Steve Sarkisian emphasizes importance of Texas' rivalry with Arkansas

One of the most exciting things about the Texas Longhorns moving to the SEC was the renewal of their rivalry with Texas A&M. However, head coach Steve Sarkisian knows that the renewal of the Arkansas rivalry is also massively important.

Ahead of their first meeting in the SEC, Sarkisian shared his thoughts on the rivalry with Arkansas, emphasizing how important it is to both sides.

“I think it might be underrated nationally,” Steve Sarkisian said. “I don’t know that it’s gonna get that it would nationally, but I will tell you, internally, it’s getting the same amount that’s needed, that it deserves. This rivalry has been going on for a long, long time. I was joking with the team this morning. I don’t know what Darrell Royal did to Arkansas back in the day, but they absolutely hate our guts, and I think we learned that the first time around when we went there.”

For Steve Sarkisian and Arkansas coach Sam Pittman, this will be the second time the two have played one another at their current schools. The last time came in 2021 as a non-conference game, which the Razorbacks won 40-21.

“But you look at some of those clips at the end of that game, Joe Tessitore is talking about that Arkansas hates Texas more than they like themselves. He might be right,” Sarkisian said. “So, from our perspective internally, we understand and value this rivalry. It’s great to have back. It’s great for the state of Texas. It’s great for the state of Arkansas. I wish, nationally, it got the exposure this thing deserves. There’s been some great games historically that these two teams have butted heads on. So, obviously, we’re looking forward to the opportunity.”

The rivalry between Arkansas and Texas goes back to their time in the Southwestern Conference. There, the two sides played annually from 1932 to 1991. In total, they’ve played 79 times with Texas leading the all-time series 56-23. That includes the 1969 “Game of the Century” where the Longhorns scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to come from behind to win. That propelled the Longhorns to a national championship.

Conference realignment would, ultimately, end the rivalry as an annual game and, now, it’s brought the game back with both teams in the SEC. Despite that, Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman was dismissive of the idea of making the Longhorns a permanent opponent to fully renew the rivalry.

“Our rivalry, we’ve got Missouri, you know,” Pittman said. “We got a boot for LSU. We’ve got a freaking something else for [Texas] A&M. We got plenty of rivalries. To sit here and say I want to play Texas every year, well who are you going to trade them for? LSU? You understand what I’m saying.”

Kickoff for the game between Texas and Arkansas is currently scheduled for 12:00 p.m. EST in Fayetteville.