The Reheat: Colorado State
The Longhorns throttled CSU 52-0, let's react.
Welcome to The Reheat, a weekly recap of the previous day’s game, just popped out of the microwave. Look for it every Sunday, rain or shine.
I caught a glimpse of the lit UT tower while driving north on the highway very early this morning. The burnt orange stood in stark contrast to the still-dark sky and the ever-multiplying lights of Austin's buildings. Surprised to see the tower still illuminated, I realized I had never seen it glowing at this hour before. During the dark ages of Texas Football, the brief high points felt so fleeting I sometimes wondered if they happened at all. After big wins, the tower would light up, but it seemed almost accidental as if it was flickering schizophrenically like a bulb with a bad connection. Now, what’s burning in Austin feels real. It’s sustainable from the top down and that is becoming evident in how they’re beginning to win.
Even though the Longhorns bludgeoned a bad team in Colorado State yesterday, the way they did it felt different from past openers that were often clunkier or gave room for an inferior opponent to come up for air. Yesterday, Quinn Ewers looked as comfortable as he’s ever been at Texas; he stood well in the pocket and saw the entire field. Steve Sarkisian tossing the car keys to Ewers in the red zone might be the key to last year's woes there, as demonstrated against the Rams. Ten wide receivers caught passes from Ewers and he looked to have budding chemistry with Matthew Golden and Isaiah Bond. Then on defense, the Texas secondary allowed an Air Raid team that put up good numbers in 2023 to throw for only 74 yards when that same system gave the Longhorns fits last year. Veterans like Gunner Helm and David Gbenda highlight the coaching staff's developmental prowess. Players who popped last year like Anthony Hill and Manny Muhammad each made multiple plays that made you think another leap was coming in 2024. Then multiple true freshmen made stunning plays, Ryan Wingo, Jerrick Gibson, and Wardell Mack chief among them. There were also some nice plays from a backup with great hair and famous relatives.1 The win didn’t feel like a bully puffing out its chest against a weaker opponent, it was businesslike, a thorough dissection of their opponent. Texas and Sark will get plenty of love this week, from the media, from fans, from Michigan detractors who watched them struggle with Fresno State, but a program built sustainably shouldn’t roll their shirt sleeves down and relax before Ann Arbor. Losing focus now would be a damn shame, because this team is built to keep this thing burning and keep the tower lit.
and now for the categories…
Fire The Cannon for: Quinn Ewers. Plays like this are like what we saw from the Quinn that was promised years ago. But it’s the Quinn he’s growing into that impressed me the most.
Horns Up on Offense for: Jerrick Gibson. The true freshman was giving me Roschon Johnson flashbacks with his tough downhill running. There will be freshman mistakes at some point, but his fearlessness is going to elevate the running back room significantly.
Horns Up on Defense for: Jahdae Barron. His Willie Mays-esque interception was the point during the game that showed the Longhorns were here to step on the jugular. The secondary had two acrobatic interceptions and multiple PBUs, which all highlighted a much greater ball-hawking potential than DBU has shown in years.
Bevo’s Bucket for: Honestly, nothing. I couldn’t believe we were having another 2:30 opener in August, but the weather was good compared to first games of season’s past. The crowd was energetic and the outside of the stadium was as busy as I’d ever seen it. The SEC logos on the field and jerseys will definitely take some getting used to and sort of feel like your mom has started dating your dad’s evil brother2 or something, but I guess we’ll get used to it.
If I have to give out something I guess it’s that we still don’t know how punting will go this season, and given Texas is trotting out a true freshman to punt for what will be his second time ever to do so in Ann Arbor, that’s a little nerve-wracking. But yesterday showed a blueprint to the potential problem, if it’s an issue then simply always score and don’t punt.
Schadenfreude of the week:
The take so hot I burned the roof of my mouth: Watching Oregon struggle with Idaho and the smoldering flames that are the ACC showed that this country only has one elite team that isn’t in the SEC and it’s Abilene Christian Ohio State. The final four of the playoff will be three SEC teams and Ohio State.
Hype Train Level (0 being consecutive opening duds against Maryland, 10 being Vince Young Scores): 7
Kudos to Sark for how he’s handled this quarterback situation. Can you imagine how Mack Brown would have handled this? Woof.
(That analogy was half-baked; remember, this is a microwave).