Steve Sarkisian's Texas Longhorns are ready to return to the scene in Fayetteville

Over three years ago, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian coached in his first road game in six seasons, entering a hostile SEC territory with a team he had only inherited, not yet built. A future 5-7 Texas team traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas as a top-15 team in the nation with hype surrounding a seemingly talented roster that would need to overcome past coaching failures.

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Whether the Longhorns just weren’t talented enough, or were ill-prepared for the hostility of a rivalry that the rest of the nation had seemingly forgotten about, Texas was outclassed, outworked and dominated through three quarters. Even with a strong showing in the fourth quarter, Texas got its first taste of an SEC environment in the Sarkisian era.

“I don’t know what Darrell Royal did to Arkansas back in the day, but they absolutely hate our guts,” Sarkisian said on Monday’s press conference. “And I think we learned that the first time around when we went there.”

Royal wasn’t perfect against the Razorbacks when both competed in the Southwest conference, but a three-year stretch from 1967-69 will haunt the older generation of Razorbacks for the rest of their lives. In ‘67 Royal won in Arkansas, but the true pain started in ‘68, when the legendary coach took down a top-10 Arkansas team en route to a 1-loss season. The rivalry reached a crescendo in ‘69 when an early December matchup between the two top-ranked teams in the nation took center stage in Fayetteville. Royal and James Street took down the Razorbacks on their way to a national title, leaving their rivals in the dust.

Arkansas remembered that in 2021. When Texas rolled into the Reynolds stadium, in just its second game under Sarkisian, it was not prepared for the hatred and fire brought by the fans of an underestimated SEC rival. 

“The hate, the energy of wanting us to do bad,” Senior defensive tackle Alfred Collins recalled about the atmosphere in Fayetteville. “The way the other team was playing that year they came out on fire.” 

Eight current Longhorns played snaps that game, with only four other current contributors being on the roster at that time. Center Jake Majors started as a redshirt freshman and allowed four pressures from the center position, an anomaly of a stat given the solid play of the center throughout Sarkisian’s tenure. Current tight ends Gunnar Helm and Juan Davis combined for one reception and zero yards. 

“It’s a very hostile place to play,” Majors said “They love their football program. When you go to places like that you gotta show up and be prepared.”

Collins and Vernon Broughton were a part of a Texas run defense that was manhandled by the Razorback interior offensive line, an early welcome to the SEC moment as described by Collins. Arkansas rushed for 340 yards and four touchdowns on the day, an early inclination that the team inherited by Sarkisian was filled with flaws on the defensive side of the ball.

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But Texas now has the chance to right its wrongs from three years prior. Sarkisian has emphasized week in and week out that every game is an SEC Championship game, and Saturday is no different. No matter how much the media or fans want to know about 2021, Texas players made it clear that they care about one thing: taking care of business on Saturday.

 “This game is what matters. This is all our focus right now. We have to win this game,” safety Michael Taaffe said. “Whatever coach Sark is going to do to get us prepared, he’s going to do the right thing to get us prepared. He’s the best coach in college football and he’s going to do the necessities to get us prepared for this game, no matter if it’s Arkansas, no matter if it’s, you know, week one against Colorado State so I put all my confidence and trust in him.”