No. 7 Texas overcomes mistakes to hold off Iowa State

Field Level Media|published: Sat 18th November, 23:33 2023

Nov 18, 2023; Ames, Iowa, USA; Texas Longhorns running back CJ Baxter (4) catches a pass against the Iowa State Cyclones at Jack Trice Stadium. credits: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

Quinn Ewers passed for 281 yards and two touchdowns, and CJ Baxter ran for 117 yards as No. 7 Texas overcame a slew of mistakes to beat Iowa State 26-16 on Saturday in a key Big 12 Conference game in Ames, Iowa.

The Longhorns (10-1, 7-1 Big 12) remain alone atop the league standings and all but clinched a spot in the Big 12 championship game on Dec. 2 in Arlington, Texas.

Ewers completed 23 of 33 passes and Xavier Worthy caught four of his throws for 77 yards. Baxter, playing in place of the injured Jonathon Brooks, had his first collegiate 100-yard rushing game. Texas outgained Iowa State 411-332 and held the Cyclones to just 9 yards rushing on 21 carries.

Iowa State (6-5, 5-3 Big 12) got 323 yards passing and two TDs from Rocco Becht in the loss. Jayden Higgins hauled in seven passes for 104 yards.

Iowa State got the game's first points on a 45-yard field goal by Chase Contreraz at the 3:27 mark of the first quarter. Bert Auburn answered for Texas with a 39-yard FG with 11:17 left in the second quarter that tied the score at 3-3.

Auburn booted a 50-yarder on the final play of the quarter to give the Longhorns a 6-3 lead at halftime.

The Longhorns finally found the end zone on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Ewers to Jordan Whittington with 5:53 to play in the third quarter to put Texas up 13-3.

The Cyclones responded as Becht hit Eli Sanders from 14 yards to cut the Texas lead to 13-9. But the Longhorns' T'Vondre Sweat blocked Contreraz's PAT kick and Austin Jordan scooped it up and returned it 82 yards for two points for Texas.

Texas added to the lead on a 31-yard TD pass from Ewers to Gunnar Helm on the first play of the fourth quarter. The Longhorns then added a two-point pass to Whittington to push their advantage to 23-9.

The Cyclones were far from done, scoring on a 66-yard pass from Becht to Easton Dean on fourth-and-1 with 12:44 to play as the Texas defense sold out to stop the run.

Auburn's third field goal of the game, this one from 42 yards, put Texas up 26-16 with 6:14 remaining.

—Field Level Media

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