AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl: Confident Razorbacks will be a Formidable Foe
When Texas and Arkansas meet in the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl, it will pit two teams that finished 6-6 this season.
The comparisons can stop right there.
The Razorbacks might have finished 2-6 in conference play – good for last place in the SEC West Division – but this is a team that has been playing its best football at the end of the season. Texas will have its hands full with this bunch.
More from Texas Football
- Texas Football: Quinn Ewers joins 7-Eleven Cleat Crew for charity event
- Texas Football: 4-Star A&M OT commit officially visiting for KU game
- How to watch Texas football vs. Baylor: TV, stream, game time
- Texas Football: Predicting each remaining 5-Star commit for Horns this fall
- Texas Football: Top 5 defenders during nonconference play
Why will the Razorbacks be such a tough opponent?
Arkansas can run the ball, period
The Razorbacks finished 26th in the nation in rushing offense. Arkansas ran for over 220 yards a game. A team that can run the ball has the opportunity to dictate the tempo of the game. If Arkansas moves the ball against the Longhorns defense, it will take its toll in the third and fourth quarters. We have already seen how the Texas defense tends to wear down in the second half, especially if the offense can’t get going. The Razorbacks have two 1,000 yard rushers in Johnathan Williams and Alex Collins. It’s no secret what Arkansas plans to do – run the ball, and then run it some more.
Arkansas defends the run very well
Live Feed
South Bound & Down
Ranked 22nd in the nation in run defense, the Razorbacks will make Texas beat them through the air. The Longhorns’ run game has struggled most of the season, thanks mainly to a patchwork offensive line that seemed to shuffle players in and out of the lineup every week. Joe Wickline will have the bowl game practices to shore up blocking schemes and assignments. It would behoove him to get this group on the same page. Shawn Watson will not want to put the game on the shoulders of Tyrone Swoopes – especially after his last outing versus TCU. Instead, Texas would like to take a page from Arkansas’ playbook and control the line of scrimmage and establish a run game. It will be interesting to see how this group fares against a legitimate SEC defense.
Arkansas has played some of its best football late in the year
The Razorbacks won two of its last three games. This includes back-to-back shutouts of LSU and Ole Miss. Arkansas held the Tigers to just 123 yards of total offense, 36 on the ground. Yes, you read that right. LSU managed 123 yards in four quarters of play. The Rebels shot themselves in the foot with six turnovers. Even still, Ole Miss managed just 63 yards rushing. The Razorbacks had SEC East Division champs Missouri on the ropes until a late fourth quarter collapse helped the Tigers escape with a win.
Right now this is a pretty confident team Texas must face. How the Longhorns respond following the debacle against TCU will set the tone for the whole offseason. This may be Charlie Strong’s toughest coaching job yet.