Texas stays on track for SEC title game with defensive effort at Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Defense has not won any kind of championship for No. 3 Texas this season, but it lifted the Longhorns one step closer to the SEC title game during a hard-fought 20-10 win over Arkansas.

And a Texas offense that struggled against a maligned Razorbacks defense needed all the help it could get.

An Arkansas offense that entered the game ranked second in the SEC with 483.2 yards per game didn’t score until 3:39 left in the third quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by Ja’Quindon Jackson. That run cut the Texas lead to 13-7 and finally awoke Razorbacks fans, who had slumbered their way through most of a game that kicked off at 11 a.m.

The fans were fully awake after the home defense forced a three-and-out following Jackson’s touchdown and trimmed the lead to 13-10 on a 44-yard field goal from Matthew Shipley.

But Texas responded with its best drive of the game to push the lead back to double digits. The Longhorns marched 75 yards in eight plays, with scoring machine Matthew Golden snagging a 1-yard dart from quarterback Quinn Ewers in the corner of the end zone. Golden’s second touchdown catch of the game gave him a team-high eight touchdown receptions for the season.

Texas led by cornerback Jahdae Barron (seven tackles, two tackles for a loss, one sack, one interception) held Arkansas to 231 yards of offense and forced two turnovers. The Longhorns managed just 315 yards, but they’ll enter next week’s home game against Kentucky in, at worst, a tie for first place in the SEC.

Texas, Tennessee and Texas A&M entered Saturday as the only one-loss teams in conference play, and the Longhorns control their own destiny since the Aggies are still on their schedule. Texas was also seeded second and ranked third in the newest College Football Playoff projections this week.

Both Tennessee and Texas A&M play Saturday night against Georgia and New Mexico State, respectively.