The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners met in Dallas for their 119th all-time meeting. After an absolute drubbing a season ago by the Texas Longhorns, the Red River Rivalry was back at 100 mph in 2023.
And this time, it was NFL Draft prospect Dillon Gabriel and the Sooners that got the last laugh.
The Red River Rivalry Was Drunk Early On
The first quarter lasted approximately as long as a Martin Scorsese film, and there was no shortage of outrageous twists and turns along the way.
An ugly Quinn Ewers interception on the second play from scrimmage set the Sooners up for a five-play, 22-yard touchdown drive.
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After driving down the field on the next drive, which included two fourth-down conversions, Ewers led TE Ja’Tavion Sanders into danger on the goal line. The ball was launched into the air and intercepted again by the Sooners.
And after a three-and-out by the Sooners, they tried to punt the ball back to the Longhorns. But Texas blocked the punt and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown.
That all happened within the first six minutes of the game.
Dillon Gabriel’s Legacy Performance
The Sooners passer was one of the big winners from the Week 6 college football slate. He finished 23 of 38 for 285 yards through the air. However, his bigger impact came on the ground.
The Longhorns have an incredible defensive front, and that front was beating the Oklahoma front line with relative ease throughout the day.
The team’s longest run from anyone not wearing No. 8 was just 12 yards. Gabriel added 113 rushing yards to his passing performance, and they were critical yards escaping pressure.
It was, as National Recruiting Expert for On3 Hayes Fawcett said, a legacy performance.
Have a Day, Dillon Gabriel‼️
-23/38 Passing
-398 Total Yards (285 Passing/ 113 Rushing)
-2 TDs (1 Passing/ 1 Rushing)Legacy Game https://t.co/kdNqWQJwuy pic.twitter.com/GPKFjpTNtt
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) October 7, 2023
And that legacy game culminated with a legacy drive, which ended in a passing touchdown with 15 seconds remaining, no timeouts, and the pocket collapsing around him.
Dillon Gabriel’s numbers on that game-winning touchdown drive vs. Texas:
— 4 for 4
— 58 passing yards
— Three rushing yards
— The game-winning touchdown pass
pic.twitter.com/tHjzwrhv9o— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) October 7, 2023
College Football Network’s Oliver Hodgkinson and Cam Mellor each believed that drive was Gabriel’s “Heisman moment”
That whole drive is the Dillon Gabriel Heisman moment
— Oliver Hodgkinson (@ojhodgkinson) October 7, 2023
Quinn Ewers’ Mixed Reviews
It was a very ugly start for Ewers. He had three turnovers in the game, and one of his turnovers almost directly kept the Longhorns out of the end zone early in the game.
We even got a T-Swift reference early on from ESPN’s Matt Miller.
To quote Taylor Swift, Quinn Ewers needs to calm down.
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) October 7, 2023
But Ewers came back and performed well after an ugly start, which showed the mental toughness necessary for young quarterbacks playing after mounting mistakes. The fumble late in the game hurt, but he calmed his feet down amidst mounting pressure from the Oklahoma defensive front.
Despite his passing efficiency as the game wore on, it didn’t keep fans on Twitter from taking shots at his performances against teams not from Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Quinn Ewers when he’s not playing Alabama pic.twitter.com/GZ5wNuXWHn
— Nick Perkins (@NPerkins96) October 7, 2023
Ewers finished 31 of 37 for 346 yards and a touchdown, but it will be his three turnovers that sticks in the mind of fans for the foreseeable future.
In the end, it seems that College Football Insider Brett McMurphy had the last laugh.
Texas is back … to the Alamo Bowl
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) October 7, 2023