Turnovers, explosive offense carry No. 5 Texas to 49-17 win over Florida

AUSTIN (KXAN) — No. 5 Texas scored 21 points off three turnovers and had 11 plays gain 20 yards or more in a 49-17 rout of Florida on Saturday in Southeastern Conference football action at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium.

The Longhorns picked off Florida quarterback Aidan Warner twice and recovered a fumble, cashing all the takeaways in for touchdowns. Texas averaged 3.57 plays per drive on its seven scoring drives, including a 1-play drive when Quintrevion Wisner scored on a 50-yard screen pass in the second quarter.

“This was probably our most complete game as a team,” Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian said. “We’re at our best when all three phases play well together and I thought we did that.”

Texas led 35-0 at halftime and starting quarterback Quinn Ewers got to take most of the second half off. He racked up 297 passing yards in the first half with four touchdowns and came out of the game early in the third after throwing his fifth touchdown pass. Ewers finished the game 19 of 27 passing for 333 yards with no interceptions.

“Quinn was very efficient and allowed guys to create explosive plays,” Sarkisian said. “We had six different guys score touchdowns.”

Texas averaged 8.7 yards per play, 16 yards per pass completion and 6.5 yards per rush. The Longhorns were tremendous on first down, averaging almost 9 yards per play on 30 first-down plays. Jerrick Gibson rushed for 100 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown late while Jaydon Blue averaged 12 yards per carry with 60 yards on five runs.

Matthew Golden hauled in two scoring passes while Isaiah Bond and Wisner had one each. Golden had the first touchdown of the game on a 29-yard grab and then scored again on a 32-yarder in the second quarter. Bond had a 34-yard touchdown catch early in the third quarter and showcased his speed with a 44-yard run in the first quarter.

Florida couldn’t throw the ball efficiently, but they ran it well against the Longhorns defense. Ja’Kobi Jackson racked up 116 rushing yards on 19 carries with a touchdown and Jadan Baugh tallied 88 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown.

Warner, filling in for DJ Lagway who suffered a hamstring injury last week in a loss against Georgia, couldn’t find a rhythm. He completed 12 of 25 passes for 132 yards with two interceptions.

Anthony Hill Jr. had seven tackles with a forced fumble and Andrew Mukuba had six plus an interception. Ty’Anthony Smith had the other interception while Trey Moore recovered a fumble for the Longhorns. Kobe Black had six tackles and Smith notched five.

Sarkisian said he felt all week that his team had its best football ahead of them, and was poised to have a big performance against the Gators.

“I told the guys I felt we were ready to go on a real heater,” Sarkisian said, “that we were going to play our best football in November. They came out and did it. This is step one of four here this month, and we have a great challenge on the road next week.”

Texas (8-1, 4-1 SEC) travels to Fayetteville, Arkansas next week to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks in an old Southwest Conference rivalry game. Florida (4-5, 2-4) hosts No. 14 Louisiana State next week.