By: Camryn Johnson
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — On a Saturday night in front of the ninth largest single-game crowd at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, the Razorbacks made a statement in their victory over the Texas Longhorns.
74,531 fans watched on as the Hogs steamrolled the fifteenth-ranked Horns by a score of 40-21.
Being an epic rivalry in the days of the South West Conference, Saturday’s matchup between the two was already of large significance. However, when the Longhorns announced their departure from the Big Twelve Conference for the Southeast Conference just two months ago, the game evolved into a preview of what may come in a new era of college football.
Despite a slow first quarter offensively, the Hogs dominated on the ground rushing for 333 yards. With the help of a strong defensive performance, the Hogs led the Horns 16-0 at halftime.
After receiving criticism for his performance against Rice last week, first-year quarterback KJ Jefferson stood out going 14 of 19 for 138 yards and 78 yards in 10 carries.
Joining Jefferson in the ground game were running backs Trelon Smith and Dominique Johnson, alongside freshmen AJ Green and Reheim Sanders, who both earned their first career touchdowns.
The defense stood out on the other side of the ball as well. In holding star running back Bijan Robinson and the rest of the Longhorn offense to 256 total yards, the Hogs forced Texas to punt on 6 of their first 7 drives. The 7th drive resulted in a missed field goal.
By the end of the night, the Hogs sent the Longhorns back to Austin with their first loss of the season as well as a parting note that seemed to say one thing – welcome to the SEC.
With this win, the Hogs have found themselves ranked for the first time since 2016. Entering week 3 at No. 20, the Hogs look to improve to a 3-0 start when they face off against Georgia Southern this coming Saturday at 3 P.M.