Studs and duds from Texas’ humbling loss to Arkansas
Happy Monday, where the humiliation of Texas’ 40-21 loss to Arkansas is still lingering. A lot went wrong in game No. 2 of the Steve Sarkisian era and a lot is left to be desired.
“At the end of the day, I think our team is a gritty team,” Sarkisian said during his press conference. “I think they played hard. We didn’t play great Saturday night. We played hard. We didn’t do things right.”
Not only was the execution poor but the coaching staff did not seem to have the team ready for the moment. Arkansas came out of the tunnel and was ready to embrace the moment. Texas never seemed comfortable, even in the latter stages.
With a lot of poor performances, the Longhorns will have to do some reflection before facing Rice. At the same time, looking for some positive outcomes never hurts.
Here are the studs and duds from Texas’ loss to Arkansas.
STUD: B.J. Foster
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Texas had far from a good defensive day against the Hogs, especially in the second half. Not much praise can be sent to a team that just gave up 40 points and 471 total yards. B.J. Foster deserves some credit for his third-quarter interceptions and allowing the offense to be in some kind of position. Without the turnover, Texas is probably looking a shutout in the face or even giving up more points. In the end, Foster's play had little effect on the outcome. But if anyone deserves praise from the defense, the senior safety does.
DUD: Offensive line
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Nothing was working for the offensive line in either pass protection or run block. Arkansas' front was getting pressure whenever they wanted. Multiple times, only three pass rushers were sent and Texas still wound up with a negative play. The left side, in particular, was awful. According to CJ Vogel of TFB, the Longhorns average 0.9 yards per carry going to the left. Christian Jones and Denzel Okafor did not have the best of days. https://twitter.com/CJVogel_TFB/status/1437394850790449153?s=20 Sarkisian said he is not going to tinker with the offensive line. He thinks the group needs more time together after learning a new scheme. Once Texas gets into Big 12 play, we'll find out if the head coaches' theory is true or if they are actually bad.
STUD: Casey Thompson
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It's hard to argue with the offensive production Casey Thompson had against Arkansas. Yes, the game was out of reach and the dogs were most likely called off by the home team, but two touchdowns are two touchdowns. It's better than anything the offense was able to produce beforehand. Sarkisian has already named Thompson the starter for Saturday's game against Rice. His two drives against the Razorbacks most likely had a huge part in that decision.
DUD: Hudson Card
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Blaming the offensive line for the poor offensive performance would be too easy. And to be honest, not very fair. Hudson Card had plenty of mistakes himself throughout his near three quarters of playing time. Multiple deep balls were missed to fairly open wide receivers. Had Card put the throws right on the money, Texas has a couple of touchdowns on the board. A strip-sack occurred while the redshirt freshman was trying to scramble out the pocket as well. Card was about to make a throw but was still a little loose with the ball. Winning the battle after fall camp still shows who Sarkisian has ultimate faith in. However, Card needs to learn from his mistakes against Arkansas and respond in the proper way over the next few weeks.
DUD: Cameron Dicker
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After the famous game-winning kick over Oklahoma in the 2018 Red River Shootout, Cameron Dicker has been viewed as a sure thing. Gus Johnson's call on the broadcast may have helped the kicker's cause too. Since then, some crucial kicks have been missed by Dicker to bring some questions as to how reliable he is. He missed a 52-yard field goal early in the game. Arkansas capitalized on the short field, scoring a touchdown on the next drive. Dicker has also taken over punting duties this year and bobbled a snap deep in negative territory. Texas' defense bailed him out, holding Arkansas to a field goal. Special teams' disasters are an easy way to lose a game quickly. Dicker needs to get back to his freshman year form in clutch scenarios.
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