Back To The Drawing Board: Texas Falls In Fayetteville 40-21

Steve Sarkisian's Texas Longhorns were unable to hold up in their first true road test.

Matt Galatzan | Sep 11, 2021

The Texas Longhorns are due to head to the SEC no later than the 2025 season, and with his first matchup against an SEC team since the announcement, head coach Steve Sarkisian wanted to make a statement.

Instead, it was the Razorbacks who made the statement on Saturday night, as the Longhorns fell in embarrassing fashion in Fayetteville.

Things began in earnest for the Longhorns, who quickly fell behind 3-0 early in the first quarter.

After that, Arkansas simply controlled the flow of the game, dominating the line of scrimmage, and imposing their will in the running game to the tune of 333 yards, and seven yards per rush.

K.J. Jefferson also had his way with the Longhorns defense through the air, completing 14 of 19 passes for 138 yards, while rushing for 73 yards.

Live Updates: Texas Longhorns vs Arkansas Razorbacks

Offensively, the Longhorns weren't much better, with the offensive line unable to open holes for Bijan Robinson to make an impact on the night.

After a stellar debut against Louisiana, freshman quarterback Hudson Card also came crashing back down to earth against the Hogs, completing 8 of 15 passes for just 61 yards, missing a handful of wide-open downfield throws that could have put the Longhorns back into the game.

Casey Thompson would eventually come in to try and right the ship, but it was too late, as the Hogs continued to hammer the Horns into the ground with their dynamic running game.

Perhaps the stage was too big for the freshman Card, and this new-look Longhorns program.

Or perhaps there are some underlying issues that need to be addressed throughout the rest of the roster, such as the offensive line.

Either way, one thing is clear, the Longhorns, at least two games into the Sark era in Austin, are not ready for the SEC.

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Published Sep 11, 2021

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.