The Texas Longhorns football program took a 37-10 victory over the Rice Owls on Saturday.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers finished the game with 260 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. Rice quarterback JT Daniels, formerly from the USC Trojans and Georgia Bulldogs, recorded 149 passing yards, one passing touchdown and two interceptions. Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy led all of the Longhorns' receiving options with 90 receiving yards on seven receptions.

Who are some Texas football players who stood out the most during the Longhorns' win over Rice?

T'Vondre Sweat

The Longhorns' defense continuously found ways to hold strong against Rice on Saturday. They allowed a total of 27 rushing yards during the victory in Austin, limiting Rice running back Dean Connors to 23 yards on eight carries while not allowing a single rushing touchdown. Texas linebacker Jett Bush recovered a Rice fumble in the second half.

“I think the majority of the people that walked into the stadium thought that game was going to go a certain way, when in reality, our defense played a fantastic football game,” Sarkisian said, via Dallas Morning News Texas Longhorns Contributor Corey Smith. “There's not always a lot of talk about how good we are defensively.”

Sweat finished the game with five tackles, two solo tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss. The fifth-year Longhorn earned a Pro Football Focus defensive rating of 93.9, putting him in second place among players who have played in 25 defensive snaps or more in the 2023 season.

Jaylan Ford

Ford ended the day with five tackles, putting him on pace with Sweat and defensive back Malik Muhammad. He earned his first interception of the season when he picked off a pass from Daniels in the second quarter, corralling a pass intended for Rice tight end Boden Groen before being taken down at Texas's own 36-yard line.

“We came out strong on defense and really brought the heat,” Ford said, via The Daily Texan Sports Desk Editor Lindsey Plotkin. “Just being able to go out there and get our hands in the dirt brings huge amounts of energy, not just for the defense, but the crowd is in it when the offense gets the ball back.”

Ethan Burke

Burke, a four-star recruit in the Longhorns' 2022 recruiting class. He was one of many notable contributors on Texas's defensive line, leading the roster in both sacks with 1.5 and tackles for loss with 1.5. Texas's defense ended the night with a Pro Football Focus rating of 90.4, putting it in second place in the nation with places ahead of Southern Miss, Tennessee and Louisiana.

Sarkisian had high praise for Burke in August.

“He's a blue-collar guy,” Sarkisian said, via Longhorns Country. “He's got length, but at the end of the day, the guy's a mechanic. He goes to work. He rolls his sleeves up. He doesn't mind getting grimy.”

Jonathon Brooks

Brooks gained a total of 52 rushing yards and 42 receiving yards during Saturday's win. He took a screen pass from Ewers 37 yards for a touchdown, accelerating past Rice's defense to put the Longhorns up by three with 7:27 left in the first quarter.

“Jonathon had a nice play on the screen for the touchdown reception and ran the ball really effectively, (and) Jaydon Blue showed a lot of toughness today,” Sarkisian said, via Austin American-Statesman University of Texas beat reporter Thomas Jones. “Hopefully we can get CJ back healthy and ready to go for next week and have all four of those guys able to roll. They're very versatile players that provide a lot to us offensively that we can utilize.”