2014 Texas Bowl

The 2014 Texas Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 29, 2014, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. It was one of the 2014–15 bowl games that concluded the 2014 FBS football season. The ninth edition of the Texas Bowl, it featured the Arkansas Razorbacks of the Southeastern Conference and the Texas Longhorns of the Big 12 Conference. The game began at 8:00 p.m. CST (UTC−06:00) and aired on ESPN. Sponsored by dietary supplement company AdvoCare, it was officially known as the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl. Arkansas defeated Texas, 31–7.

Both Arkansas and Texas, led by relatively new head coaches Bret Bielema and Charlie Strong, entered with identical 6–6 records. Arkansas made their 40th overall bowl game appearance while Texas made their 53rd, though both teams made their first appearance in the Texas Bowl. The Razorbacks were favored to win the game by six points, with their rushing duo of Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins seen as a strong point and a contrast to Texas' passing game, which was seen as a weak point for the Longhorns due to the injury of quarterback David Ash earlier in the season.

After a slow first quarter that saw only an Adam McFain field goal, Arkansas' offense found their stride in the second quarter. The Razorbacks scored three times and built a 24–7 lead by halftime behind a pair of passing touchdowns from quarterback Brandon Allen, while a rushing touchdown by Texas quarterback Tyrone Swoopes late in the half proved to be the Longhorns' only points of the contest. The third and fourth quarters passed with little scoring. 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. Texas entered the game leading the series 56–21. The teams' last meeting came on September 27, 2008, when No. 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. This game was the 40th all-time bowl appearance for Arkansas and the 53rd all-time appearance for Texas, though it was the first Texas Bowl appearance for both schools. Additionally, it was the second postseason meeting between the teams, after No. 24 Arkansas upset No. 14 Texas by three touchdowns in the 2000 Cotton Bowl Classic.

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. The Razorbacks began their season with a road contest at No. 6 Auburn, where they were tied at halftime but did not score in the second half, and ended up losing by 24 points. The Razorbacks were able to respond with three consecutive non-conference wins; they defeated Nicholls State by a wide margin of 67, Texas Tech by 21 points, and Northern Illinois by 38; the first of these wins broke a school-record ten game losing streak dating back to September 21, 2013. Two close losses followed, as the Hogs fell to No. 6 Texas A&M by a touchdown in overtime the following week, and, following a bye week, were defeated by one point at home by No. 7 Alabama. A third straight matchup against a ranked opponent followed, as the Razorbacks fell to No. 10 Georgia in Little Rock. Now 3–4, the Razorbacks returned to .500 with a defeat of UAB on homecoming; this would be UAB's last season before the shutdown of their football program, which did not resume until the 2017 season. The following weekend, Arkansas took No. 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. Following another bye week, Arkansas defeated No. 15 LSU and No. 8 Ole Miss at home in back-to-back weeks; 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. Arkansas finished the regular season with a matchup against No. 17 Missouri in their first contest as conference foes and, as a result, the first edition of the Battle Line Rivalry; Arkansas led going into the fourth quarter but allowed two touchdowns and lost by seven points.

Arkansas finished the regular season with a 6–6 overall record and a 2–6 mark in conference play. They accepted their bid to the Texas Bowl on December 7, 2014.

Following the retirement of head coach Mack Brown at the conclusion of the Longhorns' 8–5 campaign the year prior, they entered the 2014 season led by Charlie Strong, whom they had hired from Louisville during the offseason. This hire made Strong the first black head coach of a men's sport in Texas school history. The Longhorns began the Strong era with a victory, playing North Texas to a 31-point win. They suffered their first setback the following week as they were defeated soundly by BYU in what SB Nation called "a drubbing". Their first game away from home was next on the schedule, as they faced No. 12 UCLA at AT&T Stadium in Arlington; the Longhorns fell by three points after giving up what was the game-winning touchdown with three minutes remaining in the game. Following a bye week, Texas evened their record with a shutout of Kansas in their first true road game. Entering October, Texas faced top-15 ranked teams in two consecutive games, both of which they would lose: they hosted No. 7 Baylor, losing by three touchdowns, and travelled to Dallas to face No. 11 Oklahoma, losing by five points. 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, but suffered a shutout loss at No. 11 Kansas State in their next contest. Going into November, the Longhorns had a record of 3–5, but they reversed their fortunes by winning three consecutive games. They defeated Texas Tech convincingly before returning to Austin, where they defeated No. 24 West Virginia. They achieved bowl eligibility with their next win, a road victory against Oklahoma State. After another bye week, they fell to No. 5 TCU, which was their regular season finale and the Longhorns' homecoming game.

Texas finished their regular season with a record of 6–6 and a 5–4 mark in conference. They accepted their bowl bid on December 7, 2014.