Five Takeaways From Texas's Thrashing of the Florida Gators

The Texas Longhorns went for 562 yards on offense to take out the Gators 49-17.

Fans cheer after Texas Longhorns running back Quintrevion Wisner (26) scores a touchdown during the Longhorns' game against the Florida Gators, Nov. 9, 2024 at Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. / Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It didn't take long for the Texas Longhorns to put this game out of reach against the Florida Gators. Quinn Ewers gave it his all and helped put the Longhorns up 35-0 at halftime with four touchdowns in the first half.

The win gives Texas their eighth on the season and they now move to 4-1 in the SEC.

And Texas looked like a top team today. Sure they were played the hand of playing against a third-string freshman quarterback, but the Longhorns still took care of business rather connivingly.

Here are the five biggest takeaways from the 49-17 win against Florida.

1. Quinn Ewers looked like a top-tier quarterback.

Was the bye week what Ewers truly needed? The Florida Gators defense had forced six interceptions in the last two games. And with how Ewers has thrown an interception in four consecutive games, it felt like it could Ewers would have a test.

And he aced it. Ewers completed 19 passes on 27 attempts for a season-high 333 yards and season-high five touchdowns.

Ewers looked a lot more confident out there. He seemed to be out of rhythm in the first few drives at times with some inaccurate passes, but he cleared that up pretty quickly with some beautiful passes like the second touchdown to Matthew Golden in the second quarter.

Watch it here:

3️⃣ ➡️ 2️⃣@QuinnEwers @MatthewGolden_2 pic.twitter.com/iJGOAOyzQw

— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) November 9, 2024

These are the types of games that Texas fans expect from their QB. He was smart with his decisions like the RPO pass to Gunnar Helm for his second touchdown, and he was quick with his feet, escaping pressure much better than in past games this season.

2. Biggest problems (slow start and offensive line) were fixed.

After the missed kick on the first drive, Texas looked poised to have another slow start, but they didn't let it happen.

The second drive could have been a quick three-and-out too. But head coach Steve Sarkisian took the risk and converted a 4th and 1 on their own 24. After that play, Texas started pushing on the gas and forming some really good drives.

It was much relieving for Texas fans to see the team start their scoring quick and early. It was also relieving to see the offensive line look better too. A big reason why Texas looked good at the start is the fact that the o-line didn't allow a sack for the rest of the game after the first drive.

The holding penalties still need to be more limited, but the two biggest questions of this Texas team looked much better this week.

3. The run defense was concerning

The Gators gashed the defense in the second half with the run. Running back Ja'Kobi Jackson averaged 6 yards per carry for Florida. The Texas defense allowed 197 yards on the ground, the most given up this season.

Florida leaned on the run game most of the game due to playing a third-string QB but the Florida offensive line was just able to create some really strong holes for their running backs.

Players like Trey Moore should be noted as being an exception to the struggling run defense. Moore had a really strong game that included two tackles for losses.

But even with that, it seemed like Texas struggled to stop Florida in the second half from driving on the ground. It will be interesting to see how they respond next game.

4. Andrew Mukuba is so important for the defense

Mukuba's impact on the defense was a big reason for Texas shutting them out for the majority of the game.

Returning from injury, Mukuba had a season-high six tackles (two solo) and also intercepted a tipped pass from Aidan Warner to open the second half.

His coverage and his ability to close gaps to make tackles was dearly missed by the defense against Vanderbilt.

"It felt extremely good to be out there," Mukuba said postgame.

Mukuba was a big get for the team this offseason after struggling with their pass defense all of last season. He has revived that aspect of the defense throughout this whole season.

5. Matthew Golden deserves more involvement

Whenever Golden gets the ball, it seems like good things happen.

The wide receiver had his second multi-touchdown game of the season against Florida on only three catches and 64 yards. In the last four games, Golden has only brought in nine passes. But in those nine passes, he's gone for 173 yards and three touchdowns.

Last week's game against Vanderbilt. Golden had only nine yards and two catches but still had one of the best catches of the season for Texas that helped score a touchdown.

Golden has way too much skill to be averaging only three catches per game. Sure he doesn't have the speed of Isaiah Bond, but he is still dangerous in the open field. His route-running is nice, but if he can't get open, his aggressiveness helps him elevate over the defender for some great catches.

The Texas Longhorns will be back in action next week when they go to Fayetteville, AR to play the Arkansas Razorbacks in a rivalry-renewed.

The game will kick off at 11:00 a.m. CT on ABC.

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