--- How about a game-ball for the entire defense? I expected the offense to steal the headlines in this one but it was the defense that dominated from start to finish. Pete Kwiatkowski’s group was on fire from the opening bell and the defense flat out smothered Rice all day. A+ effort for that side of the ball.
--- It was a solid performance overall by Quinn Ewers (260 yards, 169.1 QBR) in throwing for three touchdowns and running for one more, but there was still quite a bit of meat left on the bone, especially with his downfield passing. The one in the third quarter where Ewers threw off his back foot (in the face of pressure) looked a lot like what we saw last year.
--- Seeing CJ Baxter get a lot of work was no surprise, but I wasn’t expecting him to go out there with the starters on the first play of the game. Seeing Baxter exit the game after his one big run was obviously disappointing.
--- Not really sure what Sark was thinking to go for it on fourth-and-2 on the first drive of the game on UT’s own 33-yard line. That felt like he was basically saying he knew Rice has no chance in this game and he could roll the dice some. I can’t imagine he would have made that call against anyone else on the schedule.
--- A healthy Xavier Worthy is damn fun to watch. For all the talk of guys like AD Mitchell, JT Sanders, Jordan Whittington, etc … Worthy is still the guy that’s going to make this offense go. It feels like he’s open on pretty much every passing play that’s called. Texas may need to lean on Brooks pretty heavily if Baxter is out for an extended period of time.
--- Sticking with the running backs, Jaydon Blue did some really nice things in the ground game. Blue seems to have more of a burst than the other backs on the roster not named Keilan Robinson.
--- I said I needed to see some dominance by the defensive line before I was ready to fully buy in with that group … well, two series into the game I was sold. T’Vondre Sweat in particular was dominating.
--- That first score was an easy TD for Jonathon Brooks, I get it. But all that dude does is produce when the ball is in his hands. It was that way in high school and it’s been that way in his time at Texas.
--- Key word above … “when the ball is in his hands.” That drop for what should have been a TD was brutal. Can’t afford those types of mistakes next week. Brooks did come back later in the game and make the exact same catch for a first down.
--- Sark wasn’t lying this week when he said a lot of true freshmen would play and play early. CJ Baxter, Anthony Hill, Manny Muhammad and Lione Lefau all made plays early in the game.
--- I guess those interceptions last year by Jaylan Ford weren’t just luck. That dude is an absolute magnet for the ball in passing game and he’s got some pretty damn good hands too.
--- JT Daniels is not good. Not at all.
--- What in the hell was going on with the offensive line in the first half? Texas’s inability to move the Rice defenders in the run game was atrocious early on.
--- One of the things I heard in fall camp was that there were too many mental mistakes and too man pre-snap penalties. We saw a lot of that during some very sloppy play in the first half, including false starts, missed blocking assignments, receivers stepping out of bounds before making the catch, etc.
--- As sloppy as the offense was in the first half, the defense was incredibly sound. That group won a couple of the scrimmages over the offense, which was a bit surprising to hear, and the defense backed it up in this game. Texas dominated the line of scrimmage, was very good in the back end and really swarmed to the football when Rice did have a bit of success.
--- AD Mitchell has to block better. He probably won’t enjoy going over some of the film from this game. Honestly, I expected much more production from him today (3 catches, 26 yards).
--- Bert Auburn is legit. At least there’s that from the first half. Auburn did have a 56-yard miss in the fourth quarter but we’ll give him a pass on that one.
--- I’ll be interested to read @Alex Dunlap’s report on the offensive line. To this naked eye, DJ Campbell really struggled. Probably more so than I remember Cole Hutson struggling last year with some of the missed assignments.
--- Some first-half stats that stood out … Rice had 6 TFL (2 for Texas); Texas 2 turnovers but only 3 points off those turnovers; Texas controlled the ball for 18:52 (11:08 for Rice); -2 rushing yards for Rice on 8 attempts
--- Ewers to AD Mitchell in the red zone feels like it’s going to be a lethal combination all season. That third-quarter TD was like taking candy from a baby.
--- I was literally thinking it had been a very quiet day for JT Sanders and then boom, he scores on a 44-yard catch-and-run to break the game open. There are a lot of weapons in this offense but that play was a quick reminder of how valuable and explosive Sanders is from the tight end position.
--- It was a small sampling, but Maalik Murphy certainly didn’t look out of place when he came in late in the game. He was decisive, showed off his arm strength on some darts in the middle of the field and was pretty accurate.
--- Best player on the field today? Give me T’Vondre Sweat.
--- David Gbenda quietly had a productive day with a team-high 6 tackles and a half of a sack. He did appear to lose sight of a receiver on a crossing route on a big play for Rice, but he was around the ball quite a bit.
--- I guess we got our answer to the back-up quarterback question. I thought Sark may have Maalik Murphy and Arch Manning alternate series, but it was Murphy getting the second-team run.
--- It wasn’t really a thing of beauty, especially the first half, but 1-0 is 1-0. On to Bama.
