Quinn Ewers passed for two touchdowns — including the game-winner to Xavier Worthy early in the fourth quarter — as No. 4 Texas produced a ragged performance but did enough to beat visiting Wyoming 31-10 on Saturday in a battle of undefeated teams in Austin, Texas.

Ewers finished with 131 yards through the air and ran for a 5-yeard score as the Longhorns (3-0) struggled with execution and played like they had a bit of a hangover after their huge win at Alabama on last Saturday.

Jonathon Brooks ran for career-best 164 yards on 21 carries, highlighted by a 61-yard jaunt to the Wyoming 5-yard line in the fourth quarter as Texas put some distance between itself and the feisty Cowboys.

Jerrin Thompson added a 27-yard pick-six for Texas with 8:46 to play.

Harrison Waylee ran for 110 yards and a score on 18 totes for Wyoming (2-1). Evan Svoboda, who started in place of regular first-team signal caller Andrew Peasley, hit on 17 of 28 throws for 136 yards and Thompson’s interception.

The Cowboys shocked Texas early when Waylee, a transfer from Northern Illinois seeing his first action of the season, ripped off a 62-yard TD to give Wyoming a 7-0 lead just 2:15 into the game.

The Longhorns responded via a 37-yard field goal by Bert Auburn with 9:46 to play in the first quarter. Texas’ scoring drive began with a 20-yard punt return by Worthy that gave the Longhorns the ball at the Wyoming 38.

Texas took a 10-7 lead on Ewers’ 1-yard pass to defensive lineman Byron Murphy II out of the jumbo set with 11:45 to play in the second quarter. The Longhorns used 17 plays and ran 8:03 off the clock bridging the first and second quarters to march 90 yards, converting two fourth downs along the way and getting a 14-yard Ewers-to Gunnar Helm pass to put them on the 1-yard line.

Wyoming tied the game with 36-yard field goal by John Hoyland with 20 seconds to play in the third quarter to culminate a 17-play, 77-yard drive that ate up 10:22 of the quarter.

But the Longhorns finally awoke from their offensive slumber, with Ewers hitting Worthy on a swing pass to the right flat that the speedster turned into a 44-yard TD on third snap of the fourth quarter.

–Field Level Media

Forgive Texas if the Longhorns need a minute to bask in the afterglow of the program’s most important win in years.

No. 4 Texas brings the momentum of a 34-24 win at Alabama into what will be labeled a “trap” game with undefeated Wyoming on Saturday in Austin.

“I think one of the mistakes I can make is to try and beat them down and then knock the confidence out of them,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I’ve spent two and a half years trying to instill confidence into them. I want to be mindful of that. I have to point out areas for us to improve and where we can get better as a team.”

The last time Texas was ranked in the top five was in 2010.

The Longhorns (2-0) scored a stirring victory over Alabama, its future Southeastern Conference rival, which was ranked No. 3 and had a 21-game home winning streak snapped in the defeat.

It was Texas’ first win on the road against a team ranked in the top-three of the Associated Press poll since 1969’s victory in the “Game of the Century” against Arkansas.

Everything is up for the Longhorns — they’re ranked in the top five and quarterback Quinn Ewers suddenly is squarely in the Heisman Trophy conversation.

Ewers had his coming-out party against the Crimson Tide, passing for 349 yards and three TDs, two to former Georgia wide receiver Adonai Mitchell. Just as impressive was the Longhorns’ ability to run off the final 7:14 of the game with a 12-play, 32-yard drive to cement the celebration.

The Longhorns are hopeful freshman running back CJ Baxter can play this week. He left the Alabama game after rushing for 31 yards on 11 carries.

“Knock on wood, not quite as serious as originally thought, so we’ll monitor him day-to-day this week,” Sarkisian said.

Day-to-day is the level of focus Sarkisian wants all of his players to apply.

There have been times since Texas’ run to the national championship game in 2009 when it looked the part of title contender but eventually wilted. This group of Longhorns are determined to make waves but are sticking to the one-game-at-a-time mantra that’s been the focus since they went 8-5 last year and were the preseason pick to win the Big 12 in their final year in the conference.

“I do not want our guys to not feel confident coming out of the Alabama game,” Sarkisian said. “They earned the right to be confident by the way they played. Now we’re trying to recreate it.”

The Cowboys (2-0) aren’t lacking confidence. They bring a Big 12 win to the fight this week but are 3-11 all-time against teams from the conference.

Wyoming opened the season with a 35-33 double-overtime win at home over Texas Tech and followed up that effort with a workmanlike 31-17 victory at home over Portland State last week.

Quarterback Andrew Peasley, who passed for 201 yards with a career-high three touchdowns and one interception in the win over Portland State, said he and his teammates were up for the challenge against Texas.

“Heck yeah,” Peasley said Monday. “We’re always going to be an underdog no matter who we play, so I think it will be fun for us to get this opportunity to go into a big crowd against a No. 4-ranked team in the nation. We just have to stay humble and play with Cowboy grit. That’s what it comes down to for us.”

Harrison Waylee is expected to make his Wyoming debut after rehabbing a knee injury in the offseason and the past two weeks. The transfer portal acquisition had 1,929 rushing yards and eight 100-yard rushing games in three seasons at Northern Illinois.

Texas holds a 5-0 advantage over Wyoming in the all-time series and will face the Cowboys in Austin for the first time since 2012.

–Field Level Media