No. 1 Texas stays perfect with 34-3 Red River Rivalry win over No. 18 Oklahoma

DALLAS (KXAN) — No. 1 Texas kept Oklahoma’s dynamic freshman quarterback in check to claim The Golden Hat with a 34-3 win over the No. 18 Sooners in the Red River Rivalry game Saturday at the Cotton Bowl.

Oklahoma started Michael Hawkins Jr. at quarterback, the first time the Sooners have put a true freshman there to start a game in the history of the rivalry. He showed flashes of talent with his arm and legs, but the swarming Longhorns defense kept him from getting free for long. He finished the game 19-for-30 passing for 148 yards with 27 yards on 20 carries.

Texas held the Sooners to 3.4 yards per play and forced two fumbles, recovering both on consecutive drives in the second quarter. Texas outgained Oklahoma 406-237 and the Sooners were 4-for-15 on third down.

In his first game back from injury, Texas junior quarterback Quinn Ewers had some rust. He threw an interception on the Longhorns’ first drive, overthrowing an open receiver down the middle of the field. He threw mostly short passes that his receivers turned into big gains with 178 yards gained after the catch. Ewers tossed a deep ball on a 30-yard pass to tight end Gunnar Helm to set up the Longhorns’ final score and finished 20-for-29 for 199 yards with a touchdown and an interception. His scoring pass was a 7-yarder to Helm in the first quarter.

“We were a little off in the first quarter, but we played well in all three phases eventually,” Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “When one phase is a little off, we built a team to have the other phases step up. We played really good complementary football.”

Texas freshman running back Quintrevion Wisner ripped off two huge runs to rack up his yards per carry average. He finished with 118 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown, scoring on a 43-yard run late in the second quarter. He had a 36-yard run on the previous drive but fumbled near the goal line, but thankfully for the Longhorns, receiver Silas Bolden was there to recover the ball in the end zone.

Sarkisian said it was Bolden’s best week of practice of the whole season. He said it was a “pure hustle play,” and embodied the kind of effort Bolden has been putting in. Bolden also had a 61-yard punt return he nearly ran back to the end zone.

“He transferred from Oregon State where he was the go-to guy, and he’s assumed a different role for us,” Sarkisian said.

Helm had five catches for 91 yards and Ryan Wingo had two catches for 49 yards.

The game took a similar path in the beginning with Ewers throwing an interception on the first drive, but Ewers said the team has matured, as he has, and that was huge in helping the team regroup. Ewers was critical of himself for not making some of the throws he typically makes and didn’t use his injury recovery time as an excuse.

“At the end of the day, I should have made some more of the throws. I can’t tell you it’s rust because I’ve been practicing the past two weeks, so those are on me,” Ewers said.

In his first year part of the Rivalry, Ewers helped the Longhorns wallop the Sooners 49-0 two seasons ago. He’s 2-1 after presumably his last game against the Sooners, and he said with a big smile it was “fun to be part of.”

The Longhorns now lead the all-time series over the Sooners 64-51-5.

Texas (6-0, 2-0 SEC) faces No. 5 Georgia at home next week in the marquee matchup of Week 7 in college football. Oklahoma (4-2, 1-1 SEC) hosts South Carolina next week.