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Texas football quarterback Quinn Ewers assesses Oklahoma’s performance

Texas football quarterback Quinn Ewers assesses Oklahoma’s performance

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On Monday, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers didn’t want to sugarcoat it.

“I don’t think I played as well as I needed to to get to the standard,” Ewers told reporters at the Texas football team’s weekly media presentation.

Ewers spoke just two days after helping lead Texas to a 34-3 victory over Oklahoma in Dallas. The annual Red River Rivalry game was Ewers’ first appearance since suffering an oblique injury Sept. 14 against UTSA. The injury forced him to miss the Longhorns’ wins over Louisiana-Monroe and Mississippi State.

Against Oklahoma, Ewers threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Gunnar Helm, who added a 1-yard rushing touchdown. But the first pass he threw in 28 days was intercepted and he failed on several other attempts. He finished the game with 199 yards on 20 of 29 passes.

Sitting next to Texas coach Steve Sarkisian and three teammates at a postgame news conference on Saturday, Ewers said he needed to play better. The third-year starter dismissed the idea that rust could be contributing to his on-field issues as he had practiced the past two weeks.

A few days later, Ewers took part in his first one-on-one meeting with local media in weeks. Several of the questions he answered concerned his injury and subsequent return against the Sooners.

Were there any lasting effects of the oblique injury?

“It was a little different, but I mean nothing drastic compared to what threw me off.”

What did he not like about his performance?

“I think just my speed with my feet and my confidence in my throws would have been better during practice, which would have impacted the game. I think I should have just trained a little better.”

What does it say about Texas that it beat Oklahoma by 31 points despite not being at its best?

“I think it just shows what kind of team we have and there’s just a lot of ways we can win football games. It kind of takes the pressure off the back of the offense. “If our defense plays the right way.” Now it makes our job a lot easier.

What was it like being back on the field?

“It’s the best. It’s hard to be outside for a few weeks. You almost feel guilty about not being out there with the guys, knowing how much work we’ve put in together. It’s a great feeling to be out there with the guys during this live game.”

As a starter, Ewers is now 20-6 and has thrown for 890 yards and nine touchdowns this season. Ewers was a Heisman Trophy contender before his injury and completed 72.2% of his 108 passes.

Next up, he leads No. 1 Texas (6-0, 2-0) into a showdown against No. 4 Georgia (5-1, 2-1) at Royal-Memorial Stadium on Saturday night. Georgia has allowed a 300-yard passer in two of its last three games.

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