Deep Dive: Takeaways from Texas’ Season-Opening Win

Last Saturday, the Texas Longhorns opened their season with a 37-10 win over the Rice Owls. Today, our Dylan DeRaud and Devon Messinger take a deep dive into the good and the bad of the team’s first game.

Quinn Ewers:

[Devon]

Quinn had a bit of an up and down day against Rice in the season-opener, with a slow first half followed by a hot third quarter. While the O-Line play was not great, Ewers’ navigation/feel of the pocket could improve and he will need to have a better touch on the deep ball. On the positive side, Ewers’ completion percentage was around where it should be at 63% and he accounted for four touchdowns without turning over the football. 

Next weekend, Ewers must bear the majority of the offensive weight against the Crimson Tide. We will see how he will do for the first time being Texas’s offensive focal point.

[Dylan]

In the game against Rice, Quinn Ewers completed 19 of his 30 passes for a total of 260 yards and three touchdowns. He also demonstrated his mobility by making some key scrambles to extend drives and securing a touchdown on the ground.

Despite his overall strong performance, Ewers did show signs of struggling with his accuracy beyond 25 yards. There were instances where he missed deep throws to his receivers, including a notable overthrow to Adonai Mitchell due to miscommunication in the 1st quarter. Along with two underthrows to Xavier Worthy, where Worthy had to come back to the defender to make an attempt at the ball. These inconsistencies in Ewers’ deep passing game were evident as he attempted numerous deep balls that either ended up behind the defender or overshot the intended target. This was not helped either in one instance by his bad habit of throwing off his back foot, rearing its ugly head on a would-be touchdown to Adonai Mitchell in the 3rd quarter. However, he made up for it with a perfect pass to Jordan Whittington later in the drive and then scrambled into the endzone to put Texas up 37-3. 

The coaching staff incorporating more play action in the 2nd half and Ewers’ willingness to use his athleticism to extend drives showcased why Sark has confidence in him as the starting signal caller. While he may have struggled with accuracy on longer passes, Ewers’ overall performance, combined with his athleticism, played a pivotal role in Texas defeating Rice.

Running Back Room:

[Dylan]

A cloud of uncertainty shrouded the Longhorns’ backfield as they approached the Rice game. On the morning of the game, Horn Sports unveiled a depth chart, naming CJ Baxter as the starter in a shared 1A and 1B role alongside Johnathan Brooks. The initial stages of the game saw the Longhorns struggling to establish their ground game. Baxter and Brooks managed only short runs, hindered by an offensive line struggling to gain the upper hand against Rice’s defensive front.

In the second drive, a pivotal moment arrived when Quinn Ewers faked left before delivering a screen pass to Brooks, who sprinted 37 yards for a touchdown. However, Brooks couldn’t sustain this momentum, later dropping a well-placed pass near the endzone. On the following possession for Texas, they go to Baxter on first down who breaks off a 32 yard run where he follows his blockers and then showcases his speed by quickly switching to the other side of the field. In a sad twist of fate, Baxter falls hard onto his shoulder as he’s brought down on the sideline. Forcing him to be ruled out for the game. Baxter’s departure due to injury put Jaydon Blue into action, who impressively contributed with 10 carries and 55 yards, showcasing his agility and speed in the third quarter. Despite ending the game with 158 rushing yards, the unanswered questions regarding Baxter’s health and Brooks’ performance loom large as Texas heads to Tuscaloosa to face the formidable #4 ranked Alabama team, who recently dominated Middle Tennessee State with a 56-7 victory. These are not mysteries that a contending team wants to have going into a big matchup against a team that will test every position group on the field to see where the weaknesses lie.

Defensive Line Room:

[Devon]

The defensive line had themselves a fantastic game against Rice, allowing only 27 rushing yards last Saturday. Sophomore defensive end Ethan Burke was a pleasant surprise in his first collegiate start, tallying 1.5 sacks, and will be challenged next week against an uber-talented offensive line. Moreover, T’Vondre Sweat’s contagious energy on the field was evident and the senior came up with a big run stop on a Rice fourth down try. Lastly, both Alfred Collins and Byron Murphy had relatively quiet games, which is not a bad thing as they were not being gashed for big yards. And, just wanted to point out that Collins had a big swat of a JT Daniels pass that seemingly traveled 30 yards in distance from the point of impact.