As expected, Texas took down Louisiana Monroe in Week 1. Sark’s Longhorns covered the huge 37+ point spread in a game performance headlined by minimal big mistakes and a few huge touchdowns on defense and special teams.
Coming into this game, the Football on the 40 crew unanimously picked a win in the home opener. We won every single bet placed on this game. Andrew and Bowen won bets that Texas would cover the spread. Bowen, Jake, and Kevin won bets that Texas and ULM would combine to score less than 64 points. Kudos to Bowen for winning both spread and over/under bets, earning over 7 betting units from the Texas game!
The Longhorns got off to a fast start with a blocked punt by D’Shawn Jamison which was returned for a 12-yard touchdown by Keilan Robinson. The Longhorns were on the board with 7 points before the first offensive snap!
Offensively, the team produced well against the ULM defense. Quinn Ewers struggled a bit early with an interception on a throw to Xavier Worthy, but Ewers recovered to put up a respectable stat line in his first college start. Quinn ended the game with a 66% completion percentage, 225 yards passing, two TDs, and one INT.
In the rushing attack, the Longhorns were led by Bijan Robinson who racked up 71 yards in 10 carries, one rushing TD, and one receiving TD on a pass from Ewers. The rushing attack on Saturday was broad with Rochon Johnson and Johnathan Brooks also getting meaningful snaps in the backfield. Rochon (34 yds rushing) and Johnathan Brooks (32 yds rushing) each rushed for one touchdown.
The tight ends looked legit in Saturday’s passing game. Ja’Tavion Sanders led the Longhorns in receiving with 6 catches, 85 yards, and a touchdown. Freshman wide receiver Casey Cain also had a flash play going for 43 yards on his catch from Ewers. Despite being targeted several times with unsuccessful deep balls Xavier Worthy ended the game with two receptions and 24 yards receiving.
Defensively, the Longhorns looked improved from last season, which comes as welcome news.
The team was led in tackling by Demarvion Overshown who racked up eight total tackles and two TFLs. Overshown was a force to be reckoned with, frequently using his speed to defend on the edge against ULMs skill players. Defensive end Barryn Sorrell had a standout performance as well with six tackles and 1.5 sacks. The defensive highlight of the game goes to senior D’Shawn Jamison who had a 69-yard pick-six for a touchdown.
It was a comfortable start to the season with most longhorns on the roster getting an opportunity to play. We’ll see how the experience translates with a high-powered Alabama coming to Austin for Game 2.
