Jonathon Brooks, No. 3 Texas break free from No. 24 Kansas with rival Oklahoma up next
After Saturday's 40-14 win over No. 24 Kansas, Texas' Kelvin Banks Jr. proved to be a left tackle, not a politician.
Do the No. 3 Longhorns deserve to move to the top of The Associated Press' poll, the sophomore was asked.
"That's not up to us," Banks replied. Later, given a chance to campaign for his team, he said, "I feel like we haven't accomplished anything yet, man."
Perhaps Banks was being too modest. With its 26-point win at Royal-Memorial Stadium, Texas improved to 5-0 for the first time since 2009. The Longhorns have beaten their first two conference foes by a combined score of 78-20. The 661 yards of offense were the seventh-most in school history and the program's most ever in a Big 12 game.
The right arm belonging to quarterback Quinn Ewers accounted for 49% of that offense, and he complemented those 325 passing yards with two touchdown runs. With 10 receptions, 141 yards and a 9-yard touchdown catch, Adonai Mitchell developed into Ewers' favorite target against the Jayhawks.
Saturday's star, though, was sophomore running back Jonathon Brooks.
Brooks rushed 20 times for 217 yards and two touchdowns. One of his two scores was from 54 yards out, and he also ripped off a 67-yard run. After recording 164- and 106-yard performances in the past two weeks, he produced the 40th 200-yard game in program history.
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"I trust in my O-line," Brooks said. "We went to work this week in practice, and we really honed in on finishing blocks and finishing runs and just making that impact."
Texas never had to use punter Ryan Sanborn. But that doesn't mean the entire afternoon went smoothly.
A tale of two halves
Despite all five of its first-half drives reaching Kansas territory, Texas had mustered only 13 points by halftime. Ewers recorded a career-high 30-yard touchdown run for the game's first score, but Texas had to settle for field goals on two drives that reached the 10. Kicker Bert Auburn missed a 50-yard field goal in the second quarter, and UT's final possession of the half featured an odd sequence of plays and Ewers' first interception this season.
But in the second half, Texas scored a touchdown on four of its six possessions.
"I kind of reassessed what I was calling when we were getting down there," Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said of the first-half issues. "Was I trying to be a little too cute? And did we miss some opportunities or were they just not there? I think there was kind of a combination of things. But the same thing we told the guys at halftime: The plan is the plan."
A big day for the defense, too
While Texas had a historic day on offense, Kansas (4-1, 1-1) mustered only 260 yards over its 46 snaps. The Jayhawks had to turn to backup quarterback Jason Bean ahead of the kickoff as Jalon Daniels reportedly dealt with back issues.
That meant for the third straight game, Texas faced an opponent that was starting a backup quarterback. Two weeks ago, Wyoming's Evan Svoboda went 17-for-28 for 136 yards and an interception in a 31-10 Texas win. Last week in Waco, UT sacked Sawyer Robertson five times and limited the Baylor backup to 203 passing yards with a turnover.
Bean completed just nine of his 21 attempts, and 58 of his 136 passing yards were earned on one third-quarter touchdown pass. The other Kansas touchdown was scored in the first half when Bean fumbled at the end of a 27-yard scramble but teammate Daniel Hishaw scooped up the loose ball and ran the final 18 yards into the end zone.
"The reality of Kansas, they're going to run their scheme, they're going to run their system, and then Jason Bean is more than capable; he's played a lot of football," Sarkisian said. "We had to defend the scheme because the quarterback, it wasn't such a skill set difference, you know? I thought we defended him really well."
Another fourth-quarter burst
Texas did not recover any fumbles or intercept any passes but did force a turnover on downs on perhaps the game's biggest play. With Texas leading 20-14 in the third quarter, Kansas decided to go for it on fourth down at its 38-yard line. Despite needing only a few inches, the Jayhawks lined up in the shotgun and then fumbled the handoff.
Texas took over with 4 minutes, 25 seconds left in the third quarter. Five plays later, Brooks ran into the end zone, and Texas never looked back.
"For us, backs against the wall, fourth down, they tried us, and we were able to get a stop," UT linebacker Jaylan Ford said. "It just says a lot about the mentality that we have on this defense."
The Longhorns will hit pause on their farewell tour through the Big 12 since next week's opponent is moving with them to the Southeastern Conference. As they always do, the Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners will meet at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
Last year, Texas earned a lopsided 49-0 win over their Red River rivals. Oklahoma, however, has won six of the past eight games in this series.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football team beats conference foe Kansas to stay undefeated
