2014 Texas Bowl

Both Arkansas and Texas, led by relatively new head coaches Bret Bielema and Charlie Strong, entered with identical 6–6 records.

An additional rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter extended the Razorbacks' lead, and the game concluded with Arkansas having claimed their first victory against Texas since 2003.

The game was the 78th meeting of the Arkansas–Texas football rivalry, which had been played only occasionally since the Razorbacks left the Southwest Conference for the SEC in 1992.

7 Texas defeated Arkansas, 52–10, in what the Associated Press called an "embarrassing" loss for the Razorbacks, and the largest margin of victory in the series since 1916.

[9] Led by second-year head coach Bret Bielema, Arkansas entered 2014 looking to improve from a 3–9 campaign the previous year that included a winless record in SEC play.

[11] The Razorbacks were able to respond with three consecutive non-conference wins; they defeated Nicholls State by a wide margin of 67,[12] Texas Tech by 21 points,[13] and Northern Illinois by 38;[14] the first of these wins broke a school-record ten game losing streak dating back to September 21, 2013.

1 Mississippi State down to the wire, but an interception on the would-be game-tying drive doomed the Hogs to a seven-point loss.

8 Ole Miss at home in back-to-back weeks;[22][23] both victories were shutouts, giving Arkansas their first consecutive shutouts of SEC opponents since joining the league in 1992, and making them the first team to shut out multiple ranked teams in the same season since North Carolina Pre-Flight did so in 1942.

17 Missouri in their first contest as conference foes and, as a result, the first edition of the Battle Line Rivalry;[26][27] Arkansas led going into the fourth quarter but allowed two touchdowns and lost by seven points.

[30] Following the retirement of head coach Mack Brown at the conclusion of the Longhorns' 8–5 campaign the year prior,[31] they entered the 2014 season led by Charlie Strong, whom they had hired from Louisville during the offseason.

[32] This hire made Strong the first black head coach of a men's sport in Texas school history.

12 UCLA at AT&T Stadium in Arlington;[36] the Longhorns fell by three points after giving up what was the game-winning touchdown with three minutes remaining in the game.

[40] Texas returned home the following week and rebounded with a three-point win against Iowa State thanks to a Nick Rose game-winning field goal with three seconds remaining,[41] but suffered a shutout loss at No.

Bielema later denied that he gave the sign on purpose, with some reporting that the image could have been digitally altered using Adobe Photoshop or a similar program;[49] however, this theory was debunked by a live news broadcast of the handshake and separately by the individual that took the photo.

[50] SB Nation later reported that the gesture was probably given by accident, as Bielema was seen during the game making the sign inadvertently while moving his middle and ring fingers back and forth.

[51] Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen was later seen deliberately displaying the sign near the end of the game's fourth quarter.

[52] The Razorbacks' rushing offense, led by the duo of Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams, was expected to perform well.

The officiating crew for the game was led by referee Ron Cherry and represented the Atlantic Coast Conference.

[54] Scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. CST start, the game began at 8:06 p.m., as Nick Rose's opening kickoff was returned by Alex Collins to the Arkansas 23-yard-line.

[55] Texas received the ball to begin the third quarter, but their opening drive proved unsuccessful, as a third down sack forced a punt on 4th & 18.

Arkansas was unable to capitalize as Adam McFain missed a 32-yard field goal, which gave Texas possession back.