Longhorns expecting best effort from Hogs
Posted on Tuesday, September 9, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE — While Arkansas had to stage fourth-quarter rallies to overcome Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe, Texas beat Florida Atlantic and Texas-El Paso by a combined 94-23.
So it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise the No. 8 Longhorns have opened as a 23-point favorite over the Razorbacks for Saturday’s game at Austin, Texas.
But the Longhorns vow they’re not overconfident.
“Arkansas is still Arkansas to me,” Texas senior defensive end Brian Orakpo said. “Anybody coming into our environment to play Texas is going to play hard and play with a lot of enthusiasm.”
Orakpo said it doesn’t matter to the Longhorns how Arkansas had to win its first two games, that he knows the Razorbacks will have a different attitude for Saturday’s matchup.
“We’re going to have to be ready for that,” Orakpo said.
Mack Brown is 103-25 at Texas, but is 1-2 against Arkansas, including a 27-6 loss in the Jan. 1, 2000, Cotton Bowl, a 38-28 loss at Austin in 2003 and a 22-20 victory at Fayetteville in 2004.
“We think Arkansas has had two really good experiences, because with a new coach and some new players, they’ve been put in the most difficult positions — with games they’re supposed to win — and at the end of the game they’ve come back and found ways to win,” Brown said of the Razorbacks’ shaky 2-0 start. “Finding ways to win is what it’s all about.
“ So obviously this team is pulling together and gaining more confidence. It will be a great matchup Saturday.”
Texas junior quarterback Colt McCoy, who in the first two games has completed 75. 9 percent of his passes for seven touchdowns, said the Texas-El Paso team the Longhorns faced Saturday night bore little resemblance to the Miners who opened the season with a 42-17 loss at Buffalo.
“It was a totally different team. They played lights out,” McCoy said. “We expect that from Arkansas.
“ I think they’re young and talented.... It’s a huge game and a big rivalry.”
Texas senior defensive tackle Roy Miller went so far as to call Arkansas “a great team” and said he’s surprised the Razorbacks’ two victories were by a narrow margin.
“Nobody is taking them lightly,” Miller said. “We expect them to come here and give us their best game.”
While Texas has won its first two games by an average of 35. 1 points, the Longhorns said they know they’ve got a lot improvement to make.
Texas-El Paso averaged 4. 7 rushing yards with 31 attempts for 145 yards in the 42-13 loss to Texas. The Longhorns have sacked the opposing quarterback just two times and gotten three takeaways, and Texas has been penalized 16 times for 155 yards.
“We think we’ve been OK,” Brown said. “We’ve made some good plays, we’ve gotten a lot of things accomplished that we need, but we haven’t played near our best game together.
“ We see enough things that give us a chance if we’ll keep improving, but we have not been consistently good.”
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