Quinn Ewers Awes in Return as Texas Dismantles Floundering Oklahoma

Plus, Hendon Hooker continued his Heisman campaign with a nice day in Death Valley.

Quinn Ewers is back. And perhaps Texas is too.

Ewers returned from injury on Saturday to help lead the Longhorns to an unprecedented beatdown of Oklahoma, 49–0—the worst Red River thrashing in the series history. It leads us all to wonder: What if Ewers hadn’t gotten hurt in the first quarter of UT’s 20–19 loss to Alabama in Week 2?

The Longhorns (4–2) struggled offensively against the Crimson Tide the rest of that game and then lost at Texas Tech two weeks later. Ewers had a gem of a return: He completed 21 of 31 attempts for 289 yards and four touchdowns, throwing one pick.

Ewers played for the first time since getting injured in Week 2.

LM Otero/AP

Oklahoma fans began filing out of the Cotton Bowl in the third quarter, soon after Ewers’ fourth touchdown pass made it 42–0. The Sooners (3–3) have real problems. They’ve lost three straight for the first time in 24 years, and the last two haven’t been close. Brent Venables’s defense has allowed 145 points and 1,762 yards during the three-game slide. Will OU’s 23-year streak of winning seasons come to an end?

Meanwhile, in the noon window, QB Hendon Hooker continued to put up Heisman-type numbers in Tennessee’s romping win at LSU, 40–13. Things went downhill for the Tigers (4–2) from the very start when Tennessee recovered a muffed opening kickoff. Hooker passed for 239 yards and two scores to help thunder the 5–0 Volunteers into next weekend’s showdown with Alabama.

And what are we to make of Michigan’s struggle at Indiana? The Wolverines didn’t look like a College Football Playoff contender, but they managed to pull out the win, 31–10, with a solid second-half effort. It was tied at 10 midway through the third quarter. In a Big 12 battle of top-25 unbeatens, TCU survived Kansas in a back-and-forth thriller despite the Jayhawks’ rally behind backup quarterback Jason Bean.

Around the SEC, QB Will Rogers and Mississippi State smoked an Arkansas team without QB KJ Jefferson and Florida survived a trip to Columbia, Mo., despite amassing just 297 yards of offense. In the ACC, coach Scott Satterfield cooled the flames as Louisville punched out Virginia. And a missed extra-point cost Maryland in a 31–29 loss to Purdue (or was it the refs?).