No. 1 Texas hasn’t peaked yet. What will everyone else do when the time comes?

DALLAS – The starting quarterback, returning after a week-long injury layoff, threw an interception on the first drive. The running backs’ ball security issues resurfaced in the second quarter. Another inaccuracy by the quarterback prevented a potential scoring opportunity in the red zone in the second half.

There was plenty to criticize about No. 1 Texas’ performance, and none of it mattered as the Longhorns dominated No. 18 Oklahoma 34-3 on Saturday in a game that easily could have been worse than the one on Saturday Cotton Bowl scoreboard indicated.

It was far from a perfect display, and that might be the scariest part for the rest of the SEC. For all its flaws, Texas is still dominant. The Longhorns (6-0, 2-0 SEC) still have a lot of room for improvement.

“Our best ball is yet to come,” Texas safety Michael Taaffe said.

First, let’s talk candidly about the teams the Longhorns have faced so far. None of them would be considered elite. Two of them were ranked at the time of their assignment – Michigan and Oklahoma – but both had major deficiencies, particularly in the passing game.

But that’s not Texas’ problem. The Longhorns can only play the game plan given to them. And there are still challenges ahead: No. 5 Georgia visits the Forty Acres next week, a season-ending showdown looming with rival Texas A&M — the only 3-0 SEC team at the moment — and tricky games against Superior – Arkansas and Vanderbilt expected, sandwiched in between.

Meanwhile, we can only judge Texas by what we’ve seen compared to everyone who’s stood up to them, and so far it’s pretty darn good.

“I think sometimes people look at the score and think, ‘Well, the offense had to score 50 points to make it look the way it’s supposed to look,'” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “When you play great defense and get a team to within three points, 34-3 is a real win in this type of ballgame.”

Texas could have easily fallen into an early hole after a difficult first quarter as quarterback Quinn Ewers shook off the rust after a multi-week absence with oblique injuries, but the Longhorns’ dominant defense put them in the lead. Sure, the Sooners came in with a true freshman starting quarterback and five receivers, but Oklahoma had found a way to get out of a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter at Auburn.

“This is football. Injuries are part of the game,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said afterward. “We have good players. You are young. They don’t necessarily have the same track record, but we have good, capable players.”

Texas did what it was supposed to do given the situation by suffocating the Sooners and never letting up. The Longhorns harassed quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. all day and finished the game with 11 tackles for loss and five sacks. They clogged up the middle of the field in the passing game and forced Oklahoma to primarily attack the sidelines. They rarely allowed yards after contact.

Linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. and edge rusher Colin Simmons led the way, but the depth of Texas talent was on full display: 26 players recorded a tackle Saturday.

“We never want to be one-dimensional,” Sarkisian said. “We want to have the ability to play well in all three phases, and … if one of those phases is a little off, like because the offense was too early, the defense and special teams can continue to play really well until that phase gets going .” . And we felt like we had put together a team to do that.”

The Longhorns can win by hanging half a hundred. You can win with a dominant defense. Your special teams can change the game; Silas Bolden showed off return skills that made him an attractive candidate in Oregon State’s transfer portal. Whatever style a team wants to play, Texas can match it shot for shot.

After the Longhorns held the Sooners to just three points on their first three possessions, the offense got going. Ewers came around, firing a hit to DeAndre Moore on the run and then hitting tight end Gunnar Helm for a touchdown pass to put Texas on the field.

Texas forced consecutive fumbles and took full advantage. The running game got going as sophomore Tre Wisner and the Longhorns offensive line imposed their will. Wisner showed patience in the tailback, making a 36-yard run that led to a touchdown in the second quarter after fumbling, only to have a frantic Bolden dive for the ball in the end zone.

Sarkisian showed his trust in Wisner and returned to him for the first play of the next series. Wisner rewarded him with a 43-yard touchdown run and a 21-3 lead that was more than enough. Wisner finished his career with a career-high 118 yards rushing.

Ewers did not use his injury layoff as an excuse for his uneven performance.

“I definitely should have made those throws,” he said afterwards. “I’m not going to tell you it’s rust because I’ve been practicing for the last two weeks. It’s all up to me.”

But Texas is still well staffed at this position, as backup Arch Manning showed in his two and a half games in place of the injured Ewers.

This Texas team is loaded with speed, size, strength and depth. And it hasn’t played its best football yet. The Longhorns know it, and that’s encouraging to Sarkisian, who witnessed a fun but focused locker room after the game.

“We enjoyed the win… But it’s almost like our team knew there was still a lot of work to do,” Sarkisian said. “Two years ago when we won the Golden Hat, you would have thought we had won the Super Bowl.

“This year it was like, ‘Okay, we got the Golden Hat back, let’s put it in the trophy case, let’s keep grinding, let’s keep going.’ I think that’s the mentality of our team.”

There is a balance between fun and concentration. Sarkisian, who said earlier this week that he had never eaten a Fletcher’s Corny Dog — the iconic food item of the State Fair of Texas — walked into the postgame press conference holding one in his left hand and shouting, “I got my corn.” Dog, you!” everyone,” to the assembled media. His review: “It’s amazing.”

The players also had fun, as Hill subsequently mocked former Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield on social media and Sarkisian jokingly put his face in his hands when Hill was asked about it.

But Texas center Jake Majors best embodied his team’s postgame mentality with a bandage over the bridge of his nose and dried blood underneath. It wasn’t all smiles. It was matter-of-fact.

“We have so much (room to grow),” Majors said. “We still have a lot of football left. The good teams are more happy about winning than the great teams. The great teams move on. That’s what we want to be.”

The top-ranked Longhorns are great, but they can be even better. And that’s pretty scary for the rest of the SEC and the rest of the country.

(Photo: Alex Slitz/Getty Images)