Texas Bowl 2014: Game Grades, Analysis for Arkansas vs. Texas

Arkansas pounded, punished and flat-out ran over the Texas Longhorns en route to a dominant 31-7 victory in the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl.

Aside from a couple mental lapses, one could argue that Bret Bielema's team played a perfect game against the Horns. Quarterback Brandon Allen was sharp, the running backs did their thing, and the defense smothered the opposition at every level of the field.

As for Charlie Strong's team, well, the hope is that better days are coming.

Positional Unit	1st Half	2nd Half
Passing Offense	A	C
Rushing Offense	A-	A
Passing Defense	B+	A
Rushing Defense	A	A
Special Teams	D	C-
Coaching	A	A

Game Grades for the Razorbacks

Passing Offense

Allen completed only one of his last seven passes, and it didn't matter. The junior hit 11 of his first 16 for 117 yards and two touchdowns. Most of all, he made Texas think twice about completely selling out for the run, putting points up while the backs wore down the Longhorns front.

Rushing Offense

Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins took their sweet time in slowly dismantling Texas' front seven then took over in the second half. In all, these two finished with 181 yards and a touchdown on 40 carries. Even if it was a little less than what we're used to, they were as good as advertised.

Passing Defense

Texas' offensive line just had no chance. Trey Flowers, Darius Philon and Martrell Spaight lived in the backfield, getting into quarterback Tyrone Swoopes' head early. You can't complain about 57 passing yards.

Rushing Defense

The Razorbacks gave up two rushing yards. That's all you need to know.

Special Teams

This unit was the only reason Texas even stayed somewhat in the game, giving up a big return to set up Texas' only score of the night. Kicker Adam McFain was shaky in everything he was asked to do while punter Sam Irwin-Hill consistently pinned Texas in its own territory.

Coaching

Bielema and his staff pitched a perfect game, unleashing their vicious defense and trusting Allen to take the Longhorns defense off-balance. Bielema was even classy enough not to punch in one last touchdown with three minutes to play.

Positional Unit	1st Half	2nd Half
Passing Offense	D+	F
Rushing Offense	D	F
Passing Defense	D+	C
Rushing Defense	C	D
Special Teams	B	B
Coaching	D	D

Game Grades for the Longhorns

Passing Offense

Swoopes has started his last game as Texas' quarterback. He had to play well after coughing it up five times against TCU. He instead mustered only 57 passing yards and committed two more turnovers.

You feel for Swoopes because his blockers worked more like a runway for the Arkansas front seven. But one or two big plays were there, and he missed them badly. Between the body language and lack of overall improvement, it just doesn't seem like it's going to happen anymore.

Rushing Offense

Two rushing yards. That's all Texas could muster, mostly because Swoopes lost 32 yards trying to avoid sacks. Malcolm Brown and Johnathan Gray weren't much better, but few ball-carriers can make up for bad blocking against a stacked box.

Passing Defense

Allen completed 11 passes in the first half, and they were all too easy. The pass rush made him work early then wore down as the offense regressed in the second half. 

Specifically, cornerback Duke Thomas played a mostly awful game. He was burned on Allen's 36-yard touchdown and repeatedly lost his man in coverage. Without a stud recruit currently in the 2015 class, he might be Texas' top corner next season.

Rushing Defense

You have to feel sorry for Malcom Brown and Hassan Ridgeway, who battled the whole game and got pounded because of it. There was just nothing these guys could do, as the offense literally moved backwards in the second half.

Special Teams

For once, it was the special teams keeping the Horns in a game. Jacorey Warrick's 30-yard kick return took Arkansas completely by surprise, setting up the Horns' only score of the game. Michael Davidson averaged over 40 yards per punt despite punting from under his own goal post for most of the night.

Coaching

There's not much you can do when your offensive line can't block and your quarterback can't hit open receivers. The defense will inevitably get tired, taking your team to a point where it will do nothing particularly well.

Still, you can't afford to play this poorly after a month of free practice. This is a team lacking depth and pure talent, but Strong and his staff have to figure out how to prevent performances like this from ever taking place again under their watch.

They have an excuse now. It'll have run its course in nine months, though.