Texas Football: 3 weaknesses Sarkisian can exploit vs. Arkansas

Attack the middle of the field in the passing game

There are two areas where the Alabama Crimson Tide racked up the bulk of the yards in the passing game last season when Sark was the offensive coordinator. Most of the damage that the Crimson Tide did to the Arkansas pass defense came in the middle of the field, and some actually went down the right side.

Last season against Arkansas, Alabama registered 13 completions on 15 passing attempts, good for 136 yards. There were no interceptions or passing touchdowns for either Alabama quarterback that played last season, between Bryce Young and Mac Jones. But one of those two incompletions was a drop and the other was a turnover-worthy play by Jones.

This is where Texas also did a lot of the damage over the weekend to Louisiana. Sark used standout redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jordan Whittington to do some damage to the Louisiana defense up the middle, good for 96 receiving yards, 36 yards after the catch, and three missed tackles forced.

That highlights just how effective Whittington can be out of the slot and in the open field for the Longhorns. Get Whittington in the middle of the field with room to run, and the Arkansas defense will pay. It will not help the Hogs that it is likely to be someone like Greg Brooks Jr. or Joe Foucha that has to deal with Whittington.

While Foucha is likely Arkansas’ most capable safety in pass coverage (although Jalen Catalon definitely has a case), this advantage definitely goes to Whittington.

Whittington should once again be a monster out of the slot for the Longhorns this weekend. The x-factor to watch, though, for the Longhorns against Arkansas should be redshirt junior wideout, Joshua Moore.

Where Texas will mostly want to avoid Arkansas is with the difficult throws to the outside where experienced cornerbacks LaDarrius Bishop and Montaric Brown can make plays on the ball. Bishop and Brown are two solid cornerbacks that aren’t going to make it easy for Texas.

Moore is likely to face Brown often in this game. That will be an interesting matchup, but Alabama registered more than 60 passing yards on a perfect completion percentage down the right side of the field last season against defensive coordinator Barry Odom and the Hogs.