Only 3 games remain in the 2024 regular season for Texas and a trip to Fayetteville on Saturday will surely bring back some bad memories for Texas fans. The Razorbacks pounded the Longhorns 40-21 in Steve Sarkisian’s second game as head coach. Texas has come a long way in 3 years and will look to put some demons to rest as they continue their march towards a potential College Football Playoff berth.
Offense
The Arkansas offense was a disaster last year, resulting in the mid-year firing of offensive coordinator Dan Enos. In the offseason, Sam Pittman brought back a familiar face to Fayetteville in Bobby Petrino to run the offense and used the transfer portal to upgrade several key spots.
Boise State transfer Taylen Green has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride at quarterback. He is averaging a very respectable 8.4 yards per attempt and has thrown for over 2,200 yards despite missing time in multiple games due to injury, but he has also been a turnover machine (7 interceptions and 7 fumbles) while being sacked 21 times. He possesses a very good arm and good mobility (411 rushing yards) but has been wildly inconsistent when going up against good defenses.
Former Texas QB Ja’Quinden Jackson is the leading Arkansas rusher (592 yards, 10 touchdowns) and is expected to be available on Saturday after missing the Ole Miss game due to injury. True freshman RB Braylen Russell has a bright future but is listed as questionable on the latest availability report.
The Arkansas passing game is centered around WR Andrew Armstrong. Armstrong has 55 receptions on the season. The second leading receiver is Isaiah Sategna, who has 29 receptions. The re-emergence of TE Luke Hasz has been an interesting storyline the last month. Hasz has 3 touchdown receptions the last 2 games.
The Arkansas OL is littered with transfers and has struggled with both penalties and allowing sacks. Ole Miss sacked Green 5 times in Fayetteville several weeks ago.
Defense
The Arkansas defense has been the definition of feast or famine. The unit was spectacular against Tennessee in a big upset at home but also turned in a total dud against Ole Miss two weeks ago when Jaxson Dart lit up the Razorback’s secondary like a Christmas tree.
DE Landon Jackson, older brother of Texas 2025 Lance Jackson, leads Arkansas with 4.5 sacks and is a future NFL player. No other Razorback outside of Jackson has more than 2 sacks. As a team, Arkansas has only 19 sacks on the season.
The real issue for Arkansas defensively has been in the secondary, where they are both banged up with injuries and also not very good. Starting CB Jaylon Braxton has been ruled out for Saturday with an injury. Opposing QB’s are averaging 8.6 yards per attempt against Arkansas, which ranks 118th in the country.
With two weeks to prepare, Texas will likely see some curveballs from Arkansas defensive coordinator Travis Williams. Williams trotted out a 3-high safety look against Tennessee that perplexed Nico Iamaleava.
Final Thoughts
Inconsistencies have plagued both sides of the ball for Arkansas this year. The Razorbacks have looked like a top-25 team for extended stretches but also have shown the ability to play extremely poor football during critical moments.
This will be an important test for Quinn Ewers after he looked like his normal self against Florida. Ewers is likely to see a lot of different looks and must protect the football at a high level.
Defensively for Texas, this is the best passing attack they have faced all season. Barron and Muhammad will be tested. The Longhorns must limit explosive plays as that has been the calling card for Arkansas most of the year.
