Ewers, Overshown reflect on UT’s largest Red River victory in rivalry history

Texas+quarterback+Quinn+Ewers+prepares+to+throw+the+ball+at+the+UT+vs.+OU+game+on+Oct.+8%2C+2022.+UT+beat+OU+49-0.+

Peyton Sims

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers prepares to throw the ball at the UT vs. OU game on Oct. 8, 2022. UT beat OU 49-0.

Jordan Mitchell, Associate Sports Editor

Redshirt freshman starting quarterback Quinn Ewers grew up glued to the TV watching the Longhorns play every Saturday.

Hailing from Southlake, Texas — a suburb of Dallas-Fort Worth and a manageable three-hour commute from Austin — Texas has always been Ewers’ core, even though he decommitted from Texas to play for Ohio State his freshman year. 

After a turbulent year of riding the bench in Columbus, Ewers transferred back to Texas in the spring and sustained a clavicle sprain during week two’s Alabama game. The Longhorns’ starter made his post-injury debut close to home at the annual Oklahoma game after being told he would start on Thursday.


Despite the short notice, Ewers dominated, passing for 289 yards and four touchdowns in the historic 49-0 win.

When asked if he played emotionally at the Cotton Bowl, Ewers parroted one of head coach Steve Sarkisian’s mantras.

“Play with emotion,” Ewers said, “but don’t play emotional.”

Regardless of if a player is from Texas or elsewhere, the Red River Showdown is always a special game for the Longhorns. While Oklahoma is arguably Texas football’s biggest rivalry, this season’s matchup felt especially important for many of the upperclassmen. The program hadn’t won the matchup since 2018 during former head coach Tom Herman’s second season in Austin. 

Super seniors like safety Anthony Cook and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown came into the game knowing that Saturday would be their last opportunity to wear the Golden Hat. The previous three years, Texas narrowly lost to Oklahoma by seven, eight and seven points in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

In the days before the showdown, the Longhorns’ coaching staff told the team that they were going to write the script, but the team had to write the movie. Texas certainly did that, with the baby-faced and mulleted Ewers leading the team to its largest margin of victory in series history.

“Now when people ask us about our senior year, ‘What happened with the OU game?’” Overshown said. “We(‘ll) tell them (with) a smile on our face, ‘Go ahead and sit down.’” 

One part of the story that will likely be told in every player’s rendition of the 2022 Texas-Oklahoma game is the stadium atmosphere. Like previous seasons, the raucous crowd of 92,100 was split along “the battle line,” with Texas fans at the northwest endzone and Oklahoma fans at the southeast. The seas of burnt orange and white and crimson and cream meet at the 50-yard line, spurring less-than-cordial bickering and fights throughout the game.

However, by the end of the third quarter, Oklahoma fans had largely flocked out of the Cotton Bowl Stadium and out to the Texas State Fair, leaving the southeast end zone vacated and lifeless. Throughout the final 15 minutes of the game, pockets of burnt orange migrated into the enemy territory so that they could shout at the Sooners as they retreated back to their locker room.

After three years of tough losses, Overshown didn’t have much remorse for the amount of Oklahoma fans who left early.

“Yeah I noticed,” Overhown said and laughed. “Not being able to (put) that hat on for years in a row, it’s heartbreaking. But leaving with it this year, you’re never gonna forget that.”

In addition to being Texas’ largest margin of victory against Oklahoma, Saturday’s win was also the first time in eight years that the game was decided by more than a possession. It was also the first time that Oklahoma had been shut out since 1998.

“You’ve done something that (hasn’t) been done in a long time,” Overshown said. “That means you’re doing something right.”