Quinn Ewers, Longhorns sidestep miscues in SEC victory

AUSTIN — Here are five thoughts from Texas’ 31-14 win vs. Kentucky on Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Related:Texas sets itself up for seismic reunion with Texas A&M after win vs. Kentucky

Texas is part

The No. 3 Longhorns held up their end of the bargain. Saturday’s win vs. Kentucky kept Texas atop the Southeast Conference standings ahead of next week’s highly anticipated meeting with Texas A&M.

The Longhorns (10-1, 6-1 SEC) will play the Aggies for the first time since 2011 with a shot at an outright trip to the conference championship game if they win. The Aggies (8-3, 5-2) complicated matters a tad after a roller coaster quadruple overtime loss to Auburn on Saturday night.

Texas A&M, like Texas, can clinch with an outright win next weekend. The route is just a tad convoluted: If Texas A&M beats Texas (and, even if Tennessee beats Vanderbilt and is also 6-2 in conference play), the Aggies would clinch an SEC championship game spot via tiebreaker rules.

Georgia has already clinched one of the two spots, the SEC confirmed on Saturday night, thanks to their regular season wins over Texas and Tennessee.

Horns still have some cleanup

It’s almost entirely on the offensive side of the ball, too. Texas fumbled the ball six times and lost two of them. Its offense stalled entirely in the second half and, at one point, turned the ball over via a fumble on consecutive possessions in the third quarter. The Longhorns’ next drive, early in the fourth quarter, ended in a missed Bert Auburn field goal after quarterback Quinn Ewers misfired on back-to-back screen pass attempts on second and third down.

Even on the Longhorns’ first rushing touchdown, officials had to review Jaydon Blue’s five-yard run because he lost control of the ball as he crossed the plane.

The Longhorns’ defense — which was gashed twice by big Kentucky plays made possible by busted coverage in the secondary — kept a below-league-average Kentucky offense at bay. It’s a great failsafe, sure, but the Longhorns’ offense will need to carry its weight for four quarters against the Aggies next week.

Smooth sailing behind center early

Even a first-half trip to the injury tent couldn’t disrupt Quinn Ewers’ rhythm. The redshirt junior (who was honored as part of Texas’ senior day celebration pregame) looked especially composed and picked apart Kentucky’s secondary in what might’ve been his last game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Ewers completed 17 of his 26 pass attempts in the first half for 177 yards and 2 touchdowns. He rolled out of the pocket and found a wide-open Gunnar Helm for a 3-yard touchdown in the first quarter and hit Helm with a beautiful 17-yard pass for a second score with 1:52 left in the first half.

Gunnar and Golden

Ewers leaned on two of his favorite targets to take the first-half lead vs. the Wildcats. Wide receiver Matthew Golden caught six passes for 85 yards in the first half — and made three receptions on Texas’ opening drive in the first quarter — to lead all Longhorns. Helm caught both of Ewers’ first-half touchdown passes.

Golden, a Houston native, leads all Texas receivers with eight touchdowns and caught multiple scores in back-to-back games against Arkansas and Florida. Helm led all Longhorns pass catchers in receptions (37) and receiving yards (493) prior to Saturday’s game.

Denton Ryan’s own shines

he was The Dallas Morning News‘No. 1 overall recruit for a reason. Sophomore linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. led Texas with 10 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 2 sacks.

On his first sack: Hill timed his rush perfectly and sprinted through a hole in Kentucky’s offensive line and was credited for a takedown in a first quarter that Texas held the Wildcats scoreless in. Wildcats quarterback Brock Vandagriff technically fell untouched, but Hill’s presence shook things up.

On his second sack: He sprinted around the edge and laid out Kentucky backup Cutter Bolley to bring up fourth down (and a missed field goal) in the fourth quarter.

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