “It should never, ever happen to Texas.”
“Texas has to mean something – right now it doesn’t mean much,” Strong added. “At some point we have to get pride back into this program.”
Until the Longhorns’ final drive, its previous five possessions netted -19, -8, -7, -4 and -2 yards. Texas had just 13 total yards of offense in the second half — that’s a foot less than the distance between the hashmarks on a college football field. The Longhorns ran for just two total yards on 18 carries.
“We knew Arkansas was going to be physical and we just didn’t match them and their intensity,” Texas quarterback Tyrone Swoopes said after he threw for just 57 yards and lost 37 yards on three sacks. “We didn’t execute. At the end of the day, you’ve got to protect to get a push, our receivers have got to get off the line and run their routes and running backs have to run hard, and we didn’t.”
The Razorbacks, behind an efficient, but not overwhelming performance by quarterback Brandon Allen (who was voted the game’s most valuable player) racked up 351 yards, with 191 of those coming on the ground. Allen hit on 12 of his 23 throws for 160 yards and two TDs.
“What was disappointing was that we were in the position to make plays and just didn’t make them,” Texas linebacker Jordan Hicks said. “Little things like that pile up and end up killing you—especially on third downs. They made plays, and we didn’t.”
Arkansas turned a short punt and a fortuitous bounce (and recovery) of a fumble after a completed pass into 32-yard field goal by Adam McFain that gave the Razorbacks a 3-0 lead at the 4:32 mark of the first quarter. After a catch by Jared Cornelius for 11 yards on third and 10 from the UT 37, Mykkele Thompson knocked the ball free but right into the hands of Razorback tight end Hunter Henry, who carried it to the 17-yard line and into easy field goal range.
The Razorbacks struck again on the second play of the second quarter when Allen threaded the needle on a 36-yard TD pass to Demetrius Wilson over the in-your-shirt coverage of the Longhorns’ Duke Thomas in the end zone that expanded the Arkansas lead to 10-0.
The Texas offense, with Christmas perhaps still in its collective heart, then gifted the Razorbacks another touchdown. Running back Johnathan Gray mishandled a handoff from Swoopes in the end zone and Arkansas defensive tackle Taiwan Johnson, who’s from Manvel, Texas, not from an island off the coast of the Chinese mainland, fell on the loose ball for a score that pushed the Hogs’ lead to 17-0 with 8:13 to play in the first half.
The Longhorns responded with an eight-play, 44-yard scoring drive that culminated in a 9-yard touchdown scamper around right end by Swoopes to cut the Arkansas lead to 17-7 with 3:59 to play until halftime. Swoopes hit on three big passes on the march, including two to John Harris, and gave the Texas faithful some hope for a comeback.
But the Longhorns quick score allowed the Razorbacks time to march 61 yards on nine plays to a 5-yard TD pass from Allen to Keon Hatcher with 24 seconds to play in the half.
Texas had just 46 yards of total offense in the first half, meaning it had two total yards on its five non-scoring drives. Arkansas had 217 yards of offense, possessed the ball for 18:21 to the Longhorns’ 11:39 and had no penalties, leaving the feeling that that Razorbacks could have done just about anything it wanted to do on either side of the ball.
After a scoreless third quarter, Arkansas (which ended its season at 7-6) added the final nail in the Longhorns’ coffin on a 1-yard TD run by Jonathan Williams with 11:41 remaining. The scoring run capped a 13-play, 57-yard drive that ate up 8:39 of play bridging the third and fourth quarters.
Texas (6-7, with just its second losing season since 1997) will have to find a way to pick up the pieces and re-establish its considerable pride. That work will begin right now, with a core of players and a coaching staff that understands what needs to get fixed and the urgent mandate to get it done.
“At the end of the day we need to do a better job of recruiting and we need to do a better job of coaching,” Strong said. “You go lose six games, seven, it will never be the standard here, it should never happen.”
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