Five Key Takeaways From Texas's Victory Over The Arkansas Razorbacks

The Texas Longhorns climb to the top of the SEC rankings after a 20-10 victory over Arkansas to get to 5-1 in the SEC and 9-1 overall.

Nov 16, 2024; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian during the final minute of the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Texas won 20-10. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images / Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

The Texas Longhorns took care of business in the return of the Texas-Arkansas football rivalry on Saturday with a 20-10 win in Fayetteville.

It didn't go without any scare, however. The game was within one score throughout most of the second half before Quinn Ewers and Matthew Golden connected on a touchdown to help secure the victory.

So should Longhorn fans be worried about how close it was? Not to the full extent. Texas played well in many different factors, including just about everything on defense. So let's review some takeaways:

1. Yes, Quinn Ewers can be better, but he still showed up when needed.

The Longhorn quarterback completed 20 passes on 32 attempts for 176 yards and two touchdowns.

It's a season-low on pass yards for Ewers, and his footwork and awareness again showed massive flaws. But when Texas needed their general most, he showed up.

In the fourth quarter, Ewers threw a perfect dime on a rollout to Matthew Golden to put Texas up 20-10. After that, Ewers iced the game with a surprise keeper that he converted on a fourth-and-two.

However, he could have played better on third downs. The Longhorns only went 4 for 15 on third downs with multiple sacks given up.

But the moments of resiliency like the fourth-and-two should give confidence that Ewers can still be relied on with confidence. You could say because of Ewers, the game was close, but you could also say, the game was won because of Ewers and his fourth-quarter heroics.

2. Jahdae Barron will lead the defense to glory.

A leader of one of the best defenses in the nation. Jahdae Barron has shown up in big ways for Texas throughout the season.

And once again, Barron haunted the opposing quarterback. He had an interception that was off a tipped pass in the first quarter that eventually led to a Longhorn touchdown, and also compiled a season-high in tackles with seven. Barron also got his first sack of the season.

The defense has shown its capability to control opposing offenses and Barron has always been a big part of that. His task of guarding Arkansas's wide receiver Andrew Armstrong was a tall task, and Barron did a great job proving his case for the Thorpe Award.

3. Alfred Collins is much better than we thought.

You can't help but be happy for the senior defensive lineman. Collins is finally getting the chance to start consistently and Saturday was his greatest game yet for Texas.

Collins had a season-high seven tackles and got his first sack of the season. His biggest moment of the game was his forced fumble late in the fourth quarter to give Texas the ball back up 10. Collins successfully chased down the Arkansas receiver from behind to poke the ball loose and Michael Taaffe recovered it.

Additionally, Collins was the highest-graded Longhorn on the PFF scale at 91.1. He has really proved his worth on the defense and has just made it stronger in recent weeks. His ability to generate pressure has opened up more space for more sacks within the Texas defense. He will continue to be a big starter for the Longhorns.

4. The running back room is starting to get a little concerning.

It's always important to bring up that the running back room was supposed to look very different at the start of the season but injuries changed those plans.

But Quintrevion Wisner and Jaydon Blue haven't been as effective as they were at the start of the season. Wisner and Blue still combined for 142 yards which is impressive, but it was on 31 carries, with many ending in little to no gains.

Some of it can be blamed on play-calling, some can be blamed on the offensive line, but the explosiveness hasn't been as often as it used to from both. They aren't finding open field as often which is where they are both extremely dangerous.

Additionally, the pass blocking could be a little bit better as well with the amount of pressure that Arkansas brought.

Blue did have a clutch gain 28-yard gain but did fumble on the play before it luckily went out of bounds. But being positive, both still have been good. The production seems to have dropped a little, but it's a long season, and they deserve a ton of recognition for their help so far.

5. Just keep winning.

There's a lot of doubt on Texas's legitimacy because they couldn't blow out Arkansas. The offense put up only 20 points when Arkansas gave up over 60 to Ole Miss in their previous game. And as always, Texas's schedule has been pretty lackluster for SEC standards.

But you can't forget that any SEC game can be close. We saw Tennessee lose to Arkansas earlier this season. And opponents like Texas A&M had closer margined victories against the Razorbacks. Not to mention the team that Texas blew out the week prior in Florida had a great game this week against LSU. Yes, D.J. Lagway was back for the Gators, but it still shows that Florida is a competitive team.

So look, no matter how ugly the wins are, it's still a win. And Texas needs to block out all of the noise and just focus on finishing games out strong no matter who the opponent is.

Arkansas isn't feared, but they should be respected as an opponent, and Texas with a hostile crowd got the job done even with the adversity.

Texas's next chance to win will be next Saturday against the Kentucky Wildcats in Austin.

That game will kick-off at 2:30 on ABC.

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