Texas Football: 4 takeaways from UT’s smashing of OK State for B12 title

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers and No. 7 Texas football were fired up and ready to play out of the gates against longtime head coach Mike Gundy and the No. 18 Oklahoma State Cowboys in the Big 12 Championship Game on Dec. 2. Texas jumped all over Oklahoma State in a Big 12 title game that got lopsided pretty quickly in the first half at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX.

It didn’t take long at all for the Longhorns to set the tone of this game in the first half. Texas jumped out to a 21-7 lead in the first quarter behind a perfect effort through the air from Ewers. Texas continued to put up big numbers on offense in the second quarter, as the Longhorns scored four touchdowns on their first four drives.

No. 7 Texas football explodes on offense to decimate No. 18 Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship Game

The only big mistake from the Texas offense in the first half was an interception that Ewers threw to Oklahoma State linebacker Nickolas Martin. That pick set Oklahoma State up inside Texas’s five-yard line and eventually led to a score that saw the Pokes bring the score to 28-14 in the second quarter.

It was all Longhorns from then on out, though. Texas slowed the pace a bit in the second half but was still able to close out Oklahoma State with a couple of nice scoring drives in the third and fourth quarters. The Longhorns closed out the game with a decisive 49-21 win over Oklahoma State to win the Big 12 Championship.

Texas moves to 12-1 (8-1 Big 12) this season and wins their first Big 12 title since 2009. This is also the first time since the 2009 season that the Longhorns have won double-digit games heading into bowl season.

The Longhorns are in the conversation for a spot in the College Football Playoff after making a big-time statement to the selection committee. Texas needs help from other conference championship games this weekend to ensure a spot in the four-team Playoff field.

One spot in the Playoff was likely locked up by the No. 3 Washington Huskies in a close three-point win over the No. 5 Oregon Ducks in the PAC-12 title game on Dec. 1.

Texas is now rooting for either a miracle win for the No. 17 Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Championship Game against the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines or the No. 14 Louisville Cardinals beating the No. 4 Florida State Seminoles in the ACC Championship Game.

The other conference championship game this weekend that will help determine the rest of the four-team Playoff field will be the SEC title game on Dec. 2 between the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs and No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide.

Here are four takeaways from the Longhorns’ convincing win over Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship Game on Dec. 2.

Quinn Ewers comes out scorching hot on offense

Ewers had a historic first half through the air for the Texas offense, with over 300 passing yards and four passing touchdowns. He finished the first half completing 23-of-31 passing attempts for 354 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, and one interception.

Ewers couldn’t be stopped through the air early in this game. To start this game, he completed his first 13 passing attempts for over 180 passing yards. And he was a perfect 11-of-11 in the first quarter, passing the football.

It looked like a passing clinic in the first half, with Ewers completing multiple passes to five different targets, each of which had at least 20 receiving yards. Ewers showed composure in the pocket and methodically picked apart the Oklahoma State secondary.

Ewers’ historic first half saw him tie therecord for passing touchdowns in the Big 12 Championship Game in the first two quarters alone (four). He also became the first Power Five quarterback in a conference championship game to throw for over 300 passing yards and four touchdowns in the first half.

In the second half, Ewers continued to break Big 12 title game records. He broke the record for passing yards in the Big 12 Championship Game (384) in the third quarter.

Once Texas got up by over four scores in the second half, Sark turned to the ground game to finish off the Pokes.

Ewers finished up with over 450 passing yards on 35 of 46 passing, with four passing touchdowns and one interception. This is Ewers’ first-career 400-passing yard game and the most passing yards in a single game for a Texas quarterback since Colt McCoy passed for 470 yards against UCF in 2009.