Ward Does Job as Texas Upsets Arkansas, 15-13

Texas was clinging to a 9-7 lead over No. 4-ranked Arkansas in the third quarter Saturday when Coach Fred Akers called time and turned to kicker Jeff Ward.

The Longhorns had fourth-and-eight at the Arkansas 38, which meant a 55-yard field-goal attempt. Ward had never kicked one longer than 52.

“I asked him if he could make it,” Akers said. “He said, ‘Yes, I was hitting them from that far before the game.’

“Do it,” Akers said.

Ward’s kick was good and, early in the fourth quarter, he kicked a school-record fifth field goal as Texas hung on for a 15-13 victory. His Arkansas counterpart, Greg Horne, missed all three of his attempts. Horne, who had made only 58% of his 50 career attempts, missed from 48, 40 and 33.

Ward, once a walk-on, said he learned a lesson when he missed three field-goal attempts in a season-opening 21-17 victory over Missouri. “I’ve never had that happen. I was totally inept. I found out I was human.”

Ward’s field goals were from 34, 33, 49, 55 and 34 yards. In his first two years at Texas, Ward made 27 of 35, and Akers once said he didn’t know of a kicker in the country he’d rather have than Ward.

Safety John Hagy preserved the victory when he intercepted Mark Calcagni’s pass at the Texas 22 with seconds remaining.

“I’m probably more hurt than I’ve ever been,” said Arkansas Coach Ken Hatfield. “We’ll have to look at the films and see what happened on the field goals before we decide to re-evaluate the situation.”

Other than Ward, the Longhorn offense consisted of the scrambling and passing of Bret Stafford and the running of tailback Edwin Simmons.

Stafford hit 10 of 14 passes for 137 yards. Simmons, who had only carried the ball 17 times for 35 yards this year, ran for 86 in 16 carries.

In the drive for Ward’s fourth field goal, Stafford got away from Carl Bradford and produced 22 yards on a pass to William Harris. That put the ball on the Texas 40 and on first down Simmons made 20. Three plays later Ward had no trouble from 55 yards.

The next time Texas got the ball, Harris caught a pass from Stafford good for 33 yards to the 12. But after Stafford was sacked on third and three, the Longhorns had to settle for their fifth field goal.

Texas, unranked after managing only 70 yards in a 14-7 loss to Oklahoma last week, is 4-1 and 2-0 in the SWC. Arkansas is 5-1, 2-1 in conference.