For the first time in 84 years, Texas and Florida played an organized football game.

Let’s just say the college football world will be just fine if these teams don’t play again for another 84 years (that won’t be the case because they’ll play at Florida next year).

Texas dominated a depleted Florida squad on Saturday and cruised to a 49-17 victory.

Did Billy Napier get a vote of confidence on Thursday knowing that a Texas beatdown was imminent? That’s debatable. What’s not debatable is that Florida lost its 8th consecutive game vs. an AP Top 25 team, and it was never in doubt.

Here are 3 takeaways from Saturday’s lopsided affair in Austin:

1. Texas’ offense was no match for a depleted Florida defense

If we’re being honest, that wasn’t even a vintage Texas offensive performance and it was still a group that put it on cruise control after a 35-0 lead at half. The Longhorns had drops, overthrows and stalled drives. But against a Florida defensive backfield that was without 3 starters, there was never any doubt who was in control.

Quinn Ewers avoided early turnovers and Steve Sarkisian reminded the world that few can scheme better than he can.

Ewers finished with 333 yards, 5 touchdowns and most importantly, 0 interceptions. His afternoon was done by the the middle of the third quarter, which gave way to Arch Manning in a 42-3 game.

Also of note for Texas, Isaiah Bond returned and looked the part for the Longhorns. He had 99 scrimmage yards (44 on a run) and a score. The Alabama transfer would’ve had an even bigger day if Ewers hadn’t overthrown a ball to him after a Florida defensive back fell down.

2. DJ Lagway wasn’t going to be available, which was probably for the best

Lagway wasn’t ruled out until just before Saturday’s game. That was on the heels of a non-contact hamstring injury that he suffered last week against Georgia. Billy Napier said that Lagway wasn’t expected to play in his return to the Lone Star State, but it wasn’t made official until Lagway was in shorts at the start of the game.

It’s a good thing that Lagway wasn’t available as an emergency quarterback considering how lopsided Saturday’s contest proved to be. Preferred walk-on Aidan Warner didn’t stand a chance against a Texas defense that ranks No. 2 in FBS in scoring defense and No. 1 in pass defense.

The good news for Florida is that with Lagway at least able to do individual work this week, the possibility of him suiting up for LSU is on the table. The bad news for Florida is that a team that was without 3 starting defensive backs, 3 key receivers and 2 running backs might need a whole lot more to return than a healthy Lagway to beat LSU for the first time since 2018.

Either way, the only good news for Florida on Saturday was that Lagway didn’t get hurt in a one-sided matchup. Well, so was the fact that Florida avoided being shutout for the first time since 1988 and it scored a point in its FBS record 457th consecutive game.

3. Texas would have to completely melt down to fail to reach 10-2

And if Texas gets to 10-2, I’d be stunned if the Longhorns failed to earn a Playoff berth. That might sound premature for a program who still has 3 SEC games remaining.

But by showing up at No. 5 in the first Playoff rankings, Texas is sitting in an extremely favorable spot to get to 10-2 with a trip to Arkansas, a home game vs. Kentucky and a trip to A&M. Losing 2 of those 3 feels extremely unlikely.

More likely is that Texas could have a Playoff berth all but locked in by the time it travels to Texas A&M for the regular season finale.