I was surprised because Arkansas is not a good team and really haven't been since leaving the SWC. They are in the bottom half of the 14 team conference as well as in their 7 team division. Yeah it's definitely a rivalry anyone on the Texas side was dumb as shit for suggesting or stating otherwise. That's not an excuse for this performance though.
What specifically surprised me was the softness of both lines. I know a million people have said it but when the O line just stands around letting late hits on their QB go unpunished that is a mortal sin. Their future children should feel the wrath that Flood should mete out on them this week.
I don't think QB play was the deciding factor in the loss, not nearly. But it was a little bit surprising Card was left in as long as he was. His targets weren't helping him but he was flat out missing way too many throws.
The offensive play calling was maybe Sark's worst collegiate effort? It was predictable, and it was not working and he didn't seem to ever change it. Even changing QBs, Casey was just better at taking what the defense was giving and it was garbage time as well. Every drive seemed to be decent run play first down, stuffed run play second down, missed throw/dropped ball 3rd down. The end.
Finally the most egregious thing to me was the lack of significant adjustment at the half. At the very least I expected a dramatically different, simpler blocking scheme for the line. A 3 man front beat them all night. No excuse for that. They looked worse, execution wise, than a decent high school O line does in Texas.
I thought this was a good hire but after game 2 I am very worried we have Post-Mack 3.0 on our hands. I mean granted Strong is the literal worst hire in the entire history of the program but for all his flaws Herman never had a team get beat to fuck, and quit, like this in his 4 years. This 19 point game felt like a much bigger ass kicking from a much shittier roster. And for all the hype the staff got, they shit the bed worse than the players. Out coached across the board.