No. 5 Texas vs. Florida: Five observations and Sunday chat

The Longhorns left no doubt against the Gators in Austin.

This one was never close, so it was a pretty peaceful early Saturday afternoon for the burnt orange faithful as the No. 5 Texas Longhorns snapped off 42 unanswered points before finally conceding points to the Florida Gators offense at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. All 17 of Florida’s points came in the second half after the game was well in hand.

This was a much-needed result for the Longhorns with how the previous two games played out — they were able to take control early and get a lot of their depth chart some playing time. Any time you can do that against a conference opponent you will take it and run.

No long wind up today for this one. Let’s get into the observations and takeaways from the blowout of the Gators.

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Quinn Ewers gets his swag back

It had been a bit of a slog for Ewers since returning from his injury against Oklahoma last month, but on Saturday he looked unbothered and a lot more like the player we saw pre-injury. Ewers ripped apart the Florida defense to the tune of 333 yards and five tuddies, and that includes some big drops that left both yards and points on the board.

No. 3 was back having fun out there and it showed.

Ewers spread the love around to his receivers, as he threw touchdowns to four different receivers. It would have been five different receivers, but DeAndre Moore Jr. dropped two opportunities to get himself into the end zone.

This was the best Ewers and the Texas offense has looked in several weeks and a great confidence-boosting performance before heading to Fayetteville to take on Arkansas.

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The Texas defense wasn’t great against the run

If there is something to be unhappy about from this matchup, it is how the Texas defense performed against the Florida rushing attack. The Gators entered the game without their starting running back Montrell Johnson Jr., but they still were able to pound the rock behind the efforts of Ja’Kobi Jackson and Jadan Baugh.

Both Jackson and Baugh had 19 touches apiece on the ground and combined for 197 rushing yards. Jackson led the way with 116 yards and one touchdown, while Baugh chipped in with 88 yards and a touchdown of his own. While neither back had an explosive play on the ground (the longest run by Florida was 16 yards) they were able to consistently find room to run and move the chains, as the offensive line was able to consistently get a push between the tackles.

The run game was the only source of success the Gator offense had on Saturday and it was definitely a silver lining for them moving forward. Texas on the other hand is going to want to get that shored up immediately, because you can bet on Sam Pittman and Bobby Petrino will see that on film and be looking for ways to expose that next week.

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A healthy Isaiah Bond makes the Texas offense different

After watching Bond run around on Saturday, it was pretty clear he wasn’t healthy against Georgia and obvious why the Texas coaches took the opportunity to rest him against Vanderbilt. Bond looked much healthier and explosive against the Gators and he made his presence felt early on.

That was one hell of a wrinkle Sarkisian broke out on Saturday. They haven’t shown that kind of window dressing all year. Then they came back to Bond later and he once again showed off his explosiveness on a touchdown catch and run.

Bond had explosive plays both on the ground and through the air on Saturday and it showed how much more dynamic the Texas offense looks when he is healthy and ready to roll. Having him back at full strength is going to complicate the equation for opposing defensive coordinators over the next few weeks.

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The Texas defense continues to excel at forcing turnovers

If there is one thing this Texas defense does well, it is getting their hands on the football and turning over opposing offenses. Pete Kwiatkowski and Johnny Nansen’s defense entered Saturday with 17 takeaways and leading the SEC in interceptions. On Saturday against Florida, they added three more turnovers to their ledger, including two interceptions of Aidan Warner.

Texas edge Trey Moore had his best game of the season, as he flashed multiple times with tackles for loss on consecutive plays and his first sack this season and got his hands on a fumble forced by Anthony Hill early on.

The Texas defense struggled against the run, but they made life very difficult for Warner through the air. Welcome to the SEC, Aidan. You ain’t in the Ivy League any more.

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Jerrick Gibson is back in the mix at running back

Over the past few weeks, the Texas offense had been primarily rolling with Quintrevion Wisner and Jaydon Blue at running back. Noticeably absent from the rotation was freshman running back Jerrick Gibson, who was showing plenty signs of life early on in the season with his tough running and ability to move the pile.

Gibson made his return to the lineup on Saturday and the Baby Rhino made his presence felt. Gibson led the way both in carries (16) and yards (100), along with punching in a touchdown for the Longhorn offense in the red zone. While he did put the ball on the ground that led to Texas’ only turnover of the afternoon, he once again showed a lot of promise and made a solid case for more carries moving forward.

You would have to think that Gibson will be back in the mix at running back moving forward. The only thing that makes sense for him not being in the game more is that he hasn’t earned the trust of the coaches when it comes to picking up blitzes.

In case you forgot, Gibson grew up in Gainesville and was a big Florida fan. Texas was still able to pull him out of the Sunshine State and in his first game against the Gators he goes for 100 on the ground. Not bad, kid.

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8-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play. Your next one up is going to be in a very hostile environment in Fayetteville against a longtime rival who would love nothing more than to ruin Texas’ chance at making another playoff run. The last time the Longhorns ventured into that place they were humiliated by Hawgs in a 40-21 loss in Sarkisian’s second game at Texas. They will have a chance to make that right and continue their trajectory for a potential SEC title berth and a spot in the playoff field.

It won’t be easy. But at this point in the year none of them are. Watch the film, get healed up, and get ready to call them Hawgs next Saturday.

The 24-hour rule is officially in effect.

You know the drill.