Texas QB Quinn Ewers shakes off rust, leads Longhorns to 34-3 win over Oklahoma in Red River rout

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian was excited about quarterback Quinn Ewers’ return after missing two games with a strained abdominal injury. You could hear it in his voice during pre-game before facing Oklahoma.

“I really feel like every single day, from the day he’s gotten injured, he’s gotten better every single day,” Sarkisian said before kickoff. “I’m excited for him.”

The coach didn’t expect a slow start, but the offense struggled as Ewers looked rusty early. But Ewers found his footing, and the top-ranked Longhorns ripped off 34 unanswered points to dominate the 18th-ranked Sooners 34-3 at the Cotton Bowl.

How much of it helped that Oklahoma came in ranked 78th in pass defense? The Texas defense gave the offense some favorable field position. Still, Ewers was all smiles with ESPN’s Holly Rowe while wearing the Golden Hat trophy, presented annually to the Texas-OU winner.

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The Longhorns are now 6-0 for the first time since 2009 and are still the only unbeaten team left standing in the SEC.

Related: Red River Showdown on deck, but ESPN already planning on Georgia-Texas game for ‘College GameDay’

“I feel good,” Ewers said immediately afterward. “I didn’t really have any issue with it. I’m just glad to have the Golden Hat back. Couldn’t be more proud of everybody.”

Then in the locker room, Ewers conceded, “At the end of the day, I need to play better continuing on the next few weeks.”

Ewers’ return was trumpeted as one of the biggest individual stories in college football this week. And it meant that dynamic backup Arch Manning, who started the last two games, was back to being the backup.

It wasn’t an ideal start. It was weird from the coin flip. Texas won the toss, and Sarkisian oddly chose to take the football. On Texas’ first play, Ewers was sacked for a six-yard loss. Two plays later, Ewers overthrew his intended target and the ball was cradled for an interception by OU’s Billy Bowman Jr.

The Longhorns defense forced a three-and-out, so it was no harm and no foul. But on Texas’ next possession, Ewers mis-fired on a deep ball over the middle to Isaiah Bond. To be fair, it appeared Bond got tripped up in the open field, but the ball appeared to bounce short.

The Horns went three-and-out on their next drive where Ewers ran out of bounds for a three-yard gain when it looked like receivers were open downfield.

After the first three drives, Texas had eight total yards and went 0-for-3 on third down.

“The first quarter, we were just off a little offensively,” Sarkisian said afterward. “The defense just kind of hung in there. And what a second quarter.”

Ewers finally got going with a nice 26-yard pass to DeAndre Moore Jr. to start the second quarter. He hit Gunnar Helm to the right, and the big tight end used some shake and bake to avoid a defender and race 21 yards.

Three plays later, Ewers threw back across his body to Helm on the left side, and Helm dodged a tackler and dove into the end zone for the score.

At that point, Ewers was clicking. After Helm’s touchdown, Ewers was 8-for-11. Ryan Wingo had a 44-yard catch and run. Helm caught another long pass for 26 yards. Matthew Golden would haul in a 23-yarder.

By the time it was over, Ewers finished 20-for-29 for 199 yards and found nine different receivers.

ABC cameras showed Manning on the sideline wearing his helmet late in the first half. But that’s where Manning stayed the entire day.

“He’s going to watch the tape. He's already been watching on the sidelines, on the iPad,” Sarkisian said. “You know, he’s going to see where he can play better.”