3 Texas Longhorns to blame for disastrous Red River loss to Oklahoma

2. Quinn Ewers

It's very simple: In football, you won't win very many games when you lose the turnover battle. And Texas lost the turnover battle badly against Oklahoma.

Quarterback Quinn Ewers accounted for all three giveaways — two interceptions and a fumble. He had been doing an outstanding job at protecting the football going into Saturday. The change in fortune couldn't have come at a worse time.

Each turnover was a killer, but the first was the worst. Ewers threw the ball straight at a defender. It was a telegraphed pass. It should never have been thrown. The INT set up Oklahoma at the Texas 22-yard line and Dillon Gabriel promptly made the opposing QB pay for it with a nine-yard scoring run.

Ewers' second interception was more of a bad break on a deflected pass but he didn't exactly make it easy on his receiver there and invited disaster in. If he had put that ball on the money, the likelihood of a turnover drops. A touchdown, or at least a field goal, likely follows.

The fumble was simply bad ball security. As a quarterback, Ewers has to be more careful. His carelessness ultimately cost Texas the game.

Ewers has so much potential. His arm talent is worth getting excited about. But this is the kind of performance that maintains the skepticism about him leading the Longhorns to the promised land.