Our three biggest takeaways from Texas' runaway win in the Big 12 Championship Game
Your move, College Football Playoff selection committee. Texas' 49-21 win over Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship Game — and it wasn't even as close as that score suggests — was an emphatic ending to its 27-year stay in the league. It was a second straight complete-game effort, on the heels of last week's 57-7 win over Texas Tech.
Our takeaways from Saturday's win:
Is Texas a CFP team? We'll find out Sunday
Texas did what it had to do to impress the CFP committee. Now, the No. 7 Longhorns can only watch the other games and wait for their fate. Top-ranked Georgia plays No. 8 Alabama in the SEC title game this afternoon while No. 2 Michigan faces No. 16 Iowa in the Big Ten championship game. Unbeaten and No. 4 Florida State, probably going with its third-string quarterback, plays No. 14 Louisville. Whether a one-loss Georgia would fall behind a one-loss Texas, we wouldn't know until Sunday. Whether an Alabama team that knocked off the two-time defending national champions but also lost at home to Texas in September would move past Texas, we wouldn't know until Sunday.
More: Kirk Bohls and Cedric Golden share their best and worst moments from Saturday's win
Oregon will drop from No. 5 after losing to No. 3 Washington on Friday. The undefeated Huskies will be in the CFP. Ohio State is No. 6 but did not qualify for the Big Ten title game, which means Texas' win should vault the Longhorns past the Buckeyes. The CFP committee tends to favor conference champions when breaking résumé ties for the playoff field.
So it comes down to this: Texas took care of its business and now needs Alabama or Louisville to take care of theirs.
The mighty Quinn: Ewers skewers Oklahoma State
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers was certainly ready for his team’s big moment in the Big 12 title game. The Longhorns' second-year starter threw for a title-game record of 452 yards and tied another title-game record with four touchdown passes as the Longhorns’ overwhelmed Oklahoma State. As a team, Texas racked up 662 yards of offense, which surpassed the previous title-game record of 627 yards set by Oklahoma in 2008.
Ewers, who reportedly will announce his decision to return to school for 2024 or enter the NFL draft as early as this coming week, finished 35-of-46 for 452 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. He threw touchdowns to Adonai Mitchell, Ja'Tavion Sanders, Jaydon Blue — and even defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat, the Big 12 defensive player of the year who lined up at tight end close to the goal line on one first-half score.
Hard to run the ball against Texas
Beware, whoever gets Texas in a bowl game. Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon, whose 1,580 yards rushing entering the game led all FBS rushers, found out that the stats don’t lie when it comes to the Texas rush defense. Anchored by the defensive tackle tandem of T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy II, Texas ranks fifth in the nation by allowing just 85 yards a game on the ground. That number will drop after facing Gordon and the Cowboys; Gordon had just 34 yards on 13 carries while Oklahoma State managed just 1.7 yards a carry on 18 runs.
Texas' big win was fueled by several big plays
Let's talk big plays. Keilan Robinson sprung a 57-yard touchdown run as he tip-toed down the sideline. Adonai Mitchell had a 62-yard catch and run that didn't reach the end zone but was still a huge gain. Xavier Worthy had a big 54-yard catch and run as well, weaving through Oklahoma State defenders.
Ja'Tavion Sanders (8-105-01) and Mitchell (6-109-1) powered the passing game, and Worthy (6-86) was right behind though he was injured in the second half.
Texcetera
Texas has had an interception in each of its last seven games. Kitan Crawford had Saturday's pick, a really nice diving play in the first half. … This is Steve Sarkisian's first conference championship as a head coach. ... Among other records Texas set today was attendance: the announced crowd of 83,114 is tops for a Big 12 title game, breaking the previous mark of 83,114 set in 2018 when the Longhorns lost to Oklahoma.
Next up for Texas: it all depends on the CFP selection committee
Will it be the CFP for the Longhorns? Or the Cotton Bowl, probably against Missouri or perhaps against Ohio State. It depends on what happens in today's Alabama-Georgia game and tonight's Florida State-Louisville matchup.