Texas is feeling confident after their Week 1 thrashing of the No. 23 ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns.
They now have what could be a very tough road matchup taking place in Fayetteville against a much improved Arkansas team. It will be the first road start of redshirt freshman quarterback Hudson Card’s career and it happens to be among a sold out crowd.
Arkansas quarterback K.J. Jefferson got off to a rough start in the Razorbacks Week 1 game against Rice, but relied on his running ability to keep his team in the game.
Once he found a rhythm, he was able to utilize both the air and the ground to decimate Rice. He finished with 128 passing yards and one touchdown through the air, while adding on 89 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground. He will be anchored by a strong group of running backs led by Trelon Smith who rushed for a team-high 102 yards and a touchdown.
Slowing down this offense will be a great test to see how much the Texas defense has improved this offseason, as scrambling quarterbacks often gave the Longhorns issues in the past.
Steve Sarkisian’s offense will also look to keep their momentum rolling against a very strong and underrated Arkansas defense. It will not be easy, as although the Razorbacks were playing Rice, they were making life miserable for the Owls’ offense. Arkansas intercepted three passes in the fourth quarter to kill any hope of a comeback.
Although this is only Week 2, there plenty on the line for both schools, as this could give Texas a momentous win against an SEC team on the road with a young quarterback, or it can be a sign of emergence for an Arkansas team that has been down in the dumps for a while.
Each week on Longhorns Wire, I’ll come up with five bold predictions for the upcoming matchup. Against Louisiana, I hit on 2.5 of them. Will Card hit the 300 yard passing mark this week?
Texas defense holds Arkansas to 100 rushing yards or less
Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
This will be a tall ask of the Longhorn defense considering that Arkansas is much more reliant on the running game than Louisiana was. However, the defense showed much improved tackling in the first game, and if they are able to consistently tackle like that and generate the amount of pressure they caused it will be a great day for Texas. A major part of containing the running game is not letting K.J. Jefferson utilize his feet as much as he will want to. He is more privy to scrambling compared to Levi Lewis of Louisiana, so if Texas can get pressure on him and bring him down they can really take him out of the equation.
Bijan Robinson will have at least 200 all-purpose yards
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I was one touch off on last week’s prediction in reference to Robinson getting 25 touches, but this week I am confident that Robinson will hit the mark. We saw two notable tips in the first game in regards to Robinson, with the first being he will legitimately get 20 carries a game. The second is his usage in the passing game. There were plays where Robinson wasn’t even in the backfield and would start off out wide. Sarkisian wants to get him the ball by any means necessary, who can blame him? Robinson finished Week 1 with 173 all-purpose yards, and likely could have had more but was pulled due to the game being well in hand. When the offense started slow, Sarkisian gave the ball to Robinson to bust it open. Sam Pittman led defense’s can be tough, and we saw that week one against Rice, as they held the Owls to just 81 yards on the ground on 39 attempts. Granted, Rice doesn’t have a running back near as talented as Robinson, but it is fair to say that Arkansas’ defense will be no pushovers. I think we will see Robinson rush for 140 yards and add on 60 yards in the passing game.
Texas intercepts Arkansas QB K.J. Jefferson twice
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I called for three turnovers in total in Week 1, where I predicted two interceptions and a fumble. I only got the fumble thanks to a monster hit by Darrion Dunn. Arkansas’s Jefferson is a very inexperienced quarterback still, meaning Texas should be able to confuse him and force him to make risky throws. The Longhorns defense had a solid showing against Louisiana, and if any aspect of the game needed slight improvement it would be the passing defense. Louisiana’s top five receivers all were averaging double digit yards per catch, but none of them were able to create huge gains because of the improved tackling by Texas. Arkansas likely has a better receiver corps so it is important for the Texas defensive backs to have a big game. If I had to predict who would get the interceptions, I would go with cornerback D’Shawn Jamison and recently re-converted safety Brenden Schooler.
Hudson Card hits the 300 yard mark
Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
The Texas offense operated smoothly with the redshirt freshman and he seemed to only make smart throws. In regards to his incompletions, they weren’t because the defense made great plays, as it was more so Card missing the receiver by a step. He averaged 10.7 yards per attempt and it’s likely for that number to grow unless he consistently has pressure in his face. Card likely could have hit this mark against Louisiana, as he finished the game with 224 passing yards, but Sarkisian stayed true to his word and put backup quarterback Casey Thompson in the game late in the third quarter. Sarkisian is familiar with Arkansas’s defense and dropped 50 points on them last season. He will likely show his soon to be SEC foe that no love has been lost. I expect the offense to air it out even more in this one.
Three Texas WR’s record 50 or more yards receiving
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This one may not seem very bold, but is stems from what we saw in the first game. Outside of Jordan Whittington, only two other receivers registered a catch, as Xavier Worthy and Joshua Moore combined for four catches for 51 yards. Whittington was the star of the group catching seven passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. I think Sarkisian will conjure up some plays for the other two that will allow them to make big plays like they have been expected to. The Longhorns skill positions played well during the first game, but it would have been nice to see more receivers be involved. Card missed Moore a couple times on what would have been big plays, but I find it hard to believe that Worthy and Moore will have such low numbers again.
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