Texas is 8-1 overall and 4-1 in the SEC, which puts it in a three-way tie with Texas A&M and Tennessee for first place in the conference. They are #3 in CFP rankings and the AP top 25. Yet, I don’t know how good they are. What is their signature win?  Michigan was #10 when they beat them, but now they are unranked with a 4-5 record. Oklahoma was #18, but now they’re unranked 5-5 overall and 1-5 in the SEC.  Texas’s strength of schedule through the Florida game is 55th, and their best win is against Vanderbilt.

In Texas’ one opportunity to get a signature win against Georgia, Quinn Ewers threw one interception and lost two fumbles. Texas’ offensive line allowed seven sacks. Texas rushed for 29 yards, an average of 1.1 yards per rush. Take out the sack yards, and Texas averaged 3 yards per rush. Some of the sacks were Ewers’ fault for holding the ball too long or not recognizing blitzes pre-snap, and Steve Sarkisian had no answers for what Georgia was doing defensively. The Texas defense played admirably, intercepting Carson Beck three times and holding Georgia to 283 total yards, but overall, the jury is still out on Texas.

Arkansas

Arkansas has had an up-and-down 5-4 season, with a signature win over #7 Tennessee, 19-14, and blowout losses to Ole Miss, 63-31, and LSU, 34-10. Their talented offense averages 33 points and 483 yards per game. Their defense is not so great, giving up 29.6 points per game. Their opponents are averaging six yards per play.

Arkansas’ quarterback is Tayler Green, who is 6’6 ” and has 1435 career rushing yards, 24 touchdowns, and 5.3 yards per carry. In 2024, he has 411 rushing yards at 3.9 yards per carry, but that includes 21 sacks for -142 yards. Yes, he’s a dangerous runner. Cue the Vince Young comparisons.

Green can also be a dangerous passer. On throws of 20 yards or more, he is 19-44 for 605 yards and six touchdowns. Overall, he has completed 61.2% of his throws and averages a healthy 8.4 yards per attempt.

This looks like a bad game for Quinn Ewers to struggle early in Fayetteville, where a win for Arkansas will make their season.

One more point of interest. Dirtbag Bobby Petrino is Arkansas’ offensive coordinator.

Texas – Arkansas 1974

No books have been written about the 1974 Texas – Arkansas game played at Texas Memorial Stadium, but it is one of my favorites. Texas was 3-2, and Arkansas was 3-2 going into the game. Despite the so-so seasons both teams were having, the game was nationally televised on ABC as both teams were anticipated to be ranked when the television schedule was set months before the season started. ABC’s college football color commentator with movie-star good looks, Jim Lampley, decked out in his gameday canary yellow ABC blazer, made a cameo appearance in my Communications 301 class the Friday before the game. So cool.  I was giddy, and six weeks into my freshman year, I was happy that I had decided to go to Texas. There was another freshman that year in the school of communications. Earl Campbell.

It was an afternoon game, and I had a date with Tina, a petite A. D. Pi from Longview, Texas, with a full-blown East Texas accent. I lived in Jester, and Tina lived in Kinsolving, so I walked there to pick her up, and we walked to the stadium. As was customary, I brought a plastic flask filled with rum that Tina carried into the stadium in her purse. Talk about the good old days. In the student draw, I drew two tickets on row one on the east side at about the 10-yard line on the south side of the field. It was the first and last time I sat on row one in Memorial Stadium. Although not ideal for viewing, the first row allowed Tina and I to set our rum and cokes on the stadium ledge, which was an excellent perk. The cokes sold in the stadium came in white hard plastic cups with black and orange letters and The University of Texas seal. Those cups were carried home by the thousands and became a standard collection in student dorm rooms and apartments. Helen and I may have even brought some to the first home we owned in 1984. I wish we had a few of those now.

In the second quarter, Earl Campbell ran 68 yards down the west sideline for a touchdown in the south end zone. Seeing a 230-pound wishbone full-back running away from defensive backs was amazing and exciting. I knew my parents were watching in Reston, Virginia, and I was glad they witnessed the run, which confirmed what I had told them about Earl’s speed. Little did I know that the run was not the most remarkable feat Earl would perform that day.

Just before halftime, Arkansas was punting from inside the 20-yard line in the south end of the field, directly in front of Tina and me, sitting not more than 30 yards from where Arkansas’ punter was set to punt. As the ball was snapped, a Texas player burst through the center of the line and blocked the punt. It took a moment to realize, oh my god, it was Earl who had blocked the punt!  All-American defensive tackle and future first-team NFL All-Pro Doug English recovered the ball and returned it for a touchdown.

Texas won 38-7. After the game, Tina and I went back to our dorm rooms and freshened up before I took her to dinner at a barbeque restaurant in Coupland, Texas, where we joined my older brother Clayton and his wife, older brother David and his girlfriend, and other friends of theirs. 

On that day, who in America had it better than I did?

Hook ‘em,

W.E.

Never Gets Old

Song of the Week – Feeling light hearted and whimsical

Let’s keep it going.