Hogs Too Much For Horns

0
CK KP TXBowlChris Kidd, Financial Coach and Contributor on the Price of Business on Business Talk 1110 AM KTEK (on Bloomberg’s home in Houston) and Price of Business host, Kevin Price were media guests at the Advocare V100 Texas Bowl Monday night at NRG Stadium in Houston, TX where the Arkansas Razorbacks took on the Texas Longhorns.

The Advocare V100 Texas Bowl in Houston had the makings of a great matchup. Both teams entered the game with a 6-6 record, and were also one time rivals, so many hoped for a promising duel. With 71,115 in attendance, the largest attendance in AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl history and the most fans for a bowl game ever held in Houston, this had the makings of a great game.

Arkansas however, displayed the power and dominance of the SEC in college football. Texas only managed to get 2 first downs, running only eleven plays for a total of  seventeen yards in the first quarter, but they were still able to hold Arkansas to three points. Although the game was still close, Texas looked really sloppy. As I told my counterpart, Kevin Price (host of the Price of Business), Texas just did not look like they had it together and did not come ready to play.

The Razorbacks began to take control of the game and pull away in the second quarter. After taking a 17-0 lead, the Longhorns gave their fans a glimmer of hope as they started a drive following a 30 yard kickoff return by Jacorey Warrick. The Horns finished the drive with Tyrone Swoopes getting into the end zone on a 9 yard quarterback keeper. Arkansas answered back, marching down the field to end the half with another touchdown, leading 24-7 at halftime.

The Longhorns were able to keep the Razorbacks from scoring in the third quarter, but were unable to put any points on the board to tighten the gap, going into the fourth quarter still down 24-7. Arkansas only scored one more time, but the Horns were unable to move the ball at all, gaining only 13 yards in the entire second half.

While the game ended in a 31-7 spanking, the game was not as close as the score might reflect. When you look at the stats (below) you can how bad Arkansas really dominated Texas. There is so much talk about the SEC and how much talent the conference has, and how much better they are than most other conferences. As much as you could assume this was the case here, I am not sure that was the case here. Arkansas was dominant all night, but a great point was brought up at the post game press conference.

Longhorns head coach, Charlie Strong said, “You would have thought that we would have prepared better. It falls on the head coach, and the coaches, but at some point too, we’ve got to develop and we’ve got to get the pride back in this program. Texas has got to mean something. Right now, it doesn’t mean much. We have to play with passion. We got to play with energy. You have to have an edge to you. We don’t have that right now.” He called this game and the last game against TCU an embarrassment.

When asked about the team being unprepared after having a month to get ready for this game, coach Strong answered, “It’s a mystery to me. It should never happen. When you go out and you practice for that long, you have to go out and practice. I saw them go through the motion. You don’t act like you don’t want to be there.”

Clearly Arkansas was prepared for this game and came ready to play. It doesn’t matter whether it is in sports, or business, or just life, if you just go through the motions and don’t prepare like a champion you are not going to have good results. I still believe Arkansas was the better team, but whether they were that much better or not, if you don’t practice like a champion you won’t be a champion. Legendary coach Vince Lombardi was a stickler for doing things right, and doing them right all the time. It is this attitude that separates the victors from the victims.

Arkansas

Texas

First Downs

20

7

Rushing Yards

191

2

Passing Yards

160

57

Total Offensive Yards

351

59

Turnovers

0

2

Time of Possession

41:10

18:50

Penalties – Yards

2 – 15

5 – 34

3rd Down Conversions

9 of 17

3 of 11

4th Down Conversions

1 of 1

0 of  0

Red-Zone Scores-Chances

3 of 5

1 of 1

Points off Turnovers

7

0

Total Points

31

7