I suppose if Quinn Ewers was going to get hurt, this is the portion of the season you'd hope for it to occur in.
La-Monroe is next. Mississippi State after that. The Sooners are a full three weeks away.
Get well, Quinn.
As much fan as Arch Manning is (and make no mistake about it... he's fun) to watch, the Longhorns are a better football team with Ewers on the field. They are national championship contenders with him on the field. They are probably something slightly less than that without him.
I think. Maybe not, though...
We're reminded tonight that special seasons are often determined by the amount of clean health that the football gods will allow a team to have. Imagine the 2005 Longhorns needing to depend on Matt Nordgren for a few weeks in the middle of an undefeated run. Could they have made it through without a loss? Yes. Could things have gone sideways? Yes.
If Ewers' injury wasn't enough of a reminder of the thin margins that sometimes determine the fate of seasons, seeing what seemed like every good player on the team come off the field slowly at various points in the game, sent home all the reminders that were needed.
I don't know how long it takes to recover from a strained abdomen (an injury that I don't think happens to fat people), but the Longhorns should be fine for the next week or two. It's the kind of injury that could keep a guy out for a couple of weeks or a couple of months.
In the meantime, it's a hell of a thing to have an Arch Manning to turn to. It also helps to have bad-ass receivers, although it would be nice if the starting quarterback had a knack for staying healthy.
Deep down, most of us had a hunch that something like this would happen at some point.
Well, here we are.
Buckle up.
In Arch's hands, we me trust.
(Other thoughts on the win...)
* The most alarming element of Ewers' injury is that it happened at all. He wasn't hit hard. It just sort of happened. For a guy that has a rep for not being able to stay on the field, this feels like a baby strike for his NFL stock. I'd love to see what he can produce over an entire season in which he can stay healthy, but it's never really happened.
* One thing about Arch is that he will look to throw the ball down the field more than Quinn. He can't help it. He's young and wild. He wants to go long and he's good at it.
* Arch Manning coming in and throwing a 19-yard touchdown pass to Deandre Moore is the most Arch Manning thing he could do.
* No words needed. We'll all remember where we were when this happened a quarter of a century from now.
* Speaking of no words being needed...
* Manning's final numbers: 9 of 12 for 223 yards, 4 TD and 0 INT (341/1 rating), 3 rushes for 53 yards and a TD (longest QB touchdown run by a Texas quarterback since Vince Young vs. Oklahoma State in 2005... yes, THAT touchdown run.)
* Colin Simmons is getting closer and closer to possibly being the best player on the Texas defense. He basically shut down a potential scoring drive by himself in the third quarter and then appeared to have smack-talked the UTSA quarterback off the field after third down.
* Who had Leon Lefau with the team's first sack of the night on their UT/UTSA bingo card?
* Andrew Mukuba had another very strong performance.
* Hello, Tyanthony Smith! Welcome to college football. Same to Colton Vasek.
* Anthony Hill wasn't credited with a sack by the official scorebook, but that will be changed. He finished with 10 tackles, a sack and a quarterback hit. Nice night.
* Jerrick Gibson might need to walk around campus this week with a football in his hands at all times.
* Ewers final numbers: 14 of 16 for 185 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT (213.4 rating)
* Wide Receivers 1st Quarter Targets...
Bond: 4
Golden: 3
Bolden: 2
Cook: 1
Wingo: 1
Moore: 1
* My goodness, Johntay Cook looked explosive as hell on that touchdown reception at the end of the first quarter. It's funny to think that Sarkisian was pretty bemused/pissed about 10 seconds before that play unfolded.
* Ryan Wingo is good. Super blue chips matter.
* It's kind of crazy to me that Juan Davis is receiving passing game targets in the opening series of the game. That guy has come a LONG way.
* Quinn Ewers played pitch and catch on the opening drive. No stress. He looked completely unbothered. So, of course, he throws an interception because of awful mechanics on his first throw of the next series.
* Love that the defense was able to turn the Ewers interception into a nothing-burger by stopping the UTSA offense on 4th down.
* Texas had to call a timeout in the first half because it only had 9 players on the field and received a penalty in the third quarter for having 12 guys on the field. It might be week three, but the kinks are still getting worked out.
* I did not have Trey Owens getting on the field with 12:16 left in the fourth quarter on my Bingo card.
