Arkansas vs. Texas: Star comparison, PFF grades, season stats
HawgBeat compares Arkansas and Texas using statistics, recruiting rankings and Pro Football Focus grades.
The Arkansas Razorbacks (5-4, 3-3 SEC) will play their first ever Southeastern Conference game Saturday against a familiar rival in the No. 3 Texas Longhorns (8-1, 4-1 SEC) at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.
It's hard to not think about the last time these two teams met, when the Razorbacks knocked off the Longhorns, 40-21, in front of an incredible crowd at Razorback Stadium on Sept. 11, 2021. Since then, both programs have changed significantly, with Texas once again being in the conversation of college football's top teams.
"Boy, I’d like to live on that (2021 game) and make it make a difference in Saturday’s game, but it certainly won’t," Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said Wednesday. "What they’ve done is they’ve recruited extremely well. They’ve gotten so much more physical and bigger on the offensive line and defensive line. Got linebackers that can run. They’re a big football team. Certainly not big and slow, they’re big and fast. They went out and got a kick returner and a punt returner. Of course, they have two of the better quarterbacks on one team I’ve ever seen.
"What (Steve Sarkisian) has done, he’s went in there and recruited extremely well, hired a staff of great coaches that are coaching extremely well and the kids play hard and they’ve got good players. I’m not for sure that they necessarily had that when he took the job. I’m not trying to demean anybody, but they’re much more talented than what they were when he took the job. That’s certainly a credit to him and his recruiting staff and his coaches."
The Longhorns rank top-40 nationally in every defensive statistical category listed. Texas is top-4 in scoring defense (4th), total defense (2nd) and pass defense (1st). On the other hand, the Razorbacks rank 79th, 90th and 124th in those respective categories.
Texas also has three former five-star recruits and 13 former four-stars listed as starters, per the team's game notes. Arkansas has 12 former four-stars listed as starters and one former five-star.
HawgBeat has also compared both teams' grades from Pro Football Focus, which is a football analytics website that provides grades for each individual player and full teams after analyzing each game for all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. Grades are given from 0-100, with the higher the grade signifying better performance.
Here's a look at how both teams stack up based on stats from this year and high school star ratings:
Season Stats - Texas | Arkansas (FBS rank out of 134 teams)
OffenseTexas || Arkansas
Scoring: 38.9 (10th) | 33.0 (34th)
Total yards: 465.2 (9th) | 483.6 (5th)
Passing: 301.1 (10th) | 292.3 (11th)
Rushing: 164.1 (61st) | 191.2 (32nd)
Third downs: 46.4% (21st) | 47.9% (13th)
Sacks allowed/game: 2.0 (70th) | 2.8 (106th)
Turnovers: 15 (t-91st) | 15 (t-91st)
Defense
Texas || Arkansas
Scoring: 12.1 (4th) | 26.3 (79th)
Total yards: 251.0 (2nd) | 387.4 (90th)
Passing: 135.3 (1st) | 266.2 (124th)
Rushing: 115.7 (28th) | 121.2 (36th)
Third downs: 30.0% (13th) | 38.3% (63rd)
Sacks/game: 2.3 (39th) | 2.1 (57th)
Turnovers forced: 20 (7th) | 12 (t-64th)
Star Comparison (using Rivals ratings)
Star Comparison - Texas vs. ArkansasNR - Not rated
| Texas | Stars | Arkansas | Stars |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB Quinn Ewers | 5 | QB Taylen Green | 2 |
| RB Quintrevion Wisner | 3 | RB Ja'Quinden Jackson | 4 |
| TE Gunnar Helm | 4 | TE Luke Hasz | 4 |
| WR Isaiah Bond | 4 | WR Andrew Armstrong | 2 |
| WR Matthew Golden | 4 | WR Tyrone Broden | 2 |
| WR DeAndre Moore Jr. | 4 | WR Isaiah Sategna | 4 |
| LT Kelvin Banks Jr. | 4 | LT Fernando Carmona Jr. | 2 |
| LG Hayden Conner | 3 | LG Patrick Kutas | 3 |
| C Jake Majors | 4 | C Addison Nichols | 4 |
| RG DJ Campbell | 5 | RG Joshua Braun | 4 |
| RT Cameron Williams | 4 | RT E'Marion Harris | 4 |
| JACK Vernon Broughton | 4 | DE Landon Jackson | 4 |
| DT Barryn Sorrell | 3 | DT Eric Gregory | 4 |
| NT Alfred Collins | 4 | DT Cam Ball | 3 |
| EDGE Trey Moore | 2 | DE Nico Davillier | 4 |
| LB Anthony Hill Jr. | 5 | LB Brad Spence | 3 |
| LB Liona Lefau | 4 | LB Xavian Sorey Jr. | 4 |
| STAR Jahdae Barron | 3 | HOG Doneiko Slaughter | 4 |
| FS Jelani McDonald | 4 | S Jayden Johnson | 3 |
| BS Michael Taaffe | NR | S TJ Metcalf | 4 |
| CB Jaylon Guilbeau | 4 | CB Jaheim Singletary | 5 |
| CB Malik Muhammad | 4 | CB Marquise Robinson | 2 |
Pro Football Focus Comparison (using season grades)
Team Grades (Texas | Arkansas)Overall: 93.3 | 86.5
Offense: 82.5 | 83.4
Passing: 73.2 | 84.7
Rushing: 84.6 | 87.3
Receiving: 77.9 | 78.9
Pass blocking: 93.0 | 66.6
Run blocking: 68.5 | 64.4
Defense: 94.2 | 75.2
Run defense: 87.7 | 91.7
Tackling: 74.7 | 71.3
Pass rush: 85.1 | 71.6
Coverage: 93.7 | 47.3
Special teams: 83.8 | 76.4
PFF Comparison - Texas vs. Arkansas
| Texas | PFF Grades (Snaps) | Arkansas | PFF Grades (Snaps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB Quinn Ewers | 66.2 (389) | QB Taylen Green | 90.2 (535) |
| RB Quintrevion Wisner | 72.1 (257) | RB Ja'Quinden Jackson | 83.9 (315) |
| TE Gunnar Helm | 63.2 (534) | TE Luke Hasz | 71.9 (315) |
| WR Isaiah Bond | 76.6 (320) | WR Andrew Armstrong | 84.9 (432) |
| WR Matthew Golden | 66.8 (457) | WR Tyrone Broden | 54.6 (451) |
| WR DeAndre Moore Jr. | 64.0 (267) | WR Isaiah Sategna | 69.4 (379) |
| LT Kelvin Banks Jr. | 82.8 (565) | LT Fernando Carmona Jr. | 68.7 (559) |
| LG Hayden Conner | 68.2 (545) | LG Patrick Kutas | 72.5 (46) |
| C Jake Majors | 71.7 (566) | C Addison Nichols | 65.5 (493) |
| RG DJ Campbell | 63.2 (435) | RG Joshua Braun | 70.6 (558) |
| RT Cameron Williams | 70.4 (563) | RT E'Marion Harris | 55.1 (571) |
| JACK Vernon Broughton | 75.5 (304) | DE Landon Jackson | 80.9 (512) |
| DT Barryn Sorrell | 71.1 (318) | DT Eric Gregory | 77.3 (433) |
| NT Alfred Collins | 86.1 (326) | DT Cam Ball | 67.6 (404) |
| EDGE Trey Moore | 70.6 (334) | DE Nico Davillier | 66.9 (351) |
| LB Anthony Hill Jr. | 86.8 (419) | LB Brad Spence | 59.8 (258) |
| LB Liona Lefau | 62.3 (236) | LB Xavian Sorey Jr. | 68.3 (511) |
| STAR Jahdae Barron | 90.1 (501) | HOG Doneiko Slaughter | 52.6 (541) |
| CB Jaylon Guilbeau | 65.5 (378) | CB Jaheim Singletary | 49.3 (387) |
| CB Malik Muhammad | 74.4 (458) | S Jayden Johnson | 67.9 (531) |
| FS Jelani McDonald | 70.1 (255) | S TJ Metcalf | 61.3 (542) |
| BS Michael Taaffe | 86.8 (405) | CB Marquise Robinson | 66.5 (496) |
