ARLINGTON — Texas will exit the Big 12 in the same manner that it entered: As a champion.

Quinn Ewers threw for 452 yards and four touchdowns and No. 7 Texas stormed to a 49-21 win over No. 18 Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday. The Big 12 championship is UT's fourth. The Longhorns won the league's inaugural title in 1996 and were crowned again in 2005 and 2009.

Texas is leaving for the Southeastern Conference next season.

The 28-point rout at AT&T Stadium also keeps UT in contention for a spot in the College Football Playoffs. The Longhorns will find out if they are one of the four semifinalists at 11 a.m. on Sunday. The CFP committee will announce who will be playing in the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl-hosted semifinal games.

If Texas doesn't make that cut, it will find out which New Year's Six bowl it is heading to later in the day.

But Texas (12-1) left little doubt as to who the best team in the conference was this season, and the Longhorns made that crystal clear before Nelly took the stage for Saturday's halftime show. After forcing a 3-and-out on Oklahoma State's game-opening possession, Texas scored on its first four drives.

The Longhorns entered halftime with a 35-14 lead and 422 yards of offense. According to ESPN Stats & Info, UT is the only Power 5 team in the last 20 seasons to record 400 yards and 35 pts in either half of a conference title game.

The star of the first half was Ewers, the third-year quarterback who went 23-for-31 for 354 yards and four touchdowns. His touchdown passes were spread out among four teammates, one of which was Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year T'Vondre Sweat on a trick play.

Entering the game, the Big 12 record for passing yards in the Big 12 Championship Game was Sam Bradford's 384 in 2008. Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield and Kansas State's Ell Roberson had been the only other quarterbacks to throw four touchdown passes in this conference contest.

Ewers claimed the passing yardage record in the second half.

Despite having outscored its opponents by a 200-122 margin in the third and fourth quarters of its previous games this season, Oklahoma State (9-4) was unable to cut into the 21-point deficit that it entered halftime with. Texas senior Keilan Robinson ran for two touchdowns in the second half to secure the most-lopsided score in a Big 12 Championship Game since 2008.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football smashes Oklahoma State to win Big 12, make CFP case