Texas has owned the matchup since Arkansas entered the SEC, winning the last two meetings by a combined 25 points. But the 2026 trip to Austin comes with a different kind of question attached to it: can a rebuilt Razorbacks team make enough explosive plays to turn the game into something uncomfortable for the Longhorns?
Arkansas spent the offseason tearing things down and starting over. The Razorbacks brought in a new general manager, head coach and coordinators, and they were one of the biggest transfer portal shoppers in the country. That kind of turnover makes the team tough to pin down right now, but it also points to the direction Ryan Silverfield wants to take it.
Silverfield arrives after six seasons at Memphis, where he won 29 games over the last three years. He brings offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey with him, and that pairing matters because the Razorbacks seem set on building around speed, chunk plays and stress on opposing defenses.
That approach showed up last season even in a rough year. Arkansas finished 2-10, but the offense still produced 32.9 points per game, good for 23rd, while the defense allowed 33.8 points per game, which ranked 129th. Against Texas, the Razorbacks were down by as many as 29 points but still kept things competitive early, trailing just 24-20 at halftime thanks to a steady stream of big plays.
Arkansas finished with 13 plays of 20 or more yards in that game, including eight in the first half. Texas had 11 such plays, with five before halftime. That kind of explosiveness has been the Razorbacks’ calling card, and the numbers back it up: according to GameOnPaper, Arkansas ranked in the 99th percentile last season in explosive play percentage, explosive run play percentage and EPA per run play.
A big part of that came from quarterback Taylen Green and running back Mike Washington Jr., both of whom were selected in the 2026 NFL Draft. Even with those departures, Arkansas added pieces that fit the same mold. Sutton Smith followed Silverfield from Memphis and joins Braylen Russell in the backfield, while former five-star wide receiver Chris Marshall came over after averaging 19.1 yards per catch last season at Boise State.
The challenge for Arkansas is that Texas has also added firepower. Cam Coleman should help stretch the field, and that could open things up for Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers on the ground. The Longhorns were not nearly as efficient creating explosive plays last season as Arkansas, but they still finished in the 66th percentile in explosive play rate, 45th percentile in explosive run rate and 37th percentile in EPA per run play.
That’s why the safest read is still that Texas should be in control when these teams meet late in the year. The Longhorns are expected to sit near the top of the SEC, while Arkansas is coming off a reset. But Texas also showed last season that it can let games drift, losing 29-21 to Florida and needing overtime to get past Mississippi State and Kentucky.
Steve Sarkisian has to clean that up if Texas wants to be the kind of team that doesn’t leave openings. And with the game coming in Week 12, defensive coordinator Will Muschamp should have a full season’s worth of Arkansas film by the time the Razorbacks arrive in Austin.
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