The Reheat: Quinn Ewers, Steve Sarkisian make just enough things work for the Longhorns against Vanderbilt

Welcome to The Reheat, a weekly recap of the previous day’s game, just popped out of the microwave. Look for it every Sunday, rain or shine.

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I’ve been told by my pom-pom-waving, swoop-haircut-sporting, S-E-C-chanting friends over the years that there’s such a thing as the SEC grind. Through four games in a new conference, I’m not sure I subscribe to that doctrine, but maybe I do if part of the grind means intentionally making things harder on yourself.

Texas and Quinn Ewers ground out a win against ranked Vanderbilt in Nashville, but they could have won by so much more. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but what stopped a Steve Sarkisian team from winning comfortably were drive-killing penalties, turnovers, and a lack of complementary football on offense and special teams.

At this point, I’m starting to worry that this is a feature of Sark’s teams—something he’ll solve not through better recruiting, healthy quarterback play, or experience, but by looking inward. Tom Herman had a penchant for playing close games because he was too much of a control freak, forcing inferior teams to play in a phone booth.

But Sark wants blowouts; he wants to wipe every team off the face of the earth, going up 28-3 in the first half through game plan, physicality, and team speed, then run the ball, burn clock, and win 31-6. I think the way Texas won against Michigan was Sark’s fantasy, his version of the Princess Leia outfit. But too often, the second half of Texas games feels so different from the first. Without a Bijan Robinson or Jonathon Brooks to grind down a defense, leaning on the run game doesn’t work—especially when the offensive line commits five holding penalties, mainly on long runs that kill scoring drives.

Ewers threw beautiful touchdown passes to Matthew Golden and DeAndre Moore Jr. and was better overall yesterday despite two picks off batted balls. Post-injury, he’s still avoiding the middle of the field. I can think of only two successful pocket step-ups against pressure that resulted in completions to Gunnar Helm and Silas Bolden in the middle. That’s where Quinn used to be most comfortable, where he used to destroy teams last year. It’s like if Tim Duncan suddenly got scared of the bank shot from the left side and refused to do it.

After the disaster in Stillwater, Okla. two years ago, I thought Sark and Ewers resembled that couple you know should break up because they both believe the other will change. They’re the couple that leaves dinner with a big group to fight in the parking lot, yet still stays together despite their friends telling them they’re not right for one another. Usually, that relationship ends in disaster, but Sark and Quinn have made it work admirably, making compromises.

Yesterday was case in point: Sark designed a swing-pass game plan that allowed Quinn to get comfortable and let his receivers and backs work in the open field. As he settled in, he worked the sideline well. But it’s still not the offense we saw before the injury. It’s hardly utilizing freshman phenom Ryan Wingo, and Golden’s production has come at a cost too. If this isn’t Sark’s ideal offense right now, he needs to find ways to win that don’t involve onside kicks. The chances for big wins are still there—they just might look different from how he fantasizes.

Texcalibur will need a trip to the local sword sharpener because the Longhorns’ defense has forced six turnovers over the past two weeks against solid SEC quarterbacks like Carson Beck and Diego Pavia. Unfortunately, the Texas offense has rewarded that defense with only 10 points, the equivalent of saying thank you to a close friend by re-gifting them the Williams Sonoma panini press they gave you for your wedding.

Meanwhile, the Texas offense has turned the ball over enough to account for 31 of the 54 points surrendered, while special teams’ inability to flip the field has made getting into field goal range much easier than it should be for opponents. And when the Horns put three points on the board to make it a double-digit lead, a pick-six and a 17-point win were negated because fifth-year defensive tackle Vernon Broughton launched into Pavia’s head.

Santa, if you’re listening already, can the three sides of the ball play well at the same time? Please.

The Longhorns haven’t played to their standard in the last four games and have four to go. Last year, Texas looked shaky in the season’s late-middle before getting it right and dominating down the stretch. Let’s hope for that again.

It’s a good time for a bye week.

Fire The Cannon for: Quinn Ewers, for putting together a solid road performance after the worst game of his career. He’s going to be a case study in intro-to-psych textbooks soon as he’s who you’ll find under examples of the Confirmation Bias. Ewers’ detractors blame him for everything and see what they want to see. When he’s sacked, the boo birds blame him for not stepping up in the pocket, even if the running backs and offensive line didn’t pick up a blitzing linebacker. When the offense stalls, they throw him under the fan bus. I didn’t see Quinn holding any Vanderbilt defenders, for what it’s worth.

On the other hand, Ewers apologists (which I can certainly be) look the other way when it’s apparent defenses are feasting on the fact that Quinn doesn’t want to be hit right now. Luckily, the combination of Quinn and Sark can beat you in other ways, and hopefully, the time off and a game against a toothless Florida Gators team will allow the Longhorns’ full arsenal of plays and weapons to return.

Horns Up on Offense for: DeAndre Moore Jr. I wish I could redo my People’s Champ predictions from the summer.

Horns Up on Defense for: Michael Taaffe.

Bevo’s Bucket for: I have a template for The Reheat to make it easier on me every Sunday. I’m just going to start plugging “penalties” into this category until Sark and company prove me wrong.

Schadenfreude of the week: Brian Kelly and LSU being as fraudulent as Kelly’s fake Southern accent robbed Texas fans of a perfect Saturday, so we’ll have to settle for Oklahoma continuing to smolder. But we’re about to need to start a Texas fan letter-writing campaign to Norman: “Please Don’t Fire Brent.”

This piping Hot Take burned the roof of my mouth: The Aggies’ brief trip on cloud nine crashes and explodes in Columbia next Saturday.

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Hype Train Level: I’m hyped for the bye week.