"Not my problem. We won. Next game"
Those were Steve Sarkisian words less than two weeks ago when asked about the worthiness of UT's win over Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.
Something tells me we might har a similar message after UT's win over Vanderbilt in Nashville today.
The Longhorns didn't play a game that will win many playoff games, but that wasn't the task today. The task today was winning the team's first true road game in the SEC.
Mission accomplished.
Now the Longhorns can move into the bye week with the understanding that there's a level of performance that wasn't good enough for much more than what was accomplished. The Texas offense isn't an elite unit and this coaching staff has to figure out how to change this reality that has lasted for more than a month.
AS for the Quinn Ewers set of storylines, it was truly a tale of two halves. Ewers was All-America level in the first 2 quarters, but he was something far less than that in the second half. Check out these numbers by Ewers over the course of the game:
1Q: 12 of 13 for 126 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT (201.3 rating)
2Q: 7 of 8 for 85 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT (218.0 rating)
3Q: 6 of 9 for 39 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (103.1 rating)
4Q: 2 of 7 for 36 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT (74.2 rating)
That's a passer rating of 76.7 in the final two quarters of the game.
Is that about Ewers? Is this the offense? Is it just a perfect storm?
I tend to want to give him the benefit of the doubt for a strong game because the two interceptions weren't really awful plays by him, but there's no question that the second half wasn't good enough.
The talk from the last week won't go away.
(Other thoughts...)
* Third and 20 and Ewers makes his best play of the game in hitting Silas Bolden for a first down over the middle. Huge play. It ended up being the difference between giving Vandy the ball near midfield vs. taking over its next possession at its own 17-yard line.
* Penalties are killing this team. Hell, even Kelvin banks had a pair today. What in the wild, wild world of sports...
* Was today Trey Moore's best game as a Longhorns player? I think so.
* I saw Silas Bolden make a fair catch. That might be a sign that the apocalypse is upon us.
* Michael Taaffe with a forced fumble and interception in the first half. Take that, Billy Bowman!
* Deandre Moore had 5 catches for 92 yards and 2 TD in the first half. With Isaiah Bond out, is Moore WR1? I think you'd have to say yes.
* That was some kind of touchdown catch by Matthew Golden. Crazy that he hasn't been in the end zone since week two.
* Texas has trailed in the first quarter of three straight games after not allowing a point in the first quarter in the first 5 weeks of the season.
* Is Cam Williams playing himself back into needing another year? It sure feels that way in the last two weeks.
* Why was Barryn Sorrell not credited with a sack when pushing Diego Pavia out of bounds for a slight loss just before the Taaffe forced fumbled? That's twice that's happened to Sorrell this season.
* Jelani McDonald looked fantastic at times in his first start at safety. I don't want to overreact, but that's the most athletic Texas as looked at safety all season. McDonald led the Longhorns at halftime with 5 tackles and a tackle for loss.
* I'm not sure that Michael Kern deserves to start at ahead of Ian Ratliff.
* Matthew Golden taking the opening kickoff out four yards deep from the end-zone instead of taking a knee was just ridiculous. That decision, coupled with a penalty, meant that Texas started its opening drive at its own 7-yard line.
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