Anyone who got up a few minutes before halftime Saturday to avoid the rush to a Cotton Bowl restroom all but missed the game. A three-play fumble-touchdown fumble series turned an apparent affair into Texas' second laugher of the last three games at the State Fair.

One of those teams doesn't appear to be quite prepared for the demands of its new membership in the SEC.

Texas?

The No. 1 Longhorns appear to be at an even higher level after a 34-3 win over 18th-ranked Oklahoma in front of 92,100 red-hot fans.

Stay Golden: See photos of Longhorns and Quinn Ewers reclaiming Golden Hat from OU

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“Two years ago, when we won the Golden Hat,” Steve Sarkisian said, referring to Texas' 49-0 rout and the winner's ceremonial headpiece, “you would have thought we had won the Super Bowl.” This one Year it was like, “Okay, we got the Golden Hat back.” All right, let’s put it in the trophy case.

“‘Let’s keep grinding. Let's move on.'”

A good mantra, too, because next up at Royal Memorial Stadium is fifth-seeded Georgia, which is coming off a not-so-impressive 41-31 win over Mississippi State between the hedges. After that, it's Nashville, site of college football's second-biggest upset this season; back to Florida; a return to Fayetteville and the scene of Sark's most embarrassing loss as a Longhorn; another potential trap game against Kentucky; and the resumption of the state's biggest rivalry on Thanksgiving weekend.

A daunting matchup, no doubt, but the way Texas beat its biggest rival on Saturday suggests the Longhorns could be capable of topping the standings.

More specifically, Texas appears to be a more complete team than the one that made it to the national semifinals last year.

The Longhorns' defense is more cohesive than in his four seasons, Sark said, which may explain why they have only lost double-digit points twice this season. They didn't let up completely against Michigan and Mississippi State either, scoring 12 and 13 points respectively.

The Longhorns appear to have a defense typical of the SEC's best. And they don't even feel like they've reached their climax yet.

“Our best ball,” said safety Michael Taaffe, “is yet to come.”

Tell that to Michael Hawkins Jr., Oklahoma's freshman quarterback, who stood in the way of this defense all afternoon. On a single play, Taaffe caught a running start from Plano and placed Hawkins for a 13-yard loss. The Longhorns took over the middle of the field, forced Hawkins to checkdown (longest completion: 15 yards) or scramble (20 runs for 61 yards) and sacked him five times (34 yards lost).

Aside from the Sooners' first drive – which ended with a field goal set up by Billy Bowman Jr. on Quinn Ewers' first pass – Hawkins couldn't get much offense going. Frisco Emerson's quarterback, who replaced Denton Guyer's Jackson Arnold, certainly didn't benefit from a running game that saw him gain just 89 yards.

But Hawkins appears to be Brent Venables' quarterback to keep from this day forward.

Have you ever thought about changing quarterbacks?

“No,” was all Venables said.

By the way, Dillon Gabriel, the hero of the Sooners' 34-30 win last year, might have been a good option. But he was busy on Saturday, putting up 200 yards and a couple of touchdowns against Ohio State in the first half.

Maybe Venables should have tried a little harder to talk Gabriel out of leaving Norman.

Either he didn't want to risk two more quarterbacks entering the portal at some point this season, or he didn't think it would matter against the Longhorns. He called Texas “a really complete team” and added, “Against a really good team, you have a really small margin for error.”

In fact, Texas increased that leeway early on. The Horns had eight yards on their first three possessions.

Eight.

“It was a difficult start,” Ewers said.

“Overall, I need to play better.”

Especially when your head coach says after the game that there is no real difference between the ones and twos on his team, especially at quarterback. Given how Ewers started Saturday, it seemed like both starting quarterbacks were looking over each other's shoulders at some point, and neither were any threatening defenders.

But as always, Ewers recovered well, finishing 20 of 29 for 199 yards, avoiding any calls for Arch Manning. He got some help from Quintrevion Wisner, who rushed for 118 yards on just 13 carries. Gunnar Helm, fellow tight end, also caught five passes for 91 yards and a touchdown.

The Texas defense took care of the rest, forcing two fumbles just before halftime that extended the Longhorns' lead to 18 before heading to the locker room. Considering how much the Sooners had struggled with the Texas defense up to that point, it seemed like an insurmountable lead.

It didn't help the aesthetics either. But Greg Sankey, the SEC commissioner, seemed to enjoy the first game at the State Fair with some of his own teams.

“I think the people make it special,” he said. “It was moved to a different league, but it was special, it is special and will be special.”

Honestly, it wasn't as special a Saturday as the Sooners might tell you. But it might have something to do with a Texas team moving up spots from here on out.

Twitter/X: @KSherringtonDMN

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