As is the case with any good rivalry game, the No. 1 Texas Longhorns’ matchup with the No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday was rife with intriguing storylines. Chief among those storylines was how Longhorns star quarterback Quinn Ewers would fare after missing nearly a month with an oblique injury.
At first, it was easy to tell that Ewers missed significant time. The junior not only threw an interception on a bad overthrow to end the first drive, but the Longhorns didn’t earn a single first down for the entire first quarter.
It took some time, but Ewers eventually started to find his rhythm once the second quarter rolled around. He made some impressive throws and led the Longhorns to touchdowns on three of their next four drives, building a comfortable 21-3 lead. At that point, he essentially went on cruise control as Texas closed out a dominant 34-3 win over their arch rivals.
Ewers finished the game completing 20 of 29 passes for 199 yards, two touchdowns (one rushing) and an interception. Far from his best performance, but he did more than enough to get the job done.
“I didn’t play the way I wanted to today, but it’s 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it,” Ewers told ESPN postgame.
With the win, Ewers continues his strong performance in the Red River Rivalry. In three games against the Sooners, he’s completed 74.2 percent of his passes for 834 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions. Most importantly, Texas has outscored Oklahoma 113-37 in those games, including two blowout wins (49-0 in 2022 and 34-3 in 2024) and one narrow loss (34-30 in 2023).
It’s hard to argue that the Sooners haven’t had the advantage in this rivalry over the past 15 years, but in large part thanks to Ewers, the Longhorns have started to turn the tide in their favor over the past few seasons.
While it’s a solid return for the star quarterback, he’ll be looking for more next week when Texas hosts No. 5 Georgia in a heavyweight showdown next week.
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