It was a tale of two halves for the University of Texas (UT) Longhorns in their 41-20 home victory over the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) Roadrunners.
The first half saw the Longhorns struggle against the decade-old program from down Interstate 35 (I-35), but in the second half, UT justified its entry into the polls despite last week’s 20-19 loss to Alabama with a Heisman worthy effort from junior running back Bijan Robinson.
Austin ABC affiliate KVUE reported that Robinson’s 78-yard touchdown scamper after the break set the tone for the Longhorns.
The rusher then added two more to help UT avert an upset, finishing the evening with 183 yards on 20 carries.
Sophomore quarterback Hudson Card continued to fill in for injured starter Quinn Ewers despite dealing with an injury of his own and chipped in 161 passing yards with a touchdown pass thrown to fourth-year running back Roschon Johnson.
Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian praised his team’s calm under pressure.
“I didn’t think we blinked for a second,” the second-year coach said, Austin NBC affiliate KXAN reported. “All in all, that’s a good football team we beat. I loved the way our team stayed the course and hung together.”
According to Sarkisian, Card is still nursing the ankle injury he sustained in the Alabama game.
The victory moved 2-1 UT to No. 19 in the USA Today Coaches Poll while the Longhorns moved down from No. 21 to No. 22 in The Associated Press (AP) Poll, KXAN reported.
UT will begin the Big XII slate of its schedule with a visit to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech on Saturday.