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Quick Recap: Texas throttles Florida, 49-17, thanks to Quinn Ewers' five passing touchdowns

On3 imageby:Justin Wells•11/09/24
Quinn Ewers
Quinn Ewers (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

Coming off the bye week, the No. 5 Texas Longhorns and Steve Sarkisian wanted to come out firing when they hosted Florida at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Mission accomplished.

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The Longhorns, now 8-1 and 4-1 in the SEC, throttled the Florida Gators 49-17 in front of 103,375 fans behind complimentary football on both sides of the ball plus a standout day from Quinn Ewers. The offense tallied 562 total yards while the defense forced three turnovers.

Texas owned the first half thanks to Ewers’ efforts. He was 17-for-25 for 353 yards and four touchdowns in the opening 30 minutes, with Jaydon Blue scoring the only rushing touchdown of the half just before the teams returned to their respective locker rooms. Thanks to Ewers’ efforts plus high-quality play-calling from Steve Sarkisian, Texas led 35-0 at halftime.

Ewers wasn’t done in the second half either, for the brief amount of plays he saw. He connected with Isaiah Bond for a 34-yard touchdown that gave the Longhorns 42-0 ead.

Ewers finished 19-of-27 passing for 333 yards for five touchdowns and zero turnovers. His averaged depth of target, a much maligned 5.9 yards entering the game, was at 8.8. Ewers had attempts downfield of 23, 38, 29, 32, and 25 yards. Texas had 10 passing plays go for 15 or more yards.

The Gators didn’t score until seven-plus minutes of the third quarter had already passed. A 15-play, 70-yard drive that took 5:49 off the clock netted the Gators three points and the apparent all-important continuation of a streak where their program has scored in every game. That made it 42-3.

The Gators managed to add 14 more points and tally 197 total rushing yards against the Longhorns, but the Texas defense had many strong moments against backup quarterback Aidan Warner, who led Billy Napier‘s offense after DJ Lagway was ruled out..

Texas turned Florida three times on Saturday. Andrew Mukuba and Tyanthony Smith netted interceptions, while Trey Moore notched four tackles, two tackles for loss, and one fumble recovery.

Ewers’ excellence in the passing game had the Texas tailbacks involved, too. Tre Wisner snagged a 50-yard touchdown catch from Ewers midway through the second quarter, a score that gave the Horns a 21-0 advantage.

Wisner and Blue combined for 186 total yards and two touchdowns. Even Jerrick Gibson got involved in the offensive output, tallying 100 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown against the school from his hometown.

Ewers’ five touchdown passes went to Matthew Golden, Gunnar Helm, Wisner, Golden again, and Bond. Blue and Gibson scored on the ground.

Ewers five touchdowns were the second most in a game in school history behind the six tossed by Casey Thompson against Kansas in 2021 and Colt McCoy against Baylor in 2006. Ewers moved into fifth place on the career passing touchdowns list with 56 scores, and now is just two behind Chris Simms’ 58. Ewers is also now 6th in passing yards and trails Peter Gardere by 18 yards.

The Gators showed signs of life in the second half, but all the efforts were for naught as the halftime margin was too much to overcome and most efforts were made against second-string players. Florida averaged 5.0 yards per play, but when the game was in question in the first half Florida could only manage 4.5 yards every snap. Texas, on the other hand, was picking up a first down on average every play, a stat that stands as further evidence of what the Longhorns accomplished on Saturday.

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Texas heads to Fayetteville next Saturday for a date with former Southwest Conference rival Arkansas.

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