Texas Football: 4 overreactions to the stunning upset loss to Arkansas

A drastically bad loss for new head coach Steve Sarkisian and No. 15 ranked Texas football cost this team a shot to head into Big 12 play with some serious momentum. Texas went into this meeting with the longtime rival Arkansas Razorbacks and head coach Sam Pittman as roughly a one-touchdown favorite in the pregame betting odds.

Yet, it didn’t take long to show that Sark and the Longhorns would be completely outmatched by this foe out of the SEC West in the Razorbacks. It did take a few drives for even Arkansas to find its footing on offense. But once quarterback KJ Jefferson, running back Trelon Smith, and the Hogs got rolling on the ground, that offense never looked back.

Texas was completely dominated in the trenches on both sides of the ball, which showed how overmatched they were in the battle for the line of scrimmage. While Texas did look good in the regular season opener win over the No. 23 ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in terms of physicality at the point of attack, the trenches were not a spot where the men in burnt orange thrived this weekend.

Steve Sarkisan and No. 15 Texas football come up way short against Arkansas

It was in the trenches that Texas helped get the 20-point win over Louisiana. And that was the Longhorns’ downfall in a humbling loss this weekend. Arkansas got this win over Texas by the final score of 40-21. And after Arkansas got over 20 points in the second half, it felt like the game completely got away from Sark and the Longhorns.

This was a win that puts things in perspective for the Longhorns as this football program looks to right the ship under Sark’s coaching staff. It did feel like similar issues that Texas faced on the gridiron under the direction of former head coaches Tom Herman and Charlie Strong.

Here’s a look into four overreactions from the Longhorns’ humbling loss to Arkansas on the night of Sep. 11.