Texas Longhorns Play 'Most Complete' Game in Win Over Florida Gators

The Texas Longhorns dominated the Florida Gators at home.

Texas Longhorns wide receiver Isaiah Bond (7) advances the ball as Florida Gators defensive back Trikweze Bridges (7) attempts to guard him 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

Despite the Texas Longhorns' 7-1 record and a No. 5 ranking, it always felt like they had another gear to hit. Well, they hit that gear on Saturday.

In front of the raucous crowd at Darrell K Royal, the Longhorns poured it on in a 49-17 blowout over the Florida Gators. Texas jumped out to a 42-0 lead early in third quarter and essentially coasted for the rest of the game. Florida may not be a world-beater, but this was an absolue masterclass by the team wearing burnt orange.

The difference on Saturday, at least according to head coach Steve Sarkisian, was the team playing together far better than it has throughout the season.

"This was probably our most complete game as a football team," Sarkisian said. "You know, at the end it gets a little sideways but just the way we played in all three phases, the fact that we played really well from a complementary football standpoint, that was something we really challenged the players on. We're good in all three phases but we're at our best when all three phases play together and I thought that showed up today."

Offensively, this was easily the Longhorns' best performance since beginning SEC play, if not the entire season. Quinn Ewers completed 19 of 27 passes for 333 yards and five touchdowns, and he spread the ball around to his entire arsenal of weapons. The run game also got back on track after two straight underwhelming performances, racking up 210 yards and two touchdowns on 6.8 yards per carry.

Defensively, the Longhorns shut down the Gators and didn't let them get going until garbage time. Gators quarterback Aidan Warner, who started in place of the injured DJ Lagway, completed just 12 of 25 passes for 132 yards and two interceptions, one each by Andrew Mukuba and Ty'Anthony Smith. Florida managed to rack up 197 yards on the ground (4.8 per carry), but again, most of that came when the game was out of reach.

As Sarkisian mentioned, the two units fed off each other's success. The offense scored 21 points off three takeaways, and avoided putting the defense in bad field position for the entire game.

The Longhorns have clear championship ambitions, and performances like that show exactly why.

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