The Arkansas Razorbacks dominated from start to finish at the Texas Bowl, relying on their defense to beat the Texas Longhorns 31-7 in Houston. Here are four observations from the game:
There will not be another 7-6 team that enters this upcoming offseason with more positive momentum than the Arkansas Razorbacks, a group that broke a long-running losing streak in SEC play in a big way, finishing off the season with shutout wins against LSU and Ole Miss, a close loss to SEC East champs Missouri and a blowout win over Texas. Coach Bret Bielema turned the corner in 2014 -- now it's just a matter of how far his ground-churning team can go in arguably the toughest division in college football.
If anything, Monday night's blowout was a snapshot of two programs at two different points of a rebuild: Charlie Strong is in his first season at the helm in Austin and there's much work to be done, while Bielema took his lumps in Year 1 and started handing some out the second time around.
The endgame is the same for both programs, but that extra year of development goes a long way.
Arkansas is not due for too much turnover and it looks, at the very least, like a headache for Alabama, Auburn, LSU and the rest of the West division. Two seasons are in the books for Bielema, and expectations are exploding.
LSU and Ole Miss can vouch for Arkansas' ability to prevent points, but an underwhelwming and undermanned Texas offense found out firsthand just how difficult it can be to move the ball against defensive end Trey Flowers and the Razorback. It's an improved group that allowed the fewest points per game in November of any FBS team, and when matched up against a struggling quarterback (Tyrone Swoopes) leading the 104th-ranked scoring offense it was hardly a fair fight.
The Longhorns wrapped up a disastrous showing on offense with seven points, 59 total yards and fewer than 11 minutes of possession. They racked up a grand total of two rushing yards. There was a moment after the third quarter where, after 33 plays, Texas had put up more penalty yards than total yards. Strong was visibly frustrated throughout the game -- for obvious reasons.
Arkansas' defensive line, led by Flowers, lived in the Texas backfield, pressuring Swoopes into multiple mistakes and wreaking havoc on the Longhorns' offensive strength: running the ball. Talented backs Malcolm Brown and Johnathan Gray posted 34 rushing yards, almost all of which were negated by sacks and broken plays.
The overarching narrative of Bielema's efforts in Fayetteville revolve around the head coach bringing his devastating rushing attack with him from Wisconsin and finally getting it to work on a consistent basis, but the offense never really went away. What changed things for Arkansas during the season's second half was that its defense started playing at an elite level.
Charlie Strong has not been shy about the need to upgrade the overall talent level within his program, and the offseason question marks will rest first and foremost on the quarterback position. After former starter David Ash walked away from football due to concussions, Swoopes, a well-regarded recruit from the 2013 class, was the first to get an extended shot to win the job, starting all but the first game.
The results were not stellar.
The sophomore struggled with accuracy and turnovers during an up-and-down season, but Monday night was by far his worst showing. He missed multiple open receivers and finished with a career-worst 57 yards passing and one interception.
That type of bowl performance, coming off a season in which he did not exactly lock up the starting job moving forward, will only leave things open for a position battle starting in the spring. Expect to hear the name of soon-to-be redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard, one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the 2014 class, plenty when discussing the starting job. The Longhorns elected not to burn his redshirt this season, but he'll certainly be in the mix. Another name to keep an eye on: Incoming freshman Zach Gentry, a 6-foot-6 four-star prospect out of New Mexico that could come in and immediately challenge for the job.
Go back through the game logs of Amari Cooper, Alabama's superstar wide receiver and Heisman finalist. There are only two games when he was held under three catches and 30 yards: Western Carolina, an FCS rout in which he was hardly needed, and a nail-biter against Arkansas. He caught just two passes for 22 yards against the Razorbacks, and true freshman Henre Tolliver had something to do with that.
Tolliver looks like he is going to be a difference-maker for the Razorbacks next season and he made his presence felt on Texas's final desperation drive, picking off Swoopes for his second career interception.
Arkansas was not an interception factory this season, but as the defense improved so did the amount of turnovers. After picking off just four passes in the first seven games, Tolliver & Co. logged eight in the final six games, including the Texas Bowl win.
