HOUSTON -- Not sure of the price of gold today, but Robb Smith, Arkansas' defensive coordinator has been worth more than his weight in gold this season.
It is difficult to remember a defense improving as much as the Razorbacks and not just from one season to the next, but from the first game until the last.
At the half Monday night, leading 24-7, the Hogs defense had held the Texas Longhorns to 0 or less yards on 11 of 24 plays, and when you do that your head coach can flash all the downward Hook'em Horns he wants, when he wants and where he wants.
It was a dominating half that saw the Razorbacks score offensive touchdowns on a 36-yard pass from Brandon Allen to Demetrius Wilson and a 5-yard pass from Allen to Keon Hatcher. There was an Adam McFain 32-yard field goal, and oh yeah, the defense got a touchdown when Tyrone Swoops fumbled and Taiwan Johnson, from Manvel, Texas, recovered in the end zone.
There was very little similarity to the old Hogs-Horns rivalry when Texas did most of the pushing and Arkansas was scrapping. The Horns had 29 yards of total offense after three quarters and the Hogs had more points, 31, than Texas had yards, 25, with 10:19 to play.
Monday night's 31-7 victory in the Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium not only proved the Hogs are a team on the rise, but that they are doing it in the best football conference in America.
The SEC was 2-0 over the the Big 12 on Monday, including Texas A&M's 45-37 victory over West Virginia in the Liberty Bowl. The SEC is now 3-0 and the Big 12 0-3 for this bowl season.
It was easy to see how the Aggies didn't think it would be good for their program to come here and play the Horns. But the truth is, if the Hogs had played with the same confidence they showed Monday night when they played the Aggies on Sept. 27, Arkansas would be 3-0 instead of 2-1 against Texas teams this season.
Arkansas came to the fourth-largest city in the USA instead of A&M, and it took on an old nemesis.
Starting with the news conference last Saturday it was obvious which team was happiest to be here.
Which team was taking the game as seriously as if were a College Football Playoff game.
Which team wanted to leave the season by making a statement in the state of Texas, the most fertile football recruiting area in the country.
That was the Arkansas Razorbacks, who spent a year adjusting to their new coach, Bret Bielema, who brought with him not only a plan for success, but patience, perspective and instilled discipline that was much needed and embraced before his second season.
The largest crowd to witness a bowl game in Houston, 71,115, watched the Hogs dominate both sides of the ball, not necessarily because it was more talented, but it was the one who wanted it the most and expected to win.
Monday night will never be confused with a game of the century like The Big Shootout in 1969, but it was a night when the Hogs officially turned the corner.
Charley Strong's first year at Texas was a difficult one. He had to boot nine players to establish his discipline. He was criticized and questioned, but don't expect him to put another team on the field at Texas that can be manhandled like the Longhorns were Monday night. He might have been the coach, but that was not his team.
Bielema knows that pain first hand, but he took a bunch of kids who had been let down and disappointed too many times and made them into a team. He afforded them off-field leadership and developed it on the field.
In the offseason he hired Smith, who brought in a new scheme and ideas and made them work, especially in the Texas Bowl.
Monday night it was obvious all of the coaches and players were on the same page for the first time in a long time. The Razorbacks were good on offense, great on defense and spanked Texas.
Sports on 12/30/2014