No. 4/4 Football contains Rams’ offense, wins sixth straight season opener

AUSTIN, Texas – Prior to a 3-hour, 11-minute window on Saturday afternoon, the Colorado State offense wanted to crash the party surrounding Texas’ season-opening game. But the Longhorns’ defensive unit had other ideas as UT held the Rams to just 192 yards of total offense throughout the course of its’ 52-0 win over CSU. 

“I think we accomplished a lot of the things I hoped we would today,” said Texas football head coach Steve Sarkisian. “We played 51 different players in the first half, so from that aspect, it was good to have a lot of guys get into the game and get involved in the game. I thought we did a nice job of playing complimentary football. 

“Although we didn’t quiet find the rhythm during the first quarter, we were able to find that rhythm in the second quarter. And then to come out after halftime and continue to play that way throughout the third quarter — on both sides of the ball — was big.”

As the sun was beating down on the 99, 171 seated inside Darrell K. Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium, the Texas defense gave those already in their seats at kickoff something to cheer about right off the bat as the Longhorn defensive unit allowed just one yard to Colorado State after three offensive plays as the Rams were backed up against their goal line following a 39-yard punt Michael Kern punt. 

The offense carried the momentum over to the other side of the line of scrimmage just minutes later as redshirt-junior quarterback Quinn Ewers orchestrated a four-play, 64-yard drive that took just one minute, 43 seconds off the clock and was capped by a 3-yard rushing touchdown by Quintrevion Wisner, the second score in the last four games for the sophomore back. 

On the following offensive series, Colorado State worked its way to the Texas 44-yard line following a 1-yard rush by running back Justin Marshall. It was the last time the Rams crossed the midfield stripe until backup quarterback Jackson Brousseau and Jordan Ross connected for a 7-yard completion that took CSU from its 49-yard line to the Texas 44 with less than two minutes to play in the fourth quarter. 

“From a defensive standpoint, I was proud of our secondary to really minimize their offensive plays,” Sarkisian said. “Those guys have really been hearing about themselves all offseason, so for them to come out and shutdown that passing game the way that they did was good.”

In between Colorado State’s first and second times crossing the 50-yard line, the Texas offense was doing it on a consistent basis. 

Following the first 15-minute segment that saw the Longhorns take a 7-0 lead into the second quarter, Ewers connected with first-year Longhorns Matthew Golden and Isaiah Bond for three second half passing touchdowns. The three passing touchdowns — combined with a 45-yard field goal off the foot of Bert Auburn — ballooned the Longhorn lead from 7-0 to 31-0 by halftime and gave UT its largest halftime lead since Nov. 19, 2022, when Texas led Kansas, 31-0, at intermission. 

Ewers completed 10-of-13 passes for 121 yards and three touchdowns during the second quarter as the Texas offense compiled 155 yards on 20 plays as the defense held Colorado State to just 44 on 16 plays from the line of scrimmage. 

Texas backup quarterback Arch Manning picked up right where Ewers left off when the New Orleans native entered the game with 4:04 remaining in the third quarter with the Longhorns leading 38-0 following the first career rushing touchdown by freshman Jerrick Gibson three minutes earlier. 

On his play, Manning connected with Johntay Cook II for a 40-yard reception to spark a four-play, 49-yard drive that concluded one minute and 41 seconds after it started with a 5-yard passing touchdown from Manning to Silas Bolden, the first career passing and receiving touchdown for Manning and Bolden, respectively, at Texas. 

Manning put the finishing touchdowns on Texas’ first shutout in a season-opening game since 2004 when the redshirt-freshman found the end zone from one yard away on a fourth-down play less than five minutes into the game’s fourth quarter. 

UP NEXT

With its home-opening game now in the rearview mirror following Saturday’s action, Texas (1-0) will hit the road for the first time during the 2024 season next time out when the Longhorns travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., where it’ll play Michigan at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday, Sept. 7 on FOX. 

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