Bohls: After another game against a backup QB, Texas is about to get the real deal in OU

Now for the real thing.

No, really.

For maybe the first time all season, Texas will be on its guard for a true test next up in the Cotton Bowl.

And we’re not even talking their digestive systems when it comes to this fall's new State Fair cuisine, such as deep-fried sushi bombs and Fruity Pebbles pickles. Quinn Ewers might want to avoid those in his pregame meal.

We’re talking Top 25 Oklahoma, which dispatched Iowa State and, like Texas, will show up at the Fairgrounds with an unbeaten 5-0 record and a ton of momentum. And most of all, a more than capable quarterback, unlike the raft of wannabes the Longhorns have seen so far, which is no small thing.

This is a No. 3 team that has swallowed up everything on its plate, from top five at the time Alabama in an away game to lowly Rice, en route to the annual stomach-turner in Dallas. Didn’t matter who lined up against the Longhorns.

Dillon Gabriel will be a significant step up

Saturday’s contest was no different as Texas gobbled up a half-strength Kansas on a scorching afternoon at Royal-Memorial Stadium with the home team’s customary red-hot second-half offense that allowed the Longhorns to cruise to a 40-14 crushing of the No. 24 Jayhawks.

Playing without dynamic dual-threat Big 12 preseason offensive player of the year Jalon Daniels because of his sore back, Kansas hit the ground game hard because it sent out veteran but less accomplished Jason Bean for his 16th Jayhawks start besides his three seasons at North Texas. And like the last two backups forced into duty to combat Texas, he fell horribly short.

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So after playing against three consecutive backup quarterbacks and arguably an Alabama backup posing as a starter with only two previous starts under his belt at the time, Texas must prepare for the big, bad Sooners and polished quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

Gabriel is slightly more experienced than the Wyoming, Baylor and Kansas quarterbacks, none of whom could hurt Texas. Yeah, like Gabriel’s a 22-year-old senior who had completed 876 passes for 12,432 yards and 107 touchdowns before the matchup with Iowa State.

Yeah, that experienced.

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He sat out last year’s lopsided affair, a 49-0 beatdown for the Longhorns' biggest margin of victory ever in the 118-year history of the Texas-OU game — and UT's first shutout in the rivalry since 1965. Gabriel was sidelined with a bum shoulder, and rookie head coach Brent Venables tried to make do with five different Sooners throwing passes. Two of them were running backs. One was a punter. None of them was good.

Collectively, they somehow defied all odds and managed to complete nine passes for 39 yards. Bean, under pressure much of the day, connected on only nine as well for 136 yards, 58 of them on one big play. The other eight completions went for just 78 yards.

“We can get better every week,” Texas nickel back Jahdae Barron said. “We’re not rushing anything.”

Just opposing quarterbacks.

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A sputtering Saturday for Kansas

And that Kansas offensive machine that ranked first in the nation with a 60.5% conversion rate? It never got untracked against one of Texas’ best defenses in 20 years. Went 0-for-8 on third down.

It wasn’t any better on fourth down: 0-for-2.

“We never want to get too big-headed,” senior linebacker Jaylan Ford said. “We respect our opponent no matter who the quarterback is.”

The opposing quarterbacks who have trotted out for the first snap against Texas haven’t been hideous. Nor are they on the Johnny Unitas watch list.

Kansas’ Bean, Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson and Wyoming’s Evan Svoboda, the trio of No. 2 quarterbacks Texas has faced in the past three games, combined for one touchdown against the Longhorns — Bean’s 58-yard strike to a wide open Trevor Wilson on Saturday — with two interceptions and an average of just 158 yards in the air. And Alabama's Jalen Milroe wasn't ready to play big-time football.

None could inflict anywhere close to the damage that Gabriel might.

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Putting Texas' schedule in perspective

Steve Sarkisian didn’t totally embrace that theory.

“I think we’ve played some pretty good teams, teams so far that will probably be all bowl teams, if not competing for conference championships,” the Texas coach said. “Kansas was going to run their scheme, their system, and Jason’s played a lot of football.”

He’s actually right.

Texas’ five opponents are 15-8, and the Longhorns have inflicted the only losses on the records of Alabama, Wyoming and Kansas. Rice was sitting at 2-2 going into the weekend, and Baylor’s other two losses were to No. 12 Utah and a much-improved Texas State team.

And this Texas team has not gotten ahead of itself.

“I feel we haven’t accomplished anything,” said left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., an All-American candidate. “We have to keep pushing. This is only Week 5.”

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The Longhorns are stacking up just fine, in part because they have an elite quarterback with weapons galore and a superior defense. Ewers didn’t have his best game ever but still threw for 325 yards and a score and ran for two more touchdowns to pose yet another threat for Texas’ foes to prepare for.

Texas didn’t play very crisp football at all but wound up with 661 yards — the seventh-most in school history — and almost 40 more plays than Kansas and buried the Daniels-less Jayhawks behind an avalanche of runs by Jonathon Brooks for 217 yards and catches by Adonai Mitchell for 141 yards. Those two keep getting better and better, and both can expect yeoman duty for the first time against the Sooners.

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So is Texas-OU a big deal, like all those other high-profile games the former Georgia receiver has competed in?

“I think so,” Mitchell said. “I haven’t ever played in it, so this is my first little rodeo.”

For most of his teammates, it won’t be, as many of the Longhorns are more than a little familiar with this rivalry. And now they’re taking a load of confidence into the contest after blowing out the Jayhawks, who were considered a legitimate Big 12 contender and still could be if Daniels returns soon.

They put up a good fight for a half, which is why Sarkisian raved about the maturity of his team, which has played to a level not seen around here for the past 14 seasons.

“I’m pleased with the way we’re playing,” Texas' third-year head coach said. “We’ve been very businesslike. Our guys have really matured. Probably the thing I’m most proud of has been the ability of our team to accept the challenge and perform and not panic when you go in the locker room and it’s only 13-7.

“Championship teams get better during the season, and I think that’s something we’ve been able to do the last five weeks.”

Even if the opposing quarterbacks have been more who dat than who’s who.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas sifts through another backup quarterback before facing real deal