Texas Football’s second-to-last away game of the regular season is this Saturday’s trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where they will play the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Longhorns are looking for retribution after losing to the Razorbacks in Steve Sarkisian’s first real road game in 2021, and they will also be trying to impress the College Football Playoff Committee after dropping to number three in the most recent poll.
However, playing the Razorbacks won’t be simple. Earlier in the season, Arkansas managed to defeat Tennessee. Their goal is to earn a spot in the December bowl game. They may qualify for a bowl game this season with just a victory.
The prospect of upsetting the Longhorns and drastically altering the current College Football Playoffs Rankings must be making the players salivate. The Longhorns will defeat the Razorbacks for the following four reasons.
Longhorns have done an excellent job controlling mobile quarterbacks
Taylen Green, the junior quarterback for Arkansas, is likely to start against the Longhorns. When he doesn’t have an open receiver, Green is prone to fumble out of his pocket.
Earlier in the season, the Longhorns were quite good at keeping Sooners quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. under control.
The Longhorns prevented Hawkins from making explosive runs for first downs by not overblitzing. If the Longhorns can keep Green from scurrying for enormous gains, they will prevail.
Getting players outside the numbers
The speed with which the Longhorns sent the ball to running backs and receivers outside the numbers was superb. Take a look at Longhorns junior receiver Isaiah Bond’s outstanding run from last week, which led to a significant gain below.
The Longhorns’ offense appears to be energized by the fact that the Florida Gators are not the Georgia Bulldogs. Getting the ball outside the numbers should be the Longhorns’ first priority this week if they want to terminate the game early.
Defense wins championships
This season, the Longhorns’ defense has been among the best in the SEC. Although the Longhorns’ defense isn’t as quick as Georgia’s, they have performed admirably this season against subpar offenses.
This next Saturday, I anticipate that the Longhorns will swiftly prevent the Razorbacks’ defense from causing any harm. Another factor in the Longhorns’ victory over the Razorbacks this weekend will be their defense.
Ball hawks in the Longhorns’ secondary
I’ll be honest: going into the Longhorns’ first SEC season, I was worried about their secondary. But with their interceptions and breaking up passes this season, they have shown me I was mistaken.
Opposing offenses have struggled to get the ball down the field because of them. The secondary should be able to stop the Razorbacks’ passing game after having an excellent week stopping the Gators’.