No. 17 Texas will look to keep its waning hopes alive for a return to the College Football Playoff when it hosts rival Arkansas on Saturday afternoon.It will be the first time the teams have played in Austin with both as members of the Southeastern Conference. The Longhorns own a 57-23 edge in the all-time series between the former Southwest Conference rivals.The Longhorns (7-3, 4-2) dropped seven spots in the latest CFP rankings and likely would need to win their final two games — against Arkansas and No. 3 Texas A&M, both at home — and have help with upsets of teams ranked above them to make a third straight trip the playoffs.Texas’ current situation was exacerbated by a 35-10 loss at then-No. 5 Georgia on Saturday. Arch Manning threw for 251 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the setback, with Ryan Wingo had nine catches for 62 yards and a score.Texas was sloppy in its execution, committing nine penalties to Georgia’s one and dropping a handful of passes in the open field.The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Longhorns, who had worked back into the chase for the 12-team CFP after a season-opening loss at No. 1 Ohio State and a defeat at Florida to start the SEC campaign.”Everyone wants to talk about all of the other stuff surrounding the team and the season,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday. “Our focus is on what we can control, and what we can control is our preparation and our play this Saturday.
