This is the 22nd in a series profiling newcomers on the 2016 Arkansas football team.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Offensive lineman Jake Raulerson transferred from Texas to Arkansas this summer, but he doesn't hate the Longhorns.

Quite the opposite.

Raulerson brought his Texas helmet and jersey -- the burnt orange one he wore against the Razorbacks in the Texas Bowl two years ago -- along with his letterman's jacket and a Longhorns flag to his new home in Fayetteville.

"There's no reason for me to be ashamed of where I came from," Raulerson said. "I learned a lot of great lessons at Texas and met a lot of great people.

"People think, 'Oh, you don't like Texas anymore.' No, it's my alma mater. I'll always love Texas.

"It's weird to say as an Arkansas Razorback now, but I will always be a Longhorn."

Raulerson, a redshirt junior, has two years of eligibility remaining and can play at Arkansas this season as a graduate transfer. He earned his bachelor's degree in finance at Texas in three years.

In fall camp Raulerson, 6-4 and 304 pounds, has worked at right guard and center, including some first-team reps.

"I think Jake's very versatile," offensive line coach Kurt Anderson said. "He's got great length and very good feet. He's a communicator and he works hard at perfecting his craft and putting his nose in the playbook.

"There isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't stop by my office to ask a question or two, which usually ends up being a 30-minute conversation. But by the time he leaves, he's got something new he can implement into how we do things here at Arkansas."

Anderson said Raulerson has fit in quickly with his new team.

"I think he's embracing the culture that Coach [Bret] Bielema has set within this program at Arkansas," Anderson said. "He's assimilated great with the culture that I create in the offensive line room.

"The rest of the linemen have accepted him with open arms because of his work ethic, the way he approaches going about the task at hand on a daily basis."

Raulerson played in 12 games as a redshirt freshman in 2014 with four starts at center and a start at right tackle in the Texas Bowl when the Razorbacks beat the Longhorns 31-7.

Last season Raulerson played in 11 games as a reserve center. He was expected to compete for a starting job this season -- with the loss of center Taylor Doyle -- before deciding to transfer.

Raulerson went to Texas in 2013 to play for Mack Brown, who left after that season and was replaced by Charlie Strong, a Batesville native who played at the University of Central Arkansas.

"Coach Brown is a much different coach than Coach Strong, and there's nothing wrong with how Coach Strong coaches his team," Raulerson said. "I think that they're going to have a great year.

"Coach Strong isn't the reason why I left. There were many reasons why I left.

"To me, it's what I felt was best, so I decided to make a change."

Raulerson planned to transfer to UCLA, but he was denied admission to the master's in economics program. He was accepted into master's in business programs at Arkansas and SMU and announced June 16 he'd be playing for the Razorbacks.

"I'm where I need to be at Arkansas," Raulerson said. "It's not about UCLA or wherever else I was looking. I'm here now, and I'm ready to get to work."

Razorbacks senior offensive tackle Dan Skipper said he's been impressed with Raulerson's attitude.

"He worked really hard this summer to pick up the offense," said Skipper, who is Raulerson's roommate. "He understands what it takes to play, the maturity and the speed of the game. That's something that's invaluable."

Skipper said Raulerson has focused on listening and observing when around his new teammates rather than doing much talking.

"He understands he's coming in as a new guy trying to fight for playing time immediately, so he's taken a pretty reserved role right now," Skipper said. "He's trying to keep his mouth shut and do what he's told to do, and he's done a really good job with that."

Anderson, who came to Arkansas in February after being an assistant with the Buffalo Bills, said a fresh start should benefit Raulerson.

"Like I told these guys when I first got here, sometimes change is a good thing," Anderson said. "Changing universities for Jake, gaining a new outlook, sometimes that can put some gas in the tank.

"I think he's got a lot of football to be played ahead of him. I expect great things from him."

Raulerson said he heard from some Texas fans after tweeting he was transferring to Arkansas.

"I got a little bit of flak on Twitter -- 'How could you do this to us?' " he said. "But at the end of the day, I've got to do what's best for me, regardless of rivalry."

Arkansas and Texas were longtime rivals in the Southwest Conference before the Razorbacks moved to the SEC in 1992. They have played four times since then and aren't scheduled to meet again until 2021.

"We're not in a rivalry particularly at the moment," Raulerson said. "I wouldn't have gone somewhere like Oklahoma. To me, Texas' big rival is Oklahoma, not Arkansas."

The last time the Razorbacks and Longhorns played, Raulerson was moved from backup center to starting right tackle for the Texas Bowl a week before the game. He said he remembered going against defensive ends Trey Flowers, now with the New England Patriots, and JaMichael Winston, an Arkansas senior this season.

"It was a bit of a shock to me going against guys like that, because I'd never played the right tackle position before that game," Raulerson said. "Being a 270-pound redshirt freshman is a lot different than what I'm used to now.

"I'm much bigger than I used to be, so hopefully I'll fare better than I did in that game."

Raulerson, a four-star recruit from Celina, Texas, visited Arkansas as a high school junior in 2011. He said Bobby Petrino's firing as Arkansas' coach after that season had no impact on his decision to sign with Texas.

"I actually really liked Arkansas when I visited," he said. "It's more a thing that I'm from Texas and Texas guys usually go to Texas.

"It's not like there's anything wrong with Arkansas. I may not have come here first, but then I got here as quickly as I could."

Sports on 08/10/2016