ESPN putting Arkansas-Texas game in prime time Sept. 11

The lights will be on in Razorback Stadium for Arkansas’ long-awaited matchup with Texas on Sept. 11 with ESPN announcing Tuesday it would be at 6 p.m.

Being on the primary ESPN channel will give the Razorbacks many more homes than any other channel and generally delivers high viewership numbers.

That is important from a recruiting standpoint as it will be Sam Pittman’s first high-profile game in his second season.

It will be the first meeting between the schools since the Texas Bowl in 2014 when a pair of 6-6 teams faced off in a bowl game that pretty much only had the fans of the Hogs interested in the outcome.

The last regular-season meeting was 2008 and Texas’ first visit to Razorback Stadium since that 2004 game when the Longhorns pulled out a late win.

Their first meeting was 1894.

Both teams will have warmup home openers the week before. Arkansas will host Rice on Sept. 4 while Texas will play the first time under new coach Steve Sarkisian against Louisiana in Texas Memorial Stadium.

The Hogs will wrap up the three-game home stand to open the season against Georgia Southern on Sept. 18. The Razorbacks will also host Auburn (Oct. 16) for Homecoming, UAPB at War Memorial Stadium (Oct. 23), Mississippi State (Nov. 6) and Missouri (Nov. 26).