4 takeaways from Texas's gritty road win over Arkansas

No. 3 Texas football went into a hostile environment against a historic rival for the first time as SEC foes on Nov. 16 in Fayetteville against the Arkansas Razorbacks. Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian have been great playing on the road, especially in conference play, dating back over two years (nine-game road winning streak coming into Week 12).

Jahdae Barron and Quinn Ewers lead Texas football to big road win over Arkansas in a rivalry game

This weekend was the first time the Longhorns and Razorbacks have met on the gridiron in Fayetteville since the 2021 season. Especially on the defensive side of the ball, Texas came out proving how different this game would be against Arkansas this fall in SEC play.

That said, the Longhorns' offense still had some struggles keeping the chains moving, especially on the plus side of the 50 in Arkansas territory, in the first half. Quarterback Quinn Ewers made some bad decisions when Texas was faced with second and third-down and manageable early in this game.

A combination of Texas's inability to execute consistently on offense and Arkansas hanging tough on each side of the ball made this a close game well into the second half.

The momentum was firmly on Arkansas' side for most of the third quarter and heading into the final frame in the fourth. But Texas saw key players rise up to make big plays on each side of the ball to get the big win on the road over its rival when it was all said and done.

Here are four takeaways from No. 3 Texas's gritty win on the road over rival Arkansas in Fayetteville on Nov. 16.

Jahdae Barron proves he's the class of the SEC among DBs

Texas's best player in this game was easily senior cornerback Jahdae Barron. The fifth-year experienced defensive back made an impact on this game in multiple ways for Texas's defense.

Barron set up Texas's first score of the game, giving the offense great field position in Arkansas territory after an interception of Razorback quarterback Taylen Green in the first quarter.

Later in the first half, Barron made a couple of big plays to create negative plays for Texas's defense against the Hogs. He even had a big sack on a money down that helped to keep the Arkansas offense off the scoreboard late in the first half.

With his interception and multiple tackles for loss, Barron put himself in a class of his own after this game against the Hogs. Barron is now the only FBS defensive back this season with at least four interceptions, a half dozen pass breakups, multiple tackles for loss, and a fumble recovery.

Well into the second half, Barron continued to make big plays for the Texas defense. He had a quarterback pressure in the second half that forced a throwaway from Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green on a money down in the Longhorns' territory on defense.

Barron has put together plenty of tremendous performances in SEC play for the Longhorns this season. But you could pretty easily argue that this was his best and most well-rounded performance for Texas's defense. He amassed over a half dozen tackles, one interception, one sack, two quarterback pressures, two tackles for loss, and a pass breakup.

Quinn Ewers with spotty decision-making at key points of the game vs. Arkansas' defense

The version of Ewers we saw for the Longhorns in the dominant 49-17 victory over the Florida Gators at home last weekend retracted for most of this game against Arkansas. Ewers had one of his best performances of the regular season, throwing for over 300 pass yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions in the 32-point victory over the Gators.

Outside of an early touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Matthew Golden in the first quarter to get Texas on the board, Ewers was spotty when the Longhorns were driving on offense. Ewers was hesitant and missed some throws that he usually hits, including multiple deep passes to Golden and Isaiah Bond.

Ewers showed his experience and perseverance when he needed to in clutch time in the fourth quarter. When Arkansas had closed the scoring margin to just a three-point lead for the Longhorns in the second half, Ewers led Texas on a huge scoring drive that resulted in a short touchdown pass from him to Golden.

This wasn't the best game statistically for Ewers, as he threw for 176 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. But the important points of this game for Ewers were that he took care of the football, avoiding any costly turnovers or interceptions.

To put the game away, Ewers came up with a big run to convert on fourth-and-short for Texas in Arkansas territory late in the fourth quarter. Ewers' experience and calm and cool nature kept him locked in late in this game to help Texas come away with a tough rivalry win on the road.

Missed opportunities on offensive drives

Just in the game's first 35 minutes, the Longhorns offense had four drives that went into Arkansas territory where they came away with zero points. Texas also had two drives that got within field goal distance for the Longhorns that resulted in two field goals, instead of much-needed touchdowns to establish some separation on the scoreboard against the Hogs.

Texas's faults should spread the blame across multiple position groups on offense from this game. Multiple Texas receivers had uncharacteristic drops. Senior tight end Gunnar Helm and true freshman wide receiver Ryan Wingo each had their first drops of the season on key second and third down plays in the middle of this game that cost the Texas offense.

The offensive line also struggled throughout this game, including multiple costly sacks allowed in the first half and double-digit tackles for loss.

But Texas's offense had a big response when the team really needed it in the fourth quarter. Arkansas had all the momentum in this game on its side when it had scored 10 straight points to cut Texas's lead from 13 points down to just three.

Ewers and the Longhorns drove the ball down 75 yards on a 5+ minute drive on offense for a key touchdown that put Texas back ahead by two scores around the middle of the fourth quarter.

Texas probably shouldn't have needed to come up with multiple big offensive drives late in the second half had the offense converted more when it got across midfield in the first two and a half quarters. Once again, the Longhorns left a little too much meat on the bone in terms of missed opportunities on potential scoring drives on offense in SEC play against Arkansas.

Defense stands tall when it matters late in the game

Despite Arkansas' offense putting more pressure on the Texas defense in the second half, after the Longhorns shut them out in the game's first 30 minutes, this unit held strong when it mattered most. Texas's pass defense continued to show why it ranks No. 1 in the SEC this season, holding Arkansas and Green to well under 200 passing yards.

Forcing turnovers also made the difference that ultimately helped the Longhorns secure this victory over the Hogs. Barron's interception in the first quarter set up Texas's first touchdown of the game. And then, the turnover that helped Texas salt the win away late in the second half came courtesy of a forced fumble by senior defensive tackle Alfred Collins, landed on by redshirt junior safety Michael Taaffe.

Both turnovers that the Texas defense forced were around the Longhorns' side of the field, which could've prevented potential Arkansas scoring drives that would've brought this game closer on the scoreboard.

After that fumble recovery by Taaffe, Texas's offense was able to move the ball down the field and ultimately secure the victory over Arkansas.

In total, this was an extremely impressive performance by Texas's defense at multiple levels. Texas kept its streak alive of allowing under 300 total yards for the opponent's offense for every game this season outside of garbage time.

It was also huge for the Longhorns to win the turnover battle for the third game in a row during this three-game winning streak in SEC play.

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