HOUSTON -- Arkansas would like to turn its 31-7 trampling of Texas in the Texas Bowl late Monday into a play for SEC West contention in 2015.
The Razorbacks destroyed their longstanding rival to wrap up a 7-6 season and post a 3-1 mark in their final four games of the season.
ESPN's Brian Griese, who provided analysis for Monday's broadcast, said Arkansas' resounding victory was a statement that signals the Razorbacks are ready to compete in the SEC next season. The Razorbacks were thinking along the same lines after the game.
"We're going to be a good football team, you know," Coach Bret Bielema said. "We've got a lot of people back. Arkansas is not just a good program now, it's not even close to where it's going to be and it'll be a lot of fun to get there.
Running back Jonathan Williams, who rushed for 1,190 yards, the most at Arkansas since Knile Davis ran for 1,322 yards in 2010, said he thinks big things are in store for the program in 2015 so he chose not to declare early for the NFL Draft.
"That's the No. 1 thing that made me want to come back," Williams said. "Of course I value education and things like that, but just the future that I can see with this football team, I definitely wanted to be part of that and I definitely didn't want to be gone and wish that I was still here."
Receiver Keon Hatcher, who also explored his NFL Draft status before declaring he would return, said the Razorbacks' season-ending run was fun.
"Man, it's been great to see all these guys and these seniors get to feel the victories," Hatcher said. "It's been great, and I can't wait for next season because we've got something big coming."
Defensive tackle Taiwan Johnson, who had a breakout sophomore season, sees the Razorbacks doing likewise next season.
"We made a statement, and hopefully it propels us into next year," said Johnson, whose second-quarter fumble recovery in the Texas end zone gave the Razorbacks a 17-0 lead. "We want to show the world Arkansas is making improvement and we're trying to get back to the level where we should be."
Arkansas defensive end Trey Flowers said returning for his senior season worked out like he hoped.
"I just made my decision to come back just to be able to help turn this program around," Flowers said. "So for me to come and stay my four years and help this program back on the right feet, I know Coach B is capable of doing that."
Junior quarterback Brandon Allen said the Razorbacks are definitely ready to improve their national profile in the coming season.
"We have high expectations for ourselves," he said. "We had them this year. We were in a lot of games and did a lot of things really well and just weren't able to capitalize in certain moments of certain games.
"We've played in a lot of big games. It's not going to be anything new for this team coming back. I think just with a win like we got today it's really going to propel us forward to the next season. I think it's just going to keep this train kind of rolling."
Sophomore cornerback D.J. Dean called the victory amazing.
"This is a big step for next year," he said. "We've got a young team, and next year we're going to come back even stronger."
Arkansas' improvement was evident by the tighter games it played against its counterparts in the rugged SEC West. After falling 45-21 at Auburn in the season opener, Arkansas lost by more than seven points only once.
The Arkansas victory was as encouraging for the Razorbacks' offseason as it was deflating for the Longhorns, who faced a spate of questions about their future.
Coach Charlie Strong was asked why the team looked so unprepared after a month to get ready for the Razorbacks.
"It's a mystery to me," Strong said. "It should never happen. ... You don't act like you don't want to be there."
Strong went on to say the Longhorns' 59-yard performance and 31-7 loss was "an embarrassment" to the program.
"You don't ever expect to go out and get hammered 31-7 in a bowl game when you had a month to go prepare," Strong said.
Sports on 12/31/2014