FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks allowed six sacks on quarterback Taylen Green on Saturday during a 20-10 loss to No. 3 Texas, giving opponents 14 sacks in the last two games and 31 on the season.
The sacks totaled 48 yards in losses, the most given up by the Razorbacks, exceeding the 41 lost on 8 sacks by then-No. 19 Ole Miss during the Rebels’ 63-31 win two weeks ago.
Coach Sam Pittman said the responsibility for the sacks could be dished out to almost every position group.
“Those six were a collective six,” he said. “I don’t think the running backs gave up any, but it’s on the O-line, Taylen and the wide receivers. And we’ll go to work on it.”
Green held the ball a little long in the pocket on some passing plays, an issue he said offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino has harped on and that he’ll need to address personally.
“I’m glad … that we can watch film on the sidelines,” Green said. “We’re talking about it. I’ll talk about what I’m thinking.
“That’s one thing in my game that I have to be better at. I can’t always use my legs. Being the SEC, everybody’s fast. And so maybe the best play is either check it down or sometimes Coach Petrino says the best players just throw it away. That’s what I have to do a better job at in improving my game.”
Pittman said the Razorbacks should be able to cut down on coverage sacks.
“I mean, on the headsets when Taylen would come off, Bobby would be saying, ‘You’ve got to throw the football. You’ve got to throw the football. Got to throw the football,’ ” Pittman said. “But not all of them.
“Any time you step up as a tackle and you’ve got a guy around the corner … and the guy comes back underneath on you and you still have that kind of time, you’ve got problems. Now, there’s a lot of reasons he’s not throwing it. And part of it was we didn’t get open.”
The Hogs’ 31 sacks allowed is the 14th-most in the SEC and tied for 118th in the country with Wake Forest. Only Mississippi State with 33 and Oklahoma with 41 have allowed more sacks among SEC teams.
Secondary view
The Razorbacks changed up their starters in the defensive backfield and the improvement was noticeable, even though the previous starters earned playing time.
Texas managed 176 passing yards and 315 total yards after Ole Miss bombarded Arkansas for 562 passing yards and 694 yards two weeks before.
Hudson Clark and Kee’yon Stewart started at cornerback while Doneiko Slaughter was the nickel back and Jayden Johnson, Miguel Mitchell and Larry Worth started in a three-safety look.
“We got beat on a double-move early,” Pittman said. “Other than that, I just didn’t feel like we cut people loose. There were a couple of seam routes by the tight ends that hurt us on third down, but I thought the changes we made … helped us have a better week.”
Said the senior Clark, “Everybody that’s played so far this season played today, so I was pleased with how we played. I think this week we had an emphasis on running to the ball and effort and giving those guys that deserve to play a right and a chance to start.”
Robber Barron
Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron made as big an impact on the game as any player. The 5-11 senior from Austin, Texas, set up the Longhorns’ first touchdown drive with an interception, and he notched 7 tackles, 6 solo stops, 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss, 1 pass breakup and 1 hurry.
Barron came off his man when he saw Taylen Green passing down a seam for Tyrone Broden on a second-and-1 pass on the Hogs’ second possession. When the ball glanced off the leaping Broden’s hands it caromed right to Barron, who cradled it as he hit the grass. It was Barron’s fourth interception of the season, which tied him with South Carolina’s Nick Emmanwori and Jason Kilgore for the SEC lead.
Barron had a 6-yard sack on Taylen Green on the final play of the first half after Arkansas took over at its own 38 with 19 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Blanked half
Arkansas did not score in the first half for the first time since Nov. 24, 2023, in a 48-14 home loss to Missouri.
The Razorbacks had not failed to score in the first half of a game with Bobby Petrino on staff since a 35-7 loss at Alabama on Sept. 26, 2009, during his four-year stint as Arkansas’ head coach from 2008-11.
Positive Green
Pittman and Green had uplifting remarks regarding the late lost fumble by freshman CJ Brown when Arkansas was on the move inside the Texas 35 trailing 20-10.
Green said he just encouraged the Bentonville High School product.
“He has a bright future ahead,” Green said. “He’s a true freshman being thrown out there and we all make mistakes. It’s just how you respond to it. Try not to keep your head down. There’s brighter days ahead.”
The fumble came on a tunnel screen with Brown just starting to get cranked up on a catch from the Longhorns’ 39. Texas safety Michael Taaffe recovered the loose ball at the 27 for the team’s second takeaway. The Longhorns were able to bleed out the final 6:55 with the most time-consuming drive of the game.
“We believe in CJ,” Pittman said. “If they’re out there, we believe in them. … It’s just unfortunate it happened.”
Pittman pointed out Hudson Clark stripped a ball from Texas before it angled out of bounds, unlike Brown’s fumble.
“Unfortunately the ball went to the hash and stayed inbounds, where their ball went out of bounds,” he said.
Bale bomb
Arkansas punter Devin Bale logged his third tackle of the season, a solo stop that included a solid hit and a slam to the grass on Silas Bolden in the second quarter.
Bolden was returning Bale’s 44-yard punt and returned it 12 yards before Bale made the textbook tackle.
