Longhorns Notebook: Offense Stars Slow; Sweat Impresses in Rice Win
The Texas Longhorns made it five straight season-opening wins as they beat the unranked Rice Owls 37-10 at home inside Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
The blowout win to kick off the new season was despite a rather slow start from an often-talked-about offense this offseason that is expected to be one of the nation's best.
Slow Start
It took a little while before fans were able to see the expected high-powered Longhorns offense get going. The Owls managed to hold Texas to just seven points in the first quarter after getting off the field on an early fourth-down decision by Sarkisian to go for it on the first drive.
Then, after a Jonathan Brooks receiving touchdown, the Owls forced a punt. Then after taking a 16-3 lead into the half, the Longhorns offense managed to score 21 points in the second half.
Disruption
A big bright spot for the Longhorns in the season-opening win over the Owls was the play of the front seven. The Longhorns proved stout against the run and disruptive in the passing game.
In particular, T'Vondre Sweat, the senior defensive tackle, put together an impressive game as he totaled five tackles, 1.5 for a loss, to go along with 1.5 sacks and two quarterback hits. Sweat proved to be a big presence in the middle of the Longhorns' defensive front, with the fourth-and-one stop in the third quarter being a standout example.
Another highlight was the Jaylan Ford interception, where Sweat managed to put pressure on Daniels before turning the football over.
The Texas defense held the Owls to just 27 yards rushing on 25 attempts while netting two sacks and six quarterback hurries.
Missed Opportunities
A big contributing factor to the slow start offensively for the Longhorns was the missed chances that helped Rice hold Texas to a 16-3 first-half lead.
While quarterback Quinn Ewers finished the game strong, completing 19 of his 30 passes for 260 yards and three touchdowns. He did leave the field with some missed opportunities, specifically on some deep-ball throws where he either overthrew the receiver or didn't put enough air under it to prevent a breakup by the defensive back.
Although the Longhorns can walk away from the season-opener with the fact that Ewers didn't have a turnover and was decisive with the football, they will be looking for better accuracy on his deep ball next week against Alabama.