FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas' immediate reaction to its 49-28 trouncing of Texas Tech on Saturday was unbridled joy.
The Razorbacks hustled to the northwest corner of Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas, to sing the fight song with their fans, then strolled off the field high-fiving Athletic Director Jeff Long on their way into a raucous locker room befitting a team that had just beaten its first Power 5 conference opponent in 14 tries.
Coach Bret Bielema spoke Monday about seeing the satisfaction in the eyes of the players and coaches on the plane ride home following the Razorbacks' 21-point victory over Texas Tech, but Bielema also threw out a cautionary flag moments later.
"By no means have we arrived," said Bielema, who is 5-10 in his second season at the Razorbacks' coach. "We're going to see some better defenses coming up here starting this weekend."
The Razorbacks celebrated the moment in West Texas because it felt like they were on the road back to respectability after going 3-9 overall in Bielema's first season, which included going 0-8 in SEC play. Arkansas has lost its past 13 SEC games.
"This is what we needed as a team," cornerback Tevin Mitchel said. "We needed this win, and our confidence level has risen."
Texas Tech was a 1 1/2-point favorite going into the game, and the victory marked Arkansas' first as an underdog under Bielema.
"This was definitely more of a statement game with a much better opponent," quarterback Brandon Allen said on Saturday. "We were able to do a lot of things we wanted to do on offense and defense, too. It was an all-around good game for us."
Bielema wants his team to understand there are still a lot of questions about the Razorbacks, and they will get their chance to answer them in the coming weeks.
Arkansas plays host Saturday to Northern Illinois -- which has won its past 17 road games -- at Reynolds Razorback Stadium. After that, the Razorbacks take on five SEC West teams, four of whom are among the top 10 this week in The Associated Press poll, as well as No. 13 Georgia, which was in the top 10 last week, No. 18 Missouri and Alabama-Birmingham.
SEC Network analyst Booger McFarland, the former LSU and NFL standout, said he believes it's too early to say the Razorbacks have turned a corner.
"They got a good win against Texas Tech, and now what do they do?" McFarland said. "They go into the meat grinder in a week or so against SEC competition, and I think then and only then will we know if they've turned the corner to being completely back.
"Have they made steps? Absolutely. But they're not going to really know they're back until they can beat SEC-level competition on a consistent basis, which last year they didn't do."
Arkansas rushed for 438 yards and averaged 6.4 yards per carry against Texas Tech, but offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said teams have to prove themselves every week.
"We won that ball game," he said. "Now it starts all over again. Do I feel like we have a measured amount of confidence? I'd say yeah, I think the kids have some confidence right now, but the rubber hits the road on Saturdays here."
Bielema has dodged the turning point question the past few days, but he admitted Saturday in Lubbock, Texas, that the team's performance was "definitely a big step."
Northern Illinois Coach Rod Carey sized up Arkansas as standard SEC fare.
"When you think of an SEC football team, you would think this [Arkansas team]," Carey said. Some of his systems have changed, but there is a big similarity in makeup and you would expect that from Bret.
"Listen, he's a super successful head coach and he has coached in a lot of football games, got his team to three Rose Bowls. So he knows what he wants his team to look like. This team, from a 10,000-foot view, looks like that."
Sports on 09/17/2014