I missed most of the first half, but it seems like we have to remember Quinn Ewers is still an inexperienced freshman and not Patrick Mahomes. There's going to be off-days (although it seems Pat had his own). When he doesn't have time to think, it seems he fires perfectly. When he sees a big opportunity, he overthinks. He's got every skill except experience.
On the defensive side, it seems we're not deep enough to withstand DB rotations. When Watts left, we got confused. It looked to be right at the time of the game where ISU was firing everything to attempt to stay afloat. A busted coverage TD and the inability to stay with ISU's (and FBS's) leading receiver were baffling.
Texas needs to realize when the "kill shot" is imminent. Up two scores with the ball in hand, Texas had a chance, once again, to scrap the opponent's game plan and put them into panic mode. A TD at that point puts Texas up 24-7, and leaves ISU wondering how to make up ground in a quarter after only scoring 1 TD through 3. Instead, a missed easy completion, a short run, and an overthrow has us punting. The aforementioned busted coverage scores the 2nd TD, makes the score 17-14, and has ISU realizing they can win. Texas must get better at finishing the kill when the opportunity is at hand.
This is a game Texas would have in seasons past. During the game winning drive, Texas ran right at the run-stopping ISU defense and succeeded. On a day when Texas made enough mistakes to lose, ISU made the last one (or two).