Texas Longhorns Dominate Florida Gators In Return From Bye Week

The Texas Longhorns looked every bit of a College Football Playoff contender on Saturday.

Matt Galatzan | Nov 9, 2024

Nov 9, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns defensive back Jaylon Guilbeau (3) reacts after making a sack against the Florida Gators during the first half at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

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Texas Longhorns

AUSTIN - The Texas Longhorns just made a massive statement.

Coming out of their bye week following a close win over Vanderbilt, Texas needed to send a message to the rest of the country that they were a real College Football Playoff contender.

And that is exactly what they did, blowing out the Florida Gators 49-17 to move to 8-1 on the season.

Things didn't start particularly well for Texas, with a missed field goal on the opening drive and what appeared to be a three and out on the following drive. However, Steve Sarkisian took a risk and went for it on fourth and short from his own 24 yard line, moving the sticks and giving Texas the jolt it needed.

After that, the blowout was on, with Texas scoring five of its next seven drives in the first half, to take a 35-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

That momentum didn't stop in the second half either, with Texas safety Andrew Mukuba intercepting a Florida pass on the Gators opening drive of the third quarter. Just a couple of plays later, the Horns were back in the end zone for another touchdown.

After that, the Horns inserted Arch Manning into the lineup to bring the game the rest of the way home, coasting to the win.

Offensively, it was the Quinn Ewers show for Texas, with the star QB lighting up the stat sheet to the tune of 19 of 27 passing for 333 yards and five touchdowns. Ewers hit five different receivers for at least three catches before he exited the game, with Jaydon leading the way with three receptions for 67 yards.

On the other side, the Texas defense was dominant, forcing three Florida turnovers, and holding the Gators to just 132 through the air.

With the win, Texas now moves to 4-1 in the SEC, and still controls and looks in great shape to make a run at an SEC Championship with three regular season games remaining.

The Longhorns will be back in action next week when they travel to Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks at 11 am CT.

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Published Nov 9, 2024

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.