5 takeaways from Texas football’s dominant shutout win over OU
![Quinn Ewers, Texas football Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports Quinn Ewers, Texas football Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/de8c79a000de8f27f6c7326411d9b47ad544095af33ff779b51dbd8959a3d3bb.jpg)
Quinn Ewers to JT Sanders for the 24-yard TD! Ewers’ third passing TD of the first half! pic.twitter.com/WqG52xTurU
— Hook'em Headlines (@HookemHeadlines) October 8, 2022
Ja’Tavion Sanders is finally being unleashed
Between the Alabama game and the tough road loss in overtime to the Texas Tech Red Raiders a few weeks ago, the Texas faithful were clamoring to see sophomore tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders get involved more in the passing game.
Between Week 2 and Week 4, we only saw Sanders come up with a dozen targets in the passing game, good for 49 receiving yards, no drops, and no touchdown catches. Sanders wasn’t near as much of a critical part of the offensive gameplan in those three games as he should’ve been.
Yet, we can see the massive impact that Sanders can have on the passing game in the other three games so far this season. If you remove the win over the UTSA Roadrunners and the losses to Alabama and Texas Tech, you get a much different stat line on the season for Sanders.
In the wins over the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks, West Virginia Mountaineers, and now Oklahoma, Sanders came up with 16 catches for 234 receiving yards and five touchdown catches. He also now has double-digit catches for more than 150 receiving yards and four touchdown catches in the last two games alone.
Moving forward, Sanders needs to keep being an integral part of the offensive gameplan. His connection in the passing game with Ewers is just too potent and dangerous for Sark to keep under wraps for the rest of the season.