TCU 17, Texas 10: Horns Downed

The#4 TCU Horned Frogs continued its undefeated season with a win over the #18 Texas Longhorns in front of the second-largest crowd in the history of Darrell K. Royal Stadium. The TCU Defense held Texas to 1-13 on 3rd down and under 200 total yards, including just 29 yards from star running back Bijan Robinson. The Frog offense continued its trend of explosive scoring plays from Kendre Miller and Quentin Johnston. Miller has now scored in every game this season and Johnston gets his 5th of the year. The Horned Frog victory clinches a spot in the Big 12 Championship in Arlington, TX on December 3. Entering the game as a 7.5-point underdog, the Horned Frogs made a major statement on the national stage to silence some of the doubters, if only for a moment.

The first half was a brutally physical defensive affair, with the only points coming on a Griffin Kell 34 yard field goal just before halftime. Texas did not have a pass completion or a first down in the first quarter, accumulating just 15 total yards; TCU had -13 rushing yards in the first quarter thanks to the Longhorn defensive front accumulating sacks. The second quarter wasn’t much better for the offenses, as Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson intercepted Quinn Ewers, but didn’t lead to any TCU points.

As it has been wont to do, TCU offense showed signs of life in the 2nd Half, as midway through the 3rd quarter, Kendre MIller found a sliver of space and burst past a block from Savion Williams and outran the Texas defense for a 75 yard TD that put the Frogs up by 10.

On a night where Bijan Robinson was held to 2.4 yards per carry and under 30 total yards, TCU’s Kendre Miller was a superstar for the Frogs, with 148 total yards

The TCU defense bent late in the 3rd quarter, allowing a 4th down conversion and big play from Ewers to TE Ja’Tavion Sanders inside the 5, but did not break. giving up just a FG from the Longhorn scoring opportunity.

The 4th Quarter opened with TCU needing to punt on 4th & 3. Texas was sending pressure on punts all night and finally got home on this one, however missing the ball and DeMarvion Overshown wiping out TCU Punter Jordy Sandy for a 15-yard penalty to continue the TCU drive. The Frogs were pushed to a 3rd and 10 from 31 yards out and the Longhorns sent a blitz that Kendre Miller picked up valiantly, allowing Max to deliver a toss to an impossibly wide open Quentin Johnston to put TCU ahead 17-3.

The TCU defense forced two more turnovers on downs in the quarter as Ewers was unable to connect with receivers on the key moments. TCU was on its way to running out the final minutes of the game when an unthinkable disaster struck: Max Duggan fumbled the exchange, went to dive on the ball and couldn’t control it. The fumble was scooped up by Jahdae Barron and returned 48 yards to cut the Frog lead to just a TD with 4:25 to play. TCU was able to pick up a massive first down on the ensuing drive when Duggan connected with Johnston on a 3rd down slant. Emari Demercado then picked up two more first downs and TCU could enter the victory formation and kneel out the final seconds to take a win over the Longhorns for the 8th time in the last 11 seasons.

Former TCU Head Coach and current Texas Special Assistant to the Head Coach Gary Patterson was on the sideline for the game and shared a moment with Max Duggan after the Horned Frog win. While odd seeing Patterson on the opposing sideline for a TCU game, he does still share a bond with many of the players on the current TCU roster

Texas falls to 6-4 on the season and 4-3 in Big 12 play and now has a difficult path to reach the Big 12 Championship, currently sitting in a three-way tie for third in the conference behind TCU and Kansas State. The Longhorns will next travel to Lawrence to take on the Kansas Jayhawks.

TCU improves to 10-0 and 7-0 in conference play, clinching a spot in the Big 12 Championship. Next for the Frogs will be the heated rivalry contest in Waco, TX vs. the Baylor Bears on November 19 at 11:00 AM on Fox.