HOUSTON -- Arkansas held Texas to 59 yards of total offense in Monday night's Texas Bowl, and it could have been worse for the Longhorns.
Texas gained 34 yards on its final possession before an interception by cornerback Henre Toliver got Arkansas' defense off the field for the last time as the Razorbacks rolled to a 31-7 victory at NRG Stadium.
"We were actually mad they got some of those yards at the end," Razorbacks nose guard Taiwain Johnson said. "But, hey, it's all good."
The Longhorns' 59 yards marked the fewest allowed by an Arkansas defense since the Razorbacks held Abilene Christian to 40 yards -- 26 rushing, 14 passing -- in a 40-6 victory in 1948.
Texas gained the fewest yards by a Football Bowl Subdivision team this season according to ESPNstats.com and had its fewest yards in 53 bowl appearances. The previous low of 110 yards was in the Longhorns' 14-7 loss to the Randolph Field Ramblers in the 1944 Cotton Bowl.
The Longhorns also set a record for fewest yards by an opponent in Arkansas' 40 bowl appearances, surpassing the 168 the Razorbacks held Nebraska to in beating the Cornhuskers 10-7 in the 1965 Cotton Bowl to finish the season 11-0 and win a share of the national championship with Alabama.
"We had a whole month to prepare, and I think it showed on the field," Johnson said. "We flew around and played the defense that we know we're capable of playing."
Johnson matched the Longhorns' touchdown when he recovered a fumble in the end zone to give the Razorbacks a 17-0 lead in the second quarter
Texas tailback Johnathan Gray could not secure an awkward handoff from quarterback Tyrone Swoopes, and Arkansas defensive end Trey Flowers was in the backfield quickly to grab Gray and help Johnson get on the ball.
Johnson, a redshirt sophomore from Manvel, Texas -- 23 miles south of Houston -- said it was the first touchdown he scored in his life. He was thankful it happened with a large group of his family members and friends at the game.
"Trey made a great play on the ball and we got it loose," said Johnson, who hugged his sisters, grandmother and aunt in the NRG Stadium tunnel after his postgame interviews. "I saw it wiggling in the end zone, so I knew I had to jump on it.
"It was a pretty special moment."
Flowers capped his Arkansas career with 5 tackles, including a 19-yard sack of Swoopes and tackling Daje Johnson for a 1-yard loss on a pass play.
Flowers decided to return to Arkansas for his senior season rather than enter the NFL Draft after meeting with Coach Bret Bielema.
"I'm just glad that he's healthy and he gets to walk off the field, because I think the sky's the limit for him," Bielema said. "He's a kid that I think has just vaulted up the draft board. He was projected to be third- or fourth-rounder a year ago, and I'd be surprised if someone doesn't grab him with a No. 1 on his jersey.
"I mean, he's a special player."
Arkansas held the Longhorns to 2 rushing yards, helped by 7 tackles for losses totaling 70 yards. Texas' longest pass play went for 15 yards and its longest run play for 11 yards.
All-SEC senior linebacker Martrell Spaight tied Flowers with a team-high 5 tackles, including 2 for 5 lost yards. Linebacker Brooks Ellis had 4 tackles, forced a fumble and shared a sack with defensive end Deatrich Wise. Defensive tackle Darius Philon had a sack for a 9-yard loss.
"We controlled the line of scrimmage," Johnson said. "We made sure we made plays."
Texas had minus-17 yards on nine plays in the third quarter, with its possessions going for minus-8, minus-7 and minus-2 yards. Swoopes completed 1 of 6 passes. His screen pass to Malcolm Brown resulted in a tackle by nickel back Tevin Mitchel for a 7-yard loss even with Texas being called for a crackback block -- a penalty the Razorbacks declined.
"We just didn't match how physical they were with us," said Swoopes, who scored Texas' touchdown on a 9-yard run in the second quarter. "They had a lot of guys at the point of attack, and they just all played hard for 60 minutes."
Arkansas' defense actually had to play for just 18 minutes and 15 seconds because of how thoroughly it dominated Texas' offense.
"It's huge when your defense is playing as well as our defense," quarterback Brandon Allen said. "Holding teams to zero points to seven points is such a huge confidence boost for us on offense, and we know if we stall out our defense is going to pick us up."
Texas Coach Charlie Strong said his team has "no play-makers" on offense and couldn't block the Razorbacks, but he managed to offer some praise for Arkansas.
"They played well on defense," Strong said. "You've got to give it to them. Their team was prepared to go play."
Arkansas cornerback D.J. Dean said defensive coordinator Robb Smith listed three keys for the defense to beating Texas: Tackle well, disrupt the quarterback and receivers and have good communication.
The Razorbacks went 3 for 3.
"When everybody's reading their keys and doing their jobs, that's what happens," Dean said. "Coach Smith preached being a championship defense week in and week out, and that's how we played.
"Coach Smith turned our whole defense around. He just made the game simple: A, B, C. He gave us the instructions, and we came out and worked on it every day."
Sports on 12/31/2014