Three reasons why Arkansas football beats Texas

Texas might be the No. 3 team in the country, but the renewed rivalry is one reason why Arkansas can win Saturday's game.
Ole Miss v Arkansas
Ole Miss v Arkansas / Wesley Hitt/GettyImages
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Since leaving the Southwest Conference, rivalries haven’t had the punch they used to. Arkansas and LSU have had some fun games, but Tiger fans have never really cared about the Razorbacks. The SEC foisted Mizzou on Arkansas, but like LSU fans, Hog fans cared very little for the team in Columbia. However, this year, the rivalries hit a little different.

Oklahoma and Texas joined the SEC this season, and with them, brought a potential to rekindle one of the most underrated rivalries in college football. Since moving to the SEC, Arkansas has largely dominated the series between the Longhorns and the Hogs, going 4-2 since 1992.

In 2021, the SEC announced Texas’ intentions to move to the conference, and Arkansas welcomed them the best way possible, with a 40 to 21 victory in Fayetteville. That Longhorn team is a distant memory. Texas comes into Fayetteville as the No. 3 team in the country, while Arkansas has struggled all season long. If the Razorbacks are going to start their new conference series with a win, here’s why it’ll happen:

Three Reasons why Arkansas football beats Texas

Texas’ Charman-soft schedule

Yes, Texas has scratched its way to the top of the national rankings, but it’s done so with one of the easiest schedules in the SEC, if not the country. 

The Longhorns started conference play with Mississippi State and Oklahoma. Those teams are some of the worst in the league. They combine for a 1-11 SEC record, with the Sooners having one of the worst offenses in the country and the Bulldogs having one of the worst defenses in the country.

Texas has played two mid-tier teams: Florida and Vanderbilt. It made light work of the Gators, beating them 49-17 in Austin (which just so happened to be the game right before Texas plays Arkansas). Vandy, on the other hand, gave the Longhorns all they wanted and more.

Georgia is the only elite team that Texas has faced all season long, and the Bulldogs weren’t very kind. The game wasn’t even as close as the score indicated, with Georgia winning 30 to 15. Texas was held scoreless in the first half and the fourth quarter, scoring all of its points in the third. 

The point is we really don’t know how good Texas is, but they’ve shown that they’re not the super team people thought they’d be at the beginning of the season. Don’t be surprised if it’s still a game going into the fourth quarter on Saturday.

Next: The bye week