No. 5 Texas Longhorns look to bounce back against No. 25 Vanderbilt

Longhorns hope to bounce back after Georgia loss

The UT football team looks to bounce back after Saturday's rough loss to national power Georgia.

AUSTIN, Texas - The UT football team is looking to bounce back after Saturday's rough loss to national power Georgia.

Saturday's turnover-filled, 15-point loss to Georgia hurt.

"We expect better. We expect to play better. We expect to play to the standard," said head coach Steve Sarkisian.

But, better now, than later for the No. 5 Longhorns.

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AUSTIN, TX - OCTOBER 19: Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) is forced to throw quickly while being rushed by Georgia Bulldogs linebacker Jalon Walker (11) during the SEC college football game between Texas Longhorns and Georgia Bulldogs on October 19, 2024, at Darrell K Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, TX. (Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

"As I told the team, I'd much rather get knocked down in the 6th round, then knocked out in the 12th round. So we gotta get up off the mat, we gotta get back to work the way we know to do it, which we'll do," said Sark.

And fortunately, defensive standout Andrew Mukuba will be getting up off the mat as well, after leaving the Georgia game with a knee injury.

"He'll be questionable this week," said Sark. "We do have the bye after this game, so we're just gonna monitor him closely this week, but again, I'm not gonna put him out there if he's not ready to go."

For the Longhorns to bounce back Saturday at No. 25 Vanderbilt, and beyond, it'll help for quarterback Quinn Ewers to return to his pre-injury form. After straining his oblique against UTSA over a month ago, Quinn hasn't played at his usual surgical level in his two starts since.

Reporter: "Is Quinn's injury impacting his performance right now?"

"No, I don't think it's impacting him at all. I really think he's healthy and feels good about it," said Sark.

"I mean it's (the injury) there a little bit, but that's how injuries go, you're gonna feel it whether that's just in my mind thinking about it too much and I feel it or it's just there a little bit," said quarterback Quinn Ewers.

"I think Quinn definitely can play better. We gotta continue to work on his pocket presence and make sure that he's capitalizing on the premiere looks when we get them. But I also think we gotta play better around him. Our offense isn't about one player playing well, it's about all 11 playing well," Sark said.

The Longhorns head to Nashville to take on No. 25 Vanderbilt on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 3:15 p.m.