There will be those who dismiss what Texas redshirt junior quarterback Casey Thompson did Saturday night in a 58-0 blowout of Rice as beating up on an overmatched opponent.
And to some degree they’d be right.
But in the grander scheme of things, Thompson proved he’s the Longhorns’ starting quarterback because of the efficiency in which he operated the Texas offense – leading the Longhorns to seven touchdowns on their first eight possessions before handing the ball to Hudson Card, who started the first two games for UT, with 7:14 left in the third quarter and Texas up 51-0.
“There’s something about him when he gets into the game that the ball goes down the field,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said of Thompson. “I’d imagine Casey will take the lead (at quarterback) heading into our game against Texas Tech, and that Hudson (Card) will get an opportunity to play as well.”
Thompson completed 15 of 18 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns and scrambled twice for 7 yards (including a 4-yard run on third-and-3 that kept alive a drive to a 20-yard TD pass to tight end Jared Wiley in the second quarter).
Along the way, Thompson converted a fourth-and-3 with a 31-yard, catch-and-run completion to Xavier Worthy on UT’s first possession; converted a third-and-14 from the UT 7 by hitting Kelvontay Dixon with a 22-yard completion on a skinny post; and even served as a lead blocker on a 27-yard, cutback run by Roschon Johnson in the second quarter.
“Coach Sark obviously has to make that decision (about the starting quarterback going forward),” Thompson said. “I can only control what I can control. But obviously I’m a competitor, and I want to be the guy going forward.”
Thompson completed nine of his first 10 passes as Texas built a 30-0 lead. The only incompletion was an interception on the opening play of UT’s second possession when Thompson’s arm was hit as he delivered the ball. Rice, however, failed to make Texas pay for the miscue, missing a 29-yard field goal after having first down at the Texas 12.
Texas safety Jerrin Thompson forced a fumble that was recovered by cornerback Josh Thompson at the Rice 44 with 1:30 left in the first half – just enough time for Thompson to find freshman receiver Xavier Worthy for a 13-yard touchdown pass with 14 seconds left on the clock, putting Texas up 44-0 at halftime.
It was a coming out party for both Thompson and Worthy, who had seven catches for 88 yards and a touchdown – all in the first half.
Sarkisian sounded determined on Monday to the get the ball to the speedy Worthy more, and so this week’s wrinkle was using Worthy as the recipient of pop-passes on jet sweeps.
Worthy also had early-play-of-the-game honors after grabbing a pass from Thompson on fourth-and-3 from the Rice 41 on UT’s opening possession of the game and turning it into a 31-yard catch-and-run to the Rice 10.
