As we will do throughout this football season, HawgBeat went behind enemy lines to gain insight on the No. 3 Texas Longhorns with Orangebloods' Jason Suchomel.
In their debut SEC season, the Longhorns have dominated most competition besides a 30-15 loss to Georgia and a 27-24 nail-biting win against Vanderbilt. Texas has defeated teams like Michigan, Mississippi State, Oklahoma and Florida handily.
Under Sarkisian's leadership, Texas has accumulated a 33-15 (17-10 Big 12, 4-1 SEC) overall record with a 12-win, College Football Playoff season a year ago. This season, the Longhorns boast the No. 9 total offense (465.2 YPG) and No. 10 passing offense (301.1 YPG) in the country.
Starting for Sarkisian's squad at quarterback is junior Quinn Ewers, who has completed 149-of-215 throws (69.3%) with 19 touchdowns and six interceptions.
On the defensive side of the ball, Texas boasts the nation's No. 2 total defense (251.0 yards allowed per game) and it ranks No. 4 in scoring defense (12.1 points allowed per game) and No. 13 in defensive third down conversion percentage (30.0%).
Here is what Suchomel had to say about Saturday's matchup, which is set to kick off at 11 a.m. CT at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville...
1. Looking at Texas' schedule, the Longhorns' only nail-biter was against Vanderbilt. What did the Commodores do to keep things so close, and is it something Arkansas can replicate?
Suchomel: "That game against Vanderbilt did play closer than most people expected and while I don’t want to take anything away from a pretty good Vandy team, it was as much about what Texas did that kept things interesting. The Longhorns had two turnovers on interceptions that were batted at the line of scrimmage. They also had a pick-6 overturned on a roughing the passer penalty. They allowed Vanderbilt to score with under one minute left in the game to make things look closer than they really were. It was just a pretty sloppy performance by Texas in a few different areas.
Quinn Ewers was still pretty effective in throwing for three touchdowns but Vandy did a great job of taking away Texas’ downfield passing attack and forcing Ewers to utilize short and intermediate receivers. Longhorn fans were pretty frustrated with the lack of downfield shots in the passing game but Steve Sarkisian said in the days following the game that Vanderbilt basically played tight coverage near the line of scrimmage on exactly one play. On every other snap, Vandy was essentially falling back with its secondary and daring Texas to dink and dunk its way down the field. With the issues that Arkansas has had with its secondary, that might be a sound strategy for the Razorbacks this weekend.
2. Sam Pittman called Steve Sarkisian an offensive mastermind earlier this week, what exactly has he done since Texas' loss to Arkansas in 2021 to get the program back on the upper rung in college football?
Suchomel: "The most obvious thing that Sarkisian has changed is the level of talent on the roster. Texas was pretty bad at quarterback in that game in 2021 and once the Longhorns fell behind, they had very little chance of catching up.
Arkansas also dominated that game from a physicality perspective so Sark and his staff made it a top priority to go out and beef up the offensive and defensive lines. They’ve done a good job of that and now feature one of the best O-lines in the country. The defensive line isn’t quite as highly regarded as the offensive side of the ball, but it is a group with depth and experience and it can occasionally flash with big plays.
Overall, this is just a much more talented team than what Sarkisian had in his first couple of years in Austin.
3. Everybody knows about Quinn Ewers, Isaiah Bond, Anthony Hill Jr., etc, who are some unsung heroes for Texas on both sides of the ball?
Suchomel: "As mentioned above, it’s a really good offensive line that could feature two first-round draft picks at the tackle spots in Kelvin Banks on the left side and Cam Williams on the right side. The running game has been hit or miss but Jaydon Blue is as healthy as he’s been all season and he had some big plays last weekend against Florida. He can run between the tackles but he’s at his best when he gets in space and can utilize his speed. Tight end Gunnar Helm, a senior, is having a breakout season and he’s one of Quinn Ewers’ top targets. True freshman Ryan Wingo will have some quiet games, as most freshmen do, but he’s an explosive, big target that’s capable of making big plays downfield.
On defense, cornerback Jahdae Barron might be the best player for Texas on that side of the ball. He’s rarely out of position, he’s versatile and he just has a knack for making plays. Safeties Michael Taaffe (a former walk-on) and Andrew Mukuba (a transfer from Clemson) have been fantastic. True freshman edge Colin Simmons has been quiet the past couple of weeks but he’s a former 5-star prospect and he’s capable of being a disruptive force in the opponents’ backfield. Alfred Collins is probably the best defensive lineman on the team and he was responsible for two interceptions last week when he batted two balls at the line of scrimmage.
4. Are there any notable injuries or roster battles to watch and if so, how does that potentially affect the game Saturday?
Suchomel: "Texas actually comes into this game pretty healthy. The Longhorns did lose a couple of running backs for the season during fall camp and they lost one of their starting safeties mid-season, but overall it’s a group that has been pretty fortunate in the injury department and having the off week two weeks ago helped some guys get back to close to 100 percent. That included Quinn Ewers and Isaiah Bond, two of the team’s most important players.
Right tackle Cam Williams seemed to suffer an ankle injury last week against Florida but he returned to action in that game and has been practicing this week. There are the usual bumps and bruises that teams have this time of the year, but Texas will head to Fayetteville with a pretty healthy team.
5. How do you see this game playing out?
Suchomel: "On paper, Texas is the better team and there’s a reason the Longhorns are three-score favorites. Arkansas has been up and down and a bit unpredictable from week to week, but I expect the Razorbacks will put their best foot forward this weekend in a rivalry game. I like Texas to win, but I think it plays closer than the linesmakers are expecting. I’ll hold off on an actual score prediction but I like Texas to win by 7-10 points.
