4 takeaways from Texas's resolute win over Kentucky

No. 3 Texas football hosted the Kentucky Wildcats on Senior Day in the final home game of the regular season at DKR on Nov. 23. In a key SEC game for Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian with only two contests remaining for the regular season in conference play, Kentucky posed a tricky foe for the Horns this afternoon.

Stiff defense and the ground game leads No. 3 Texas football over Kentucky in the home regular season finale on Senior Day

Kentucky's physical defensive play challenged Texas's offense from the very get-go in this game in the first half. Texas had to earn the points it got from the outset of this game, including the first points of the first half coming on a fourth-down conversion pass play from quarterback Quinn Ewers to wide receiver Matthew Golden.

Despite a quick Kentucky response, the Longhorns started to build a comfortable lead in this game later into the first half. Texas's defense continued to come up big at the outset of the second half, to help the Longhorns keep a multi-score lead.

Texas did have a convincing 24-7 lead heading into the locker room at halftime. But the Longhorns weren't as buttoned up on the offensive side of the ball in the second half. Kentucky kept the game within 10 points for most of the second half, thanks to a scoop-and-score by linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson.

But the Longhorns responded when it mattered in the fourth quarter to come away with the victory and reach double-digit wins for the regular season on Senior Day.

Texas now boasts a record of 10-1 (6-1 SEC) entering the marquee game in the regular season finale on the road next weekend against the rival Texas A&M Aggies in College Station.

An interception by senior safety Andrew Mukuba was what officially put the nail in the coffin for the Longhorns, with the 31-14 victory over the Wildcats.

Here are four takeaways from Texas's willing double-digit victory over Kentucky at home on Nov. 23.

Quinn Ewers responds with a strong start vs. Kentucky

In Texas's win on the road in a rivalry game last weekend against the Arkansas Razorbacks, 20-10, Ewers missed some key opportunities for the Longhorns' offense to put the contest away early. Ewers did come through with clutch plays late to seal the victory for the Longhorns against Arkansas on Nov. 16, but he finished up with under 200 passing yards.

The response from Ewers in this game against Kentucky was much stronger in the first half than we've seen in some weeks for the junior quarterback since he returned from the oblique injury against OU in mid-October. Ewers led a few big scoring drives to establish a big 17-point halftime lead over Kentucky.

Unfortunately for Ewers on Senior Day, he suffered a lower-body injury when he was brought down awkwardly on a QB keeper in the first half. Ewers was limping around for the rest of the game, not able to fully be mobile in the pocket for the Texas offense.

Ewers wasn't nearly as effective after suffering the ankle injury in the second half against Kentucky's stingy defense. He had a detrimental play where the ball slipped out of his hands when the pocket was collapsing on him that resulted in a scoop-and-score that got Kentucky back within 10 points in the second half.

Like the Arkansas game last week, though, Ewers and the Longhorns went on a long drive to officially seal the win late in the second half to take the lead by multiple possessions. Ewers didn't need to do much after that point.

We will be following closely for any updates regarding Ewers' injury status before the Texas A&M game next week.

Texas receivers step up amid injuries at the skill positions

Junior wide receiver Isaiah Bond and sophomore DeAndre Moore Jr. were both on limited snap counts in this game against Kentucky due to lingering injuries. Bond has been dealing with an ankle injury since the second half of the Red River Rivalry game against Oklahoma in October.

Moore has also dealt with a lower-body injury (foot) over the past few weeks for the Longhorns. Despite the injuries, Moore and Bond were active for the Longhorns against Kentucky today.

Bond and Moore are two of Texas's three leading receivers in conference play this season. They've accounted for over 500 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns for the Longhorns in SEC play.

With Bond and Moore limited due to lower-body injury issues against Kentucky, junior wide receiver Matthew Golden and senior tight end Gunnar Helm stepped up big-time for Texas's offense in the receiving corps. Golden was a favorite target of Ewers to set the tone in this game through the air for the Longhorns.

Golden's hot streak, with four receiving touchdowns in the past two games and five in the last three continued at the beginning of this matchup against Kentucky. On the game's first two drives, Golden had five catches for over 50 receiving yards.

Helm had some crucial plays that helped Texas build a big lead early in this game, with a couple of first-half receiving touchdowns. The big showing for Helm in this game put him in rare company among SEC tight ends this season. He's now got over 300 receiving yards and four touchdown catches in SEC play.

Texas's depth and talent in the receiving corps and at tight end really showed up when the offense needed it through the air against a physical Kentucky defense that's solid in the secondary.

Texas's defense dominates Kentucky

Coming into this game, the Longhorns ranked No. 1 in the P4 conferences in total defense and passing defense.

Led by sophomore linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. and sophomore safety Jelani McDonald, Texas's defense came up huge again in this game against Kentucky. Throughout this game, Hill and McDonald both made game-changing plays that kept the Texas defense together through some difficult points of the contest.

In the first half, McDonald had a highlight-reel interception for the first pick of his collegiate career. Texas scored on the offensive drive after the circus catch interception by McDonald.

It didn't take long for Hill to make his mark on this game. In the first half alone, he registered over a half dozen combined tackles, four defensive stops, two quarterback pressures, two tackles for loss, and one sack.

Hill continued to make huge plays for the Texas defense in the second half. When Kentucky had the ball near Texas's goal line in the third quarter, after a fumble by junior running back Jaydon Blue, Hill had a massive third-down sack that resulted in a loss of a dozen yards by the Kentucky offense.

On the ensuing field-goal attempt, Kentucky missed a 30+ yarder that kept the Texas lead at 24-7 late in the third quarter, and avoided a swing of momentum in the Wildcats favor after the bad Longhorns turnover.

Had it not been for multiple Texas turnovers on offense in the second half, Kentucky would've probably been held to single-digits scoring in this game. But the fumble-return for six by the Kentucky defense obviously isn't any fault of the Texas defense.

Texas establishes the ground game with good push from the offensive line

To seal the victory, the Longhorns turned to the ground game with Blue and sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner in the second half. Blue and Wisner easily combined for over 200 rushing yards and over a half dozen yards per carry against a Kentucky defense that was being pushed around by Texas's offensive line down the stretch.

The only big mistep by the Texas running backs in this game was fumble issues. On back-to-back plays in the second half, the Longhorns fumbled the ball on carries by Blue and then true freshman running back Jerrick Gibson.

The biggest drive of this game was a stretch that lasted well over five minutes, to really put the score out of distance for the Longhorns against the Wildcats in the fourth quarter.

Wisner finished up with the second 100-yard rushing game of his career. It was also his first career game with over 150 rushing yards, as he really put his foot on the gas to lead the Texas ground game down the stretch in the second half.

Late in the fourth quarter, Wisner scored the touchdown on a fourth-down run play that officially salted away the victory for the Longhorns.

Blue also had some explosive run plays in this game that helped Texas really establish the tone on the ground in the second half. While his fumble was nearly very costly for the Longhorns, and also derailed momentum for the offense in the third quarter, he did have some nice runs to respond well after late in this game.

Texas finished up this game with a season-high 250 rushing yards and a rushing score that locked up the 10th win of the season for the Longhorns.

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