By james art 
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – It’s too early to tell if Saturday was the curtain call on the Razorbacks’ late-season competitiveness. At 5-4 (3-3 SEC), Arkansas looked to be in as good a place as any team after beating a top-5 team in Tennessee to start October.
There were some close games in September against Oklahoma State and Texas A&M, but a recent trend of dominating losses at home has changed things. Beatdowns aren’t much fun, and this time it comes from the College Football Playoff contenders, with another scheduled to arrive in 11 days.
Coach Sam Pittman still has a job, although there are rumors about his job security. A rivalry game against the Longhorns has always brought out the best in coaches, players and fans, but the NIL and the transfer portal have changed the way student-athletes think about rivalries.
Even Ohio State coach Ryan Day has said in the past that recruiting him to the national team has affected how his team feels about archrival Michigan. Pittman will have to figure out a new way to motivate his team with Texas coming up in two weeks or the Razorbacks will face the same result they got against rivals LSU and Ole Miss.
Don’t think for a second that Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has forgotten about his embarrassing loss to the nation’s No. 15 team on that hot September night. His team looked defeated by halftime in a 40-21 loss to an overachieving Arkansas team in 2021.
Texas has no time to overlook Arkansas as it contends for a conference title and a playoff berth in Year One in the SEC. The Longhorns have avoided losing a trap game to this point and should know what to expect from the Arkansas crowd.
The Rebels faced a strong contingent of Razorbacks fans early on, but it wasn’t enough to sustain Arkansas’ success. Texas has a dynamite offense and a defense that has given up three plays of more than 40 yards in league play.
Travis Williams’ defense was shredded just a few days ago for 700 yards and 63 points by Ole Miss. If the Razorbacks can’t find a way to slow down, it could be a bloodbath in Fayetteville next weekend.