No. 17 Texas will look to keep its waning hopes alive for a return to the College Football Playoff when it hosts rival Arkansas on Saturday afternoon.
It will be the first time the teams have played in Austin with both as members of the Southeastern Conference. The Longhorns own a 57-23 edge in the all-time series between the former Southwest Conference rivals.
The Longhorns (7-3, 4-2) dropped seven spots in the latest CFP rankings and likely would need to win their final two games — against Arkansas and No. 3 Texas A&M, both at home — and have help with upsets of teams ranked above them to make a third straight trip the playoffs.
Texas’ current situation was exacerbated by a 35-10 loss at then-No. 5 Georgia on Saturday. Arch Manning threw for 251 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the setback, with Ryan Wingo had nine catches for 62 yards and a score.
Texas was sloppy in its execution, committing nine penalties to Georgia’s one and dropping a handful of passes in the open field.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Longhorns, who had worked back into the chase for the 12-team CFP after a season-opening loss at No. 1 Ohio State and a defeat at Florida to start the SEC campaign.
“Everyone wants to talk about all of the other stuff surrounding the team and the season,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday. “Our focus is on what we can control, and what we can control is our preparation and our play this Saturday.
“I feel very confident in our team and that they can (regroup and refocus). When you give them a platform to be resilient, they’ll do that. There is an understanding that there is a light at the end of the tunnel here if we can handle our business and do it the right way.”
The Razorbacks (2-8, 0-6), meanwhile, saw their losing streak extend to eight games with a 23-22 setback at LSU on Saturday. Arkansas’ Taylen Green passed for 165 yards with two interceptions and rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown.
In the five games since Bobby Petrino took over as interim coach for the fired Sam Pittman, Arkansas has not lost by more than nine points in any contest. Petrino was the Razorbacks’ coach the last time Arkansas played in Austin, in 2008. He said he wants his players to understand how important the rivalry is to the state and to the fan base.
“What stands out more to me than anything is when I was here and I used to have the fantasy camp and the guys that would come there and tell the stories about the games,” Petrino said. “And not just the wins, but the (Big Shootout in 1969) loss, and how they weren’t over it yet. You knew that it was huge when they weren’t over that loss yet.”
