Texas happy with OU rout, but Georgia on its mind

DALLAS — A year after a crushing last-second loss in the Red River Rivalry, No. 1 Texas dominated No. 18 Oklahoma 34-3 on Saturday, but there wasn’t a lot of celebrating going on afterward. Other than coach Steve Sarkisian enjoying a State Fair of Texas favorite during his postgame interview.

“Got my corn dog, y’all,” Sarkisian said of the traditional fair fare as he walked into the postgame news conference and subtly tried to sneak bites during his interview after the Longhorns improved to 6-0 for the first time since 2009.

But with Texas facing Georgia next weekend, that was about the extent of the celebration, Sarkisian said, a departure from its 49-0 win over OU in 2022, its first in the series since 2018.

“Two years ago when we won the Golden Hat, you might have thought we won the Super Bowl,” Sarkisian said. “This year, it was like, ‘OK, we’ve got the Golden Hat back. All right, let’s put it in the trophy case and let’s keep grinding, let’s keep going.'”

The Longhorns got off to a slow start Saturday with more penalty yards (15) than offensive yards (13) in the first quarter. Quinn Ewers, who returned from injury to make his first start since Sept. 14, was sacked on the game’s first play, then intercepted two plays later on his first pass attempt.

Oklahoma’s only points, a 42-yard field goal from Tyler Keltner, came with 10 seconds left in the opening quarter, the first time Texas has trailed in a game this season. But the Longhorns’ defense never let Oklahoma get in a rhythm, and Texas eventually started to wear out the Sooners.

OU freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. was pressured on 17 of his 38 dropbacks (45%), going 19 of 30 for 148 yards, and the Longhorns held the Sooners under seven points for just the second time since 1998 (Texas’ 49-0 blowout in Brent Venables’ first year in 2022 was the other).

Ewers finished 20 of 29 for 199 yards and a touchdown but was 3 of 9 for 8 yards and that interception when under pressure.

“Overall, I think I need to play better, but I think we did a good job overcoming some adversity,” Ewers said, adding he was thrilled to be 2-1 against the Sooners. “The overall experience and atmosphere, it’s unbeatable, so it’s not hard to get up for this game.”

The Longhorns got a breakout game from sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner, who had his first 100-yard game with 118, including a 43-yard touchdown run in the second quarter when Texas took control. The Longhorns averaged 5.9 yards per rush, while holding Oklahoma to just 2.3 yards.

It was another disappointing offensive performance for Oklahoma. Venables already has made a change at quarterback this season, switching from Jackson Arnold to Hawkins. The Sooners have not had a quarterback top 200 passing yards in a game this season.

“Obviously, we haven’t been very good this season [on offense],” Venables said. “We have to get better everywhere. I like the leadership, I like the will of this team. The hunger … we’ve got to help them. We’ve got some guys who are inexperienced, and we’ve got to continue to help them.”

But with another big game looming for Texas next weekend, senior defensive back Jahdae Barron said he was excited about getting a win over the Sooners in his final season, then immediately moved along.

“I’m ready for Georgia,” Barron said. “Let’s talk about Georgia. … I’m ready to go watch film already.”

Senior offensive lineman Jake Majors echoed his teammates’ thoughts.

“The good teams enjoy the win more than the great teams because the great teams move on, and that’s what we want to be,” Majors said. “We want to be great, so we’re going to enjoy it for 24 hours and then we’re going to get ready for next week.”

Sarkisian said he wants to give the rivalry game at the Cotton Bowl the respect it deserves, corn dogs and all.

“This is a big game at the University of Texas,” he said. “This game matters to us and I know it matters in Oklahoma obviously. … In my opinion, this is the greatest atmosphere in college football.”

But, he said, he sees a focus on what this team can accomplish now that it has a win over the Sooners under its belt.

“We enjoyed the win, don’t get me wrong,” Sarkisian said. “The locker room was fun and all that, but it is almost like our team knows there’s more work to do.”