Steve Sarkisian praises Texas' strong offensive close to 1st half vs. Vanderbilt

A week after getting bogged down and harassed to a scoreless first half against Georgia, Texas rolled out to a 21-10 halftime margin on the road at Vanderbilt. And after a disjointed start, looked fairly crisp in doing so.

While head coach Steve Sarkisian certainly had areas he wanted to see improve, he was generally pleased with how his offense showed up and answered the call.

“Good rhythm, the passing game got going, we got the ball to the perimeter,” Sarkisian said to SEC Network sideline reporter Alyssa Lang. “We need a couple runs. We’ve had a couple unfortunate penalties. But I’ve liked our rhythm and balance when we were able to get going.”

Things started disastrously for the Texas offense, as a Quinn Ewers pass was tipped at the line and intercepted on the first offensive series, setting up a Vanderbilt touchdown. But after going behind, 7-0, the Longhorns reeled off 21 unanswered points before a Vanderbilt field goal prior to the half.

And at the half, Ewers — who notably struggled last week — had been sharp. He entered the half 19-of-21 passing for 211 yards and three touchdowns, with the interception his lone blemish.

While the Commodores were mostly kept off the scoreboard, Sarkisian did want to see them keep up the strong play on first downs that was setting up advantageous third down situations. Vanderbilt was 2-for-5 on third down attempts at halftime.

“Well we’ve gotta keep winning on first down,” Sarkisian said. “That helps us on those third down opportunities.”

A Texas receiver got dinged up in warmups

An unfortunate pre-game incident could be of concern for Texas receiver Ryan Wingo ahead of a matchup against No. 25 Vanderbilt.

According to a report from Josh Newman of LoneStarLive.com, Wingo collided with a Vanderbilt staffer during pre-game warmups. He was running a route when the two collided.

Wingo and the staffer reportedly bounced back up fairly quickly after the collision before Ryan Wingo began getting his knee checked out.

The Texas receiver then reportedly had a conversation with teammate Parker Livingstone, with a couple trainers in tow, per Newman. He then headed to the locker room as that period of receiver warmups concluded.

Shortly before kickoff, Wingo was warming up as usual in the second part of pre-game warmups and appears to be fine, with “no brace, no limp,” According to CJ Vogel on OnTexasFootball.com.