FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks didn't disappoint their first sellout crowd in four years, getting their swagger going on both sides of the ball in a retro rivalry game against Texas on Saturday.
The University of Arkansas unleashed a monster running attack to overwhelm the No. 15 Longhorns 40-21 before a crowd of 74,531 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. After backup quarterback Malik Hornsby ran 29 yards with a keeper then took a knee for the final play, a huge chunk of fans, led by the rowdy student section, rushed the playing surface, covering it from end zone to end zone in a madcap celebration that will draw a fine from the SEC office.
"Aren't the fans great?" Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman told ESPN immediately after.
Later, Pittman thanked the fans and said he hoped they woke up today feeling excited about Arkansas football.
The Razorbacks (2-0) improved to 4-2 in the series since splitting from the old Southwest Conference in 1991. Texas (1-1), which holds a 25-10 edge in games played in the state of Arkansas, got a taste of what life will be like in the SEC when the Longhorns join the conference with Oklahoma in a few years.
Jubilant fans shouted "SEC! SEC! SEC!" en masse in the north end zone near the section of 3,800 Texas fans.
An ESPN camera caught Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson celebrating in the middle of the masses showing a pair of "Horns Down" symbols.
"It was a surreal moment," Jefferson said. "It kind of felt like a dream. That was the moment you live for, knowing you beat a big rivalry team like Texas and the fans rushed the field. You want to see that on TV."
Pittman was asked what the next step was for his program after knocking off the team he considers Arkansas' biggest rival.
"The next step, I don't know," Pittman said. "I think we took a step already. That was the No. 15 team in the country and they beat the No. 23 team in the country soundly last week. I think we have taken a step, and now we have to keep climbing."
The Razorbacks climbed all over Texas' run defense in the hard-hitting affair.
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Four Arkansas tailbacks -- Trelon Smith, Dominique Johnson, Raheim Sanders and AJ Green -- scored touchdowns as the Hogs carved out 333 yards on on 47 carries en route to a 471-256 advantage in total offense.
"I think, you know, over time, they kind of wore us out," Texas Coach Steve Sarkisian said. "We couldn't sustain any drives offensively. Our defense was on the field to a point to where we kind of wore out.
"I mean 47 rush attempts. We never put any pressure on them to feel like they had to throw the ball. They were throwing the ball when they wanted to."
The Arkansas defense, playing mostly a three-man front, also dominated much of the game, throwing a first half shutout and particularly throttling the Longhorns on third downs.
Texas went 0 for 6 on third downs and trailed 16-0 at halftime. The Longhorns, who converted 10 of 15 third-down plays in their season opener, managed just 4 of 13 against the Razorbacks.
Arkansas held ace tailback Bijan Robinson to 69 rushing yards on 19 carries and forced Texas quarterback Hudson Card from the game late in the third quarter. Card completed 8 of 15 passes for 61 yards, and he was not effective as a scrambler.
Smith led the Arkansas run game with 75 yards, while Green added 67, Sanders 50 and Johnson 44 against a Texas defense that allowed just 76 rushing yards to Louisiana-Lafayette last week.
Jefferson rebounded from a shaky start in last week's opener against Rice to turn in an efficient and sometimes electric performance that included one major hiccup.
Jefferson completed 14 of 19 passes for 138 yards and added 73 rushing yards to the big Hogs' stockpile.
His lone major mistake, not seeing safety B.J. Foster closing in on a slant pass for Ketron Jackson Jr. on Arkansas' first possession of the second half, gave the Longhorns brief life.
Foster tipped, then intercepted Jefferson's pass and brought it back nine yards to the Arkansas 26. Texas cashed in the game's first turnover to score on Robinson's 1-yard touchdown to make it 16-7.
Arkansas immediately seized back the momentum, helped by Jefferson's 45-yard strike to Tyson Morris on a second-and-11 play from the Arkansas 18.
A couple of big runs by Johnson set up Smith's 1-yard plunge as Arkansas extended its lead back to 23-7.
The Arkansas defense provided the two biggest plays of the game on Texas' next two possessions, putting a dagger into any hopes of a comeback.
Arkansas defenders Grant Morgan and Eric Gregory combined to stop Robinson for a 1-yard loss on fourth and 1 from the Texas 43 after a big hit by Hayden Henry. The Razorbacks cashed that in on Cameron Little's 22-yard field goal with 2:08 left in the third quarter.
On Texas' next snap, defensive end Zach Williams swatted the ball out of Card's hand as he drew back to pass and Greg Brooks Jr. recovered the loose ball at the Longhorns' 26.
On the next snap, Sanders started right, cut back across the field and drove Foster into the end zone for a game-defining touchdown and a 33-7 Arkansas lead.
The Razorbacks got a little revenge on Sarkisian, who as Alabama's offensive coordinator, helped direct a 52-3 win at Razorback Stadium in last year's season finale en route to the Crimson Tide's College Football Playoff championship run.
The Razorbacks went with mostly three down linemen and six defensive backs for coordinator Barry Odom to combat the Longhorns' run game.
"Barry had the idea to go back to our 3-man front for the most part," Pittman said. "We felt like we could stop the run that way. We had so much respect for Robinson and still do obviously.
"But that's the way Coach thought he could win the game on defense and our team bought into that and certainly the first half, well the entire game they played outstanding."
Henry had 15 tackles from his linebacker spot, while position mates Grant Morgan had 13 and Bumper Pool, playing just the second half, added 10. Morgan left the game late in the third quarter with an apparent left leg injury.
"You could say all the way back to January we've been preparing for this moment," Henry said. "We really have. We had a great week of practice, a great game plan and coaches were pushing us. We knew what we needed to do to win this game."
Sarkisian said the Longhorns will have to be better up front, particularly with their "ability to run the football, especially when they played the style of defense that they played where they borderline dared us to run the ball and we just couldn't run it enough effectively on early downs."
The Razorbacks had a chance to build a lead much bigger than 16-0 by halftime. They had to settle for a pair of short Little field goals after driving inside the Texas 10, then got a 44-yard from the freshman with 3:00 left before halftime to cap a 53-yard drive.
Arkansas' lone touchdown in the first half came on a well-designed play from the Texas 5 that featured Jefferson under center, Treylon Burks lined up at tailback and Johnson offset right at halfback.
Jefferson took the snap and feigned a pitch to Burks right before handing to Johnson, who had just gained nine yards on a snap that was rolling in the grass. The 240-pounder ran the trap play up the middle, then broke left, barreling through a defender to cross the goal line and give Arkansas a 10-0 lead.