Give ‘em Hell, give ‘em Hell, make them eat sh$t!
You know it’s a big game when a school is included in your fight song (even if it’s just the unofficial lyrics).
For me, this game has always been big and the return of the rivalry is what has excited me as much as anything about joining the SEC. Perhaps that's because it's a grudge match that I inherited.
My maternal grandfather, Fred Rudolph, who I just called Pappa Daddy, was actually born in Arkansas. It’s not something we like to talk about. But growing up in DeQueen, Arkansas, Pappa Daddy said he knew he wanted to get out as soon as he could. So as soon as he graduated high school, he hightailed it to Austin to go to school at UT. He said he got there as soon as he could.
So, Texas versus Arkansas was always personal for me.
But while the Horns vs. Hogs may be a big game for us old timers, and as a card-carrying member of AARP I now consider myself one, the kids playing in this game are just learning about it.
Both coaches say they’ve been showing clips of older games to indoctrinate the players into what this game means.
The players say they’re starting to get it, even if the game film wasn’t quite up to their modern-day standards.
“It was kind of funny because you really couldn't see it,” said Arkansas linebacker Brad Spence. “But, you know, it was kind of great to see that Arkansas and Texas had been dueling out for that long. So that was some exciting to see.”
Arkansas offensive lineman Fernando Carmona, who grew up in California and Nevada, actually credits Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian with teaching him about how big this game is.
“It was probably when I first saw that press conference at the beginning of the year, when the coach for Texas talked about how Arkansas fans hate Texas more than they love themselves,” Carmona said referencing a comment Sarkisian made at the SEC Media Days this summer. “That was when I first was like, ‘wow, this is this is real.’ And so it was exciting when I first heard that, it kind of put it into perspective. Obviously we locked in on the all the other games. Now we're here, it feels real. You feel the rivalry, and I'm excited to play in it and make history.”
Listening to the press conferences with the Arkansas players and head coach Sam Pittman, it was funny that no one, not the players, coach or even the journalists asking the questions, seem to disagree with Sark’s statement. They REALLY hate Texas.
For the record, Sark was really just passing along something he heard Joe Tessitore say during the broadcast of Texas’ 2021 trip to Arkansas.
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman says the intensity from the Hogs fans surprised even him that night. And that’s why he’s showing his players the old clips. He wants them to be prepared.
“You know, that's the that's the whole thing about this game and the education part of it, because you're going to feel it now. I mean, you're going to feel it when you walk in the stadium. You're going to feel it when you drive into the stadium. It's a very passionate game,” Pittman said. “But even as much as we tried to prepare the kids and honestly, us as coaches, it was just different. It's just a different vibe, it's a different environment. There's big games, and then there's big rivalry games.”
Texas fans may not want to remember that game. The Horns travelled to Fayetteville in Sark’s first season and got embarrassed to the tune of 40-21. Texas could not stop Arkansas’ running game that day (they amassed 333 yards on 47 carries – a 7.1 yards per rush average). I also think that day broke Hudson Card as a quarterback.
There are close to a dozen current Longhorns who were at that game that day. They’ll never forget it either.
“I remember a packed house. I remember not being greeted in the nicest way,” said Texas center Jake Majors who was starting that game as a redshirt freshman. “We know what’s ahead and we’re looking forward to going on the road and playing good football.”
I’m pretty sure that 2021 game broke Hudson Card as a quarterback. He played so poorly that day that he was benched during the game in favor of Casey Thompson. Card’s performance left such a bad taste in Sark’s mouth that Card got very little playing time the rest of the season, even after Thompson suffered a broken thumb.
Majors was Hudson Card’s roommate at the time and saw firsthand what can happen when things get out of hand like they did in that game. He says he and starting left guard Hayden Connor, who was there but didn’t play, have been letting the other offensive linemen know what to expect this week.
“It's gonna be my job and Hayden’s job this week to kind of, you know, if anything gets lackadaisical, just remind them that, you know, when you get lackadaisical, that's what leads to performances like we had in 2021,” Major said. “We’ve just got to be on top of it.”
The passion from the Arkansas fan base may have surprised even the Arkansas coaches that day, but the real truth is, Arkansas won that game because they were bigger and more physical.
“I thought it was good, not only for myself, but for the staff and for our players to say, ‘Okay, that’s an SEC team,’” Sarkisian said. “We had a hill to climb to get where we wanted to get to, so it feels pretty good knowing that we’re going in there this year with what we think is a little better roster.”
Pittman thinks they’re a better roster too.
“You look at [Texas], they’re scary,” Pittman said. “They’re dangerous at wide out and running back out of the backfield, and Ewers throwing the football. He has one of the fastest releases of guys I’ve seen. I mean, he can throw a bubble screen, it’s halfway there and you haven’t even seen him throw it. He’s really, really talented.”
As much as the linemen were the focus of both what Pittman and Sarkisian had to say about their teams this week, Ewers could end up being the key to the game (although – quarterbacks nearly always are the key to winning).
Arkansas was off last week and used that downtime to re-open the competition for starting spots in the secondary after Ole Miss torched them for 562 yards passing and seven touchdowns through the air.
“If you ask me who’s going to start at safety, I would say, ‘let’s wait a couple more days,’” said Pittman on Monday. “We’ve made it that much of a battle. Same thing at the corner spot. I think you have to do that. You’ll lose your room if you don’t.”
The Hogs plan to try to use players like future NFL defensive end Landon Jackson – who spurned a Texas offer to go to LSU before transferring to Arkansas – to try and make Ewers uncomfortable in the pocket.
“You’re going to try to get to [Ewers],” Pittman said. “They’re good offensive line-wise, you’re going to have to try to send some guys to get to him because he has such a quick release. Therefore, when you do, you’re going to have to be in some type of zone 3 or man-to-man. So, we’ll have to pick and choose our times there, but we have to mix it up on him and we have to disguise [coverages] better than we have.”
The Hogs have also changed how they practice during the bye week in order to ratchet up the physicality in preparation for Texas.
“We’re attacking it, man,” said defensive tackle Eric Gregory. “We’re not really just going through the motions. I kind of feel like how it was last time, we kind of really were just going through the motions. I feel like this one man, it wasn’t none of that.
“I mean, we’re hitting almost every day. You can tell the attention to detail is there more than it was the LSU week. So that’s how I think we’re attacking it.”
Hogs fans better hope they’re able to get to Ewers because if the Texas offensive line gives him time to find his receivers then this could be a butchering.
ABOUT THAT TEXAS RANKING:
I wrote in my college football playoff projections column this week that there is a growing chorus of national pundits questioning what Texas has done to earn its lofty rankings. That drumbeat continues to grow louder with columns like this one on The Athletic popping up after this week’s rankings which had Texas as the third-ranked team in the country (which would be the #2 seed in the playoffs).
Or another Athletic writer, Stewart Mandel, questioning why a two loss Georgia team is ranked below Texas, whom they beat earlier this season.
It’s not just The Athletic raising those questions, plenty of pundits are doing so.
So far, the CFP committee has ignored those complaints, but will they be able to do so if Texas loses another game?
Georgia fell from number three to number 12 following their loss to Ole Miss. So, it’s definitely possible for one loss to wreck a season.
The Bulldogs can recapture their CFP spot if they win against Tennessee this week. Texas won’t have the luxury of another game to make back ground if it loses to A&M.
All of that to say, for anyone who bemoaned the 12-team playoff as making the regular season irrelevant … I think this year is proving those concerns to be nothing more than pure folly.
Kirk Bohls asked Coach Pittman what he thought about the criticisms that Texas didn’t deserve its ranking.
“Oh, a lot of times critics don't know what the hell they're talking about,” Pittman said dismissively. “I don't think they know much what they're talking about on this one either. This is a damn fine Texas team. I mean, you don't go beat Oklahoma by 31 and beat Mississippi State by 22 and beat Michigan by 19, beat Colorado State 52-0 and have a sorry football team. I mean, you just don't. And these guys are ranked three in the country because they deserve it."
Obviously it is in Pittman’s interest to hype Texas up as much as he can. If he is able to pull off the upset, then it makes his team look better. If he loses, then it lessens the sting a bit. But the way he said what he said makes you think, he really believes it.
AROUND THE SEC:
TENNESSEE @ GEORGIA
There is only one SEC game that truly matters this week – outside of the Texas game.
Tennessee travels to Georgia for the game of the week.
The Bulldogs are already on the outside looking in to the College Football Playoffs, but they can get right back in it with a win on Saturday. Lose and they’re done.
Tennessee, meanwhile, is one of only three teams that controls its own destiny for a seat in the SEC Championship Game. A win at Georgia would almost lock it up (if not for an end-of-season contest against Vanderbilt).
MISSOURI @ SOUTH CAROLINA
Mizzou escaped with a miracle win against the soon-to-be staying-at-home during the bowl season OU Sooners. Now they have to go on the road to take on the hottest team in football.
The Gamecocks easily handled their business against Vanderbilt and will be using Mizzou and next week’s game against Wofford (?) as tune-ups before finishing against their in-state rival, Clemson.
LSU @ FLORIDA
There was a time when this would have been primetime viewing. Now, LSU is hanging on for dear life after back-to-back losses to Texas A&M and Alabama.
Luckily for the Tigers, the Gators are down to a third-string redshirt transfer quarterback. By the way, had the Gators leaned on the run the whole game against Texas the way they did in the second half, things might not have gotten so ugly for them. Those UF running backs are legit.
WHY ARE WE EVEN PLAYING THESE GAMES?
UL MONROE @ AUBURN
MURRAY STATE @ KENTUCKY
MERCER @ ALABAMA
NEW MEXICO STATE @ TEXAS A&M (Aggie-on-Aggie crime)
It is my sincere hope that Texas never resorts to the time-honored SEC tradition of scheduling absolute cream puffs in November. I’ve always found it disgusting.
TWEETS OF INTEREST:
My feeble mind can not comprehend the numerous tiebreaker scenarios going on with the SEC Championship game. Thank goodness @CHastings is on the job and not me.
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I’m telling you … there are a LOT of pundits carping on Texas right now.
Thankfully, we have people like Chance Mock on the case.
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Thank goodness most of us won’t have to stay in College Station when Texas and Texas A&M play.
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This new Texas baseball staff is absolutely killing it on the recruiting trail.
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As much as SEC fans go on and on about college football (which I do love), it can’t hold a candle to the passion us Texans have for high school football.
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I don’t see watching football on this list. What is wrong with this society?
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It turns out, Caitlin Clark is human after all.
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Texas BBQ is second to none. Even the French know fine dining when they see it.
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I don’t understand? Why didn’t the necromancer spell work?
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