Quinn Ewers, Longhorns Shake Off Rust in Blowout vs. Rice

The Texas Longhorns and Quinn Ewers started slow but blew out Rice in Week 1

With all of the buzz and hype surrounding the Texas Longhorns heading into the 2023 season, the No. 11 ranked team in the country came out flat on offense against Rice Owls on Saturday. 

Fortunately, things got back on track, with the Longhorns taking home a --- victory over the Owls.

The preseason Big 12 favorites didn't score on their first drive, and after a touchdown on their second, they were held to just three field goals the rest of the first half. Quinn Ewers missed a few throws and the offensive line was not blocking nearly as well as they should have, yet they still went into the half up 16-3. On the defensive side of the ball, the Longhorns got a pair of interceptions from Jaylan Ford and Austin Jordan adding to a phenomenal performance by the defensive unit. 

However, the offense was nowhere near matching their level of play. 

When the Longhorns came out of the locker room following what was likely a fiery speech by Steve Sarkisian, they looked like a completely different team. 

To match the efforts of their stout defense in the second half, the Longhorn offense scored on their first three drives of the second half while the defense gave up nothing. Ewers began hitting open receivers outside of a couple of misses on deep balls which still appears to be an issue, and the offensive line was giving the star quarterback some time to block.

Ewers finished his day completing 19-of-30 passes, throwing for 260 yards and three touchdowns through the air while adding a rushing touchdown to his day. 

By the end of the third quarter, Texas was up 37-3, and we finally got our answer to who was the backup to Ewers as redshirt freshman Maalik Murphy entered the game. 

Texas needs to come out much sharper next week when they take on Alabama, but this game against Rice was exactly what we expected. A tune-up game that resulted in a blowout victory.