(Photo: USA Today)
On Saturday, the Longhorns looked to open October with a fresh start in conference play against West Virginia, following their letdown loss to Texas Tech in Lubbock last weekend. Although fans were not sure which Longhorns team they were going to see this weekend, the team came out of the gates firing and cruised to a 38-20 victory against the Mountaineers.
While Quinn Ewers’ health speculation led many to believe that the redshirt freshman quarterback would make his return this week, Hudson Card had other plans while his teammate was held out of the lineup. In fact, Card finished the night with career-highs in passing yards – with 303, and passing touchdowns – with three. Maybe more importantly, Card also stayed out of the turnover column – although he flirted with one on a deep pass to Xavier Worthy which was tipped by the Mountaineer defense before landing in the hands of Xavier Worthy in the end zone. When asked about this play, Card stated after the game that it “probably wasn’t the smartest decision” to throw the ball to Worthy, however the play proved to be illustrative of Texas’s overall performance on the night.
In addition to Card, both Xavier Worthy and Ja’Tavion Sanders had big games against the Mountaineers as both hauled in two touchdown receptions apiece. Furthermore, the highlight of the night might have been Worthy’s trick-play pass to Sanders, which went 33-yards for a touchdown and gave the Longhorns a 14-0 lead with thirty-four seconds remaining in the first quarter. While this play occurred early in Saturday’s contest, it ultimately proved to have been the defining moment in the game.
Meanwhile, on defense, the Longhorns had a stout first half in which they allowed the Mountaineers to score only seven points, which came on a JT Daniels 8-yard touchdown pass to Kaden Prather with just thirteen seconds to go before halftime. In the secondary, senior defensive back D’Shawn Jamison had a couple of well-timed pass breakups, while the linebacker core, consisting of Jaylan Ford and DeMarvion Overshown, were flying to the football all night. Eventually, in the second half, West Virginia began to move the football down the field with increased ease as quarterback JT Daniels settled down in the pocket, even though he faced a constant pass rush. However, at this point in the contest, the game was all but decided.
With the Red River game being next weekend, the Longhorns were in desperate need of some momentum in conference play and were able to walk away with a big win. Now, speaking of the Red River game, kickoff at the Cotton Bowl is set for 11 A.M. (CT) in a game which will air on ABC. The Longhorns will look to make their winning ways a trend as they square off against Oklahoma, who have dropped two games in-a-row against Kansas State and then TCU.
Game Stats:
- QB Hudson Card: 21/27, 303 passing yards, 3 TDs
- RB Bijan Robinson: 101 rushing yards, 1 TD
- WR Xavier Worthy: 7 receptions, 119 receiving yards, 2 receiving TDs, 33 passing yards, 1 passing TD
- TE Ja’Tavion Sanders: 5 receptions, 78 receiving yards, 2 TDs
- LB Jaylan Ford: 14 tackles
- DL Barryn Sorrell: 3 tackles, 1.5 sacks
