(This story was updated to correct a misspelling/typo.)

DALLAS — Bring on the Georgia Bulldogs.

Texas football did nothing to dispute its standing as the best team in the nation and the Oklahoma Sooners were the unfortunate test subject.

The mark of a great team is the ability to win in a variety of ways, and on a day when returning starting quarterback Quinn Ewers didn’t have his fastball, the Longhorns had more than enough in the tank to spank up on their Red River rivals.

34-3, Longhorns.

Steve Sarkisian evened up his personal head coaching record in this series at 2-2 and can now look forward to matching up with Georgia’s Kirby Smart in a must-watch affair.

His Horns sit at 6-0 for the first time since Mack Brown’s 2009 national runner-up team and are 2-0 in the SEC with Georgia rolling into Austin.

Ewers finished 20-for-29 for 199 yards and a touchdown to dependable tight end Gunnar Helm. But he wasn’t his usual accurate self, throwing an interception after coming back from an abdominal strain that forced him to miss two starts.

It didn’t matter. This is Sarkisian’s most complete of his four Texas teams and the 2024 crew was proficient in most every area. Give the Horns their due. Their quarterback missed on some throws he usually makes in his sleep, and they were still able to win going away against the nation’s No. 16 team.

It was a day of celebration for the orange half of the Cotton Bowl. The only boos coming from Texas fans were when the public address guy announced that beer sales would end at the conclusion of the third quarter.

The Horns trampled the SEC’s No. 4 defense with 177 rushing yards while an inspired defense put the clamps on the Sooner offense. Oklahoma went without a touchdown for the second time in three meetings and Texas forced two turnovers.

Michael Hawkins Jr. made history as the first true freshman to start at quarterback for the Sooners against the Horns, but there would be no huge breakout performance in his return to his hometown. Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski mixed up his coverages well and the pass rush led by sophomore Anthony Hill Jr. and junior Ethan Burke had Hawkins scrambling for his life for most of the day.

Texas didn’t play its most complete game, but the Horns showed they are miles better than the Sooners, and a whole lot of other teams to boot.

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas vs Oklahoma: Horns prove they're the nation's top team