After a blistering start to the 2024 season, the Texas Longhorns fell into a late October slump. UT was overwhelmed by the Georgia Bulldogs and almost lost to Vanderbilt.
But after a bye week to reset and let injuries heal, the Horns crushed the Florida Gators in a return to early season form. Especially Texas QB Quinn Ewers.
The junior signal caller completed 19 of his 27 passes for 333 yards. He averaged 12.3 yards a throw and didn’t turn the ball over. Ewers also tossed five touchdown passes, one shy of the school record, before giving way to Arch Manning with a win secured.
The Texas defense didn’t let up until UT was up 42-0 and the game was well in hand.
ESPN’s Greg McElroy took notice. The former Alabama QB said, “This is the Texas we’ve been waiting for. We’ve been waiting for this! And I’m so happy it came to the surface, finally! Because it’s been a while.”
"This is the @TexasFootball we've been waiting for ‼️"
One of @GregMcElroy's takeaways from Week 1⃣1⃣:
The Longhorns turned in a complete, dominant performance for the first time in awhile 🤘😤#HookEm | #Longhorns pic.twitter.com/hrXYduiLwa
— Always College Football (@AlwaysCFB) November 12, 2024
McElroy points out Texas played more like they did early in the campaign, “We saw this Texas against Michigan, but it’s been a while. It feels like Texas has been kinda playing with their food a little bit.”
The improvement on the offensive side of the ball is what really caught the ESPN analyst’s attention. “Their offense … has just kinda lacked a little bit to me. We know that they can defend. That’s a really good group, a championship calibre defense. But the offense has been the thing that’s been kind of holding me back a little bit. This was a complimentary win.”
McElroy took a close look at the Texas QB, “Let’s look at Quinn Ewers’ performance because that has been an area of concern since the oblique injury. This was only the second game this year in which he had multiple touchdown passes and no turnovers. And the first time he’s done it since Michigan. I think it was fair to be concerned. But I also think it’s fair to acknowledge that it’s still in there. He’s still got it. He did a great job in this game.”