Many expected the Arkansas Razorbacks to put up a good fight in a tough road environment in a rivalry game in Fayetteville for No. 3 Texas football this weekend. And that's exactly what happened, as Arkansas really pushed Texas, including the game on the scoreboard coming down to just a three-point margin for UT's lead at one point early in the fourth quarter.
Late-game offensive drives, solid defense leads No. 3 Texas football to an important rivalry road game win over Arkansas
What head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns were able to prove this weekend was that this team has enough talent and experience to overcome issues with tough rival opponents on the road in these types of hostile SEC environments.
What was important for the Longhorns was that quarterback Quinn Ewers, despite some major inconsistencies for his performance for most of the game on offense, is they slipped past Arkansas with a double-digit victory. We've seen time after time this season that top 10 teams in College Football Playoff contention get knocked down a peg against unranked opponents, especially in difficult road environments in conference play.
Here are three big overreactions after Texas's 20-10 win in Week 12 in Fayetteville over rival Arkansas.
Texas's offensive line isn't the problem
Something that made a huge difference for the Longhorns in this win over Arkansas was the fact that Texas didn't commit all that many costly penalties and it didn't turn the ball over. Texas had a season-low two penalties for a net of just 15 yards against Arkansas yesterday.
For all of Ewers' faults, he also didn't turn the ball over. The fact that the Longhorns didn't give Arkansas the ball in advantageous field territory on Texas's side of the 50 helped keep their defense in a good spot to limit Taylen Green and the Hogs offense.
One of the major contributing factors for Texas avoiding many costly mistakes on offense was the effectiveness of the offensive line play, especially in pass pro. Texas only allowed four quarterback pressures in the win over Arkansas, tied for the second-most of any offensive line in the SEC in Week 12 (per PFF).
The two sacks Texas allowed on the day arguably came on plays that gave Ewers the necessary time to get through at least a couple of reads in the pocket and throw the ball away before going down to the ground.
Texas's offensive line blocked well for the ground game to make plays on key money down conversions, including on Ewers' fourth-down run and a key third-down pickup by junior running back Jaydon Blue.