Texas remains undefeats with a win over Kansas, and Oklahoma is up next for the Longhorns.

Stewart Mandel and The Athletic College Football Staff

Tim Warner / Stringer via Getty Images

Texas isn’t perfect, but its championship potential is as clear as ever

When Texas went into the locker room leading Kansas by only six points at halftime, the Longhorns could have let their frustration get the best of them.

In the first two quarters, they moved the ball with relative ease, more than doubled the Jayhawks in offensive yardage and by most metrics controlled the game, but the scoreboard didn’t reflect that.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian told his team to “trust the plan.” There was no panic.

Then the No. 3 Longhorns did what they’ve done most of this season: dominate the second half, cruising to a 40-14 win over No. 24 Kansas to remain undefeated.

Read more here.

No. 3 Texas ends up with a comfortable 40-14 win over No. 24 Kansas

Although the Longhorns had a rough start offensively, the defense put together an impressive showing to keep the Jayhawks ever taking a lead. Eventually, the Longhorns did what they’ve done to most teams in the second half of games — dominating.

Texas outscored Kansas 27-7 in the second half. For the season, the Longhorns have outscored opponents 100-35 in the second half.

Advertisement

Texas has opened it up, taking a 33-14 lead over Kansas early in the fourth

After forcing a Kansas three-and-out, the Longhorns marched 72 yards in eight plays and Quinn Ewers hit Adonai Mitchell for a 5-yard touchdown to extend the lead.

The Longhorns have 558 yards of offense, more than double Kansas’ 216. They also have more than doubled the Jayhawks’ offensive snap count, 69-33.

Looks like Texas may put this one to bed.

The Longhorns have some breathing room after a key third-quarter stretch

Kansas opted to go for it on fourth-and-1 on its own side of the field and the Texas defensive front blew the play up. Five plays later, Jonathon Brooks punched it in from a yard out to give the Longhorns a 26-14 lead with 2:33 to go in the third.

If the Jayhawks don’t score soon, Texas may be able to put this one away.

Texas' last five drives

Texas’ opening drive of the game and opening drive of the second half both went for touchdowns. The other five ended as such:

• Field goal
• Field goal
• Missed field goal
• Interception
• Missed field goal

Longhorns lead Kansas 20-14 with 6:31 to go in the third quarter.

Bad news for Texas

Texas tight end JT Sanders is out for the game. He is on the Texas sideline in street clothes.

Starting CB Ryan Watts is also ruled out for the game. So the Longhorns are without two starters the rest of the way.

Kansas answers back

Texas opened up the second half with a bang, taking a two-score lead on a 54-yard Jonathon Brooks touchdown run, but the Jayhawks answered back immediately with a 58-yard touchdown pass from Jason Bean to Trevor Wilson.

The Longhorns lead the Jayhawks 20-14 with 11:36 to go in the third. This is very much a game.

Advertisement

Texas extends their lead 20-7

Texas scored on the first drive of the second half on a 64-yard touchdown run from Jonathan Brooks. Only 90 seconds into the second half and Brooks already has 190 rushing yards.

Texas leads 13-7 at the half

Despite moving the ball up and down the field with relative ease and dominating the yardage battle, Texas only leads Kansas 13-7 at the half.

The Longhorns finished with 342 offensive yards to the Jayhawks’ 139 but Texas hasn’t finished drives. After a pristine opening touchdown drive, the next three ended in field goal attempts (one of which was missed) and the final drive resulted in quarterback Quinn Ewers’ first interception of the season, ending a streak of 245 consecutive pass attempts without a pick.

Kansas has hung tough despite missing starting quarterback Jalon Daniels, who was a late scratch because of back tightness, an injury he has dealt with dating back to the preseason. The Jayhawks have racked up five tackles for loss on defense to compensate for an offense that has just 22 snaps and is 0-for-4 on third downs.

One thing to keep in mind: Texas has outscored opponents 73-28 in the second half of games this season.

Not something you see everyday

Texas put up 342 yards of offense in the first half against Kansas and only has 13 points. That's pretty strange. Teams that have put up 340+ yards in the first half of games this season have scored an average of...37 points by halftime, according to TruMedia. Texas hasn't had a bad drive yet, but that interception of Quinn Ewers right before halftime was critical for KU.

Is Texas really a CFP team?

As someone who picked Texas to make the College Football Playoff, I have to admit that I’m sweating a little bit about that pick. Texas is playing a time it’s at least two touchdowns better than without its quarterback, who happens to be one of the most exciting players in college football. Yet here we are, at halftime in Austin, and the Longhorns are only up six. Maybe Texas will take control of the game, but this is starting to feel like the type of game I expected Texas to grow out of this year.

Texas not finishing drives

Texas has reached at least the Kansas 30-yard line on all four drives today and has one touchdown to show for it.

Per TruMedia, the Longhorns entered the day having scored touchdowns on 47.6% of drives that reached at least the opponent's 30-yard line this season, 100th in the FBS.

Advertisement

Texas' star TE heads to the locker room

Texas tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders just walked to the locker room. If he’s out for an extended period that’s a blow for the Longhorns. Sanders is one of the best tight ends in the country and was tied for the nation’s lead in receiving yards among tight ends heading into this weekend’s games.

Texas leads Kansas 13-7 in the 2Q

Texas is letting Kansas hang around late in the first half. The Longhorns have more than doubled the Jayhawks in offensive yardage but lead only by six because Texas has settled for field goals on three consecutive drives — and missed the last one.

Kansas has the ball with 4:45 left in the first half and a chance to take the lead, trailing Texas 13-7.

Texas is trying to assert its dominance

Texas is on a mission this year to prove it isn’t the team that it has been in the past. The Longhorns want to assert themselves as the better team without messing around with lesser-talented foes. Even after giving up a weird touchdown to Kansas, Texas bounced back on the ensuing drive with a 67-yard run by running back Jonathan Brooks to set up a field goal. Texas is trying to make sure Kansas doesn’t gain confidence to make this a close game in the fourth quarter.

Don't count out KU

You may have counted Kansas out of this game when the Jayhawks went down 10-0. But even without Daniels at quarterback, Kansas scored on a freakish play when backup quarterback Jason Beam broke off a big run, fumbled at the tail end of the gain and it was picked up by Kansas’ Daniel Hishaw Jr. and taken all the way to the house for a touchdown. That’s how games get weird. It’s Texas’ job now to make sure it doesn’t stay weird.

Scoop and score

After a slew of slow starts this year, Texas came out of the gate quickly against Kansas, putting together two drives of 76-plus yards to take a 10-point lead.

The Jayhawks, without starting quarterback Jalon Daniels, got a favorable bounce to get on the board. Backup Jason Bean broke free for a 27-yard gain, fumbled after getting walloped by Texas safety Jalen Catalon, but KU running back Daniel Hishaw was there to scoop it up and run it in the final 18 yards for the touchdown.

Longhorns with a narrow 10-7 lead on Kansas less than a minute into the second quarter.

Advertisement

Not the ideal recipe for an upset

People who have been anticipating Texas being on upset alert against Kansas on Saturday given the Longhorns past blowing games to lesser Big 12 opponents probably have to choose another week. Not only is Texas up 7-0 early in the first half, Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels isn’t playing as he deals with back tightness.

Daniels out

Jalon Daniels is not starting today for Kansas.

What does this game mean in Big 12?

Oklahoma and Kansas State will still have something to say about the conference title – and the Red River Rivalry next week could be the game that truly establishes a favorite – but this is a big one. Incredibly, Texas hasn’t won a Big 12 title since 2009. Kansas has never won it and hasn’t even been a threat to do so since its 12-1 Orange Bowl season in 2007, when a head-to-head loss to Missouri kept the Jayhawks out of the Big 12 championship game. At minimum, this game will separate contender from pretender.

Load more updates