Notebook: Ewers' Precision Leads Longhorns to 38-6 Win Over Baylor
Another Saturday, another win for the Texas Longhorns as they opened Big-12 play on the road at McLane Stadium and dominated the Baylor Bears 38-6 in what could be the final matchup between these two programs for a while.
The win on Saturday marks the second straight for Texas versus the Bears and the 81st win all time. So, before the Longhorns turn the page on Baylor and begin preparing for Kansas, we empty our notebook.
Passing Game Back on Point
© Sara Diggins, Austin American-Statesman
A big talking point following the 31-10 win over Wyoming was the Longhorns passing attack, which felt out of rhythm for much of the game as quarterback Quinn Ewers completed 11 of 21 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
However, that performance only proved to be a momentary rough patch as the redshirt sophomore completed 18 of his 23 passes for 293 yards with one touchdown while adding another one with his legs on a 29-yard run.
The second-year starting quarterback set a new career-high for completion percentage in the dominant win at 78 percent; this tops his previous mark at 75 percent, which he did twice last season against Alabama and Baylor.
Dominant Defensive Line
It has been the story about the Texas defense to this point; the defensive line looked dominant again, this time on the road versus Baylor. The strong play up front starts with both experienced defensive tackles, T'Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy, as they continue to dominate the interior, being disruptive in the passing game and plugging holes in the run game.
Murphy, the junior, finished the game with four tackles, three for a loss, and two sacks, while Sweat totaled four tackles, with one being for a loss. Overall, the Longhorns finished with five sacks, four quarterback hits, and eight tackles for loss.
Special Team Woes
If anything was "ugly" about Texas's dominant performance on the road in their first Big-12 game of the season, it was the special teams mistakes made on the punt return team. Both punt returners Xavier Worthy and Jordan Whittington suffered muffed punts that were turnovers for the Longhorns and negated two Longhorn defensive stops.
Luckily for the Longhorns, Baylor only capitalized off one of those muffed punts with points, as they settled for a field goal following Worthy's fumble. At the same time, after Whittington's, Texas's defense was able to stand tall and force a turnover on downs in the red zone.