38 Years of History Says Texas Underdogs Against Hogs in 2024

Longhorns may have been good in 60s, but it's been long time since they haven't been Razorbacks' doormat
38 Years of History Says Texas Underdogs Against Hogs in 2024
38 Years of History Says Texas Underdogs Against Hogs in 2024 /
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The days of Daryl Royal and his team of all white players with linemen under six foot and averaging around 200 pounds must have done some serious damage to the 70+ Arkansas Razorback crowd. Even those who were too young to recall those Longhorn teams from the 1960s seem to fear them.

That's why at a table in Sassy's Red House in Fayetteville last Wednesday, the generational divide stopped roughly where the bottles of in-house barbecue sauces sat as news trickled out that a few hours later, it would be formalized that Arkansas and Texas would meet in Fayetteville in 2024. On one side, a man in his 60s, his face borderline ashen white in fear because Texas, the scourge of football that invokes unshakable nightmares among Arkansas retirees, was going to march into town with its unstoppable force and wipe Razorback football off the college map.

On the other, a man in his mid-40s and his 10-year old son high-fived, giddy with excitement that Texas, the overhyped doormat of the college football world, would be replacing Alabama on the schedule, greatly reducing is difficulty. Such celebration appeared to offend the eldest gentleman. As he pleaded for his companions to see Longhorn football as some behemoth of the sports world, they could only laugh and wonder openly why anyone would be afraid of a Big 12 basketball school, especially one dominated by Arkansas on the regular despite where the program might be at the time.

The older chap started to mention something about the 50s, but was met with the fact that was nearly 80 years ago in a time when only white players were allowed to be on the field and linemen were the size of small wide receivers. He soon became belligerent at the idea that these young bucks refused to see Texas as an unconquerable mountain that every good Arkansan should view it.

However, even old history suggests Texas is the underdog when it comes to Arkansas, and that the Razorbacks should fear the Longhorns about as much as Crimson Tide fans fear the Hogs. Even if you go back to 1986, Arkansas leads the series 7-5. However, since 1991, the final year in the Southwest Conference, Arkansas is 5-2 against Texas. 

That particular season, Texas was a familiar 5-6, a roughly .500 record that has become synonymous with the Longhorns over the past decade. Last year's 8-5 campaign was one of the better seasons Texas has had in a while. It was the third best record in 13 seasons. Five of those seasons featured losing records against weak schedules. Only once since 2009 have the Longhorns reached double digit wins despite playing in the Big 12.

There's a reason why SEC teams were falling over themselves hoping Texas would show up on their 2024 schedule. It's not because any of them hate the Longhorns. It's because they see A&M's little brother as an easy win. 

The Arkansas record against Texas would be 6-1 since 1991 if it weren't for a safety at the beginning of the game against the Longhorns in 2004. And that was despite Arkansas losing two fumbles well within field goal range and throwing two interceptions in a 22-20 loss. 

There's an SEC Shorts video that perfectly captures how younger Texas fans feel about having Arkansas on the schedule. At the end of it, the Arkansas Razorback locks the door and tells the Texas Longhorn that the Hogs aren't locked in the conference with Texas. No, Texas, the team that became so weak it couldn't handle the "Horns Down" sign, is locked into a conference with Arkansas. 

Will the Longhorns get good enough to beat the Razorbacks on a consistent basis at some point? Maybe. Theoretically, Arkansas should one day get good enough to beat Alabama, but over the past 18 years, the Razorbacks have a single double-overtime win over the Tide. That includes 16 consecutive losses and a win that is so long ago that Texas wasn't even a basketball school yet. 

When Arkansas and Texas hook up in 2024, there will be 38 years of evidence that the Longhorns aren't going to suddenly start dominating the Razorbacks. In fact, the past 33 years of evidence says that unless Chad Morris suddenly finds his way back into employment in Fayetteville, it's highly unlikely Texas wins hardly any games in the near future. 

Arkansas divider

HOGS FEED:

HOGS VIEWED AS 2024 SEC SCHEDULE WINNERS FOR NOW

DO RAZORBACK BASKETBALL FANS NEED HUMBLING? SOCIAL MEDIA CERTAINLY THINKS THEY SHOULD BE

OKLAHOMA APPEARS TO REPLACE ARKANSAS AS SEC OFFICE WHIPPING BOY

FANS, MEDIA EXCITED FOR 2024 RAZORBACK SCHEDULE, BUT TRANSFER PORTAL WILL DETERMINE HOW TOUGH IT WILL BE

HOGS GOT SOME BIG NAMES AT HOME FOR 2024, BUT WAIT A YEAR BEFORE DECIDING IF IT IS GOOD ON FIELD

JOHN BOLTON'S FINAL MOMENTS AS RAZORBACK DISPLAY WHY PLAYERS HOLD OFF ON GOOD PROGRAMS TO SEE IF THEY CAN COME TO ARKANSAS

IF GRANT NELSON SIGNS WITH RAZORBACKS, TEXAS WILL WIN ONCE AGAIN

THINGS FELT JUST A LITTLE BIT OFF AT BAUM-WALKER MONDAY, BUT IT WAS STILL BASEBALL

HAS ANY RECRUIT EVER OPENLY CLAIMED TO HAVE HAD A BAD VISIT?

NEW PENALTIES MEAN EVEN FANS MAY BE RE-THINKING THIS WHOLE STUPID IDEA OF RUNNING ON FLOOR, COURT

FORMER RAZORBACK USES HOGS' TEAMMATE UP FOR HILARIOUS COMPARISON TO DENVER NUGGETS NIKOLA JOKIC

EXACTLY HOW RAZORBACK FANS SHOULD FEEL ABOUT RECENT ATHLETIC YEAR

DON'T EXPECT CONGRESS TO PROVIDE MUCH HELP WHEN IT COMES TO NIL

FORMER RAZORBACK COACH IN JUNIOR COLLEGE HALL OF FAME, BUT AT LEAST LATE IS BETTER THAN NEVER

DECISION BY JIMMY JOHNSON BEFORE DAN HAMPTON ARRIVED IN FAYETTEVILLE WHY HE SHOULD BE IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME

RAZORBACKS' QUARTERBACK KJ JEFFERSON HAS LEFT THE YARD FOR CALIFORNIA

WE DON'T KNOW 2024 SCHEDULE YET, BUT WE KNOW TWO TEAMS WHO WILL MOST LIKELY BE ON IT

LATEST TRANSFER RANKINGS MAY BE HELPING WITH RAZORBACKS' BASKETBALL SIGNEES

RAZORBACK BASEBALL HAS PICKED UP A LUNATIC FRINGE OF FANS JUST LIKE FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL

WHAT SCHEDULE COULD LOOK LIKE FOR HOGS, LONGHORNS, SOONERS UNDER NEW SCHEDULE FORMAT ... AT LEAST FOR A YEAR

SEC KICKS CAN DOWN THE ROAD FOR 2024 SCHEDULE FORMAT

ARKANSAS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

FAYETTEVILLE WEATHER UPDATE

Arkansas divider

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Kent Smith
KENT SMITH

Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments.