'Really Poised' Longhorns Show Championship Colors vs. Baylor

The Texas Longhorns looked like a championship team on Saturday night.

The Texas Longhorns were the darlings of college football after their upset win over the Alabama Crimson Tide in Week 2. 

Then after a bit of a stumble in their follow-up vs. Wyoming last week, the Horns looked back on track in their 38-6 win vs. Baylor on Saturday night in Waco. 

And in a sense, they showed up like a true title contender. 

Sure, the 1-2 Bears were not a daunting matchup on paper. But as the Horns traveled to Waco for their last-ever Big 12 matchup against their longtime little brother, the emotions at McClane Stadium were at an all-time high. 

Suffice it to say, the Horns put that emotion to bed very quickly. 

"I thought our guys were just really poised," Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said. "They were communicating really well on the field. I thought they were taking in really good information from us on the sidelines and then ultimately they applied it on the field."

The Horns dominated from start to finish, racking up 503 yards of total offense, thanks in large part to Quinn Ewers, who despite just throwing one touchdown, looked as efficient as ever.  

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Texas also controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, rushing for 175 yards and four touchdowns, and holding the Bears to just 60 yards on the ground. 

In fact, it was only special teams that left something to be desired for the Horns on Saturday night. 

"Quinn was efficient," Sarkisian said. "We ran the ball well. Obviously, there's always room for improvement and tonight it happened to be on (special) teams." 

But, that's what championship teams do. They find ways to dominate an inferior opponent, even when they are not at their best. 

So what is different about the 2023 version of the Horns?

Sure, the talent has always been there, depending on who you ask.

But now, thanks to Sarkisian, the mentality and the culture have caught up - and it's beginning to show on the field.

"Our mindsets have changed tremendously," Jaylan Ford said. "Everyone that gets on that field has a better understanding of the scheme that we're running now compared to when we first got out there during that 5-7 year."