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Media/$9.95-er postgame analysis articles (Week 4)


satyanash

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Collecting all the post-game analysis articles, including those behind paywalls, regarding the TCU game here:

(Jeff Howe) Instant Reactions: Texas falls to TCU, 33-31

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The bottom line for ninth-ranked Texas in Saturday's 33-31 loss to TCU at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium is head coach Tom Herman's Longhorns lost the rushing yardage battle, lost the turnover battle and had too many self-inflicted wounds to pull off a second-half comeback for the second time in as many weeks. The end result is a defeat that leaves a lot more questions than answers about where the Longhorns go from here and what can become of a season Texas entered with the expectations of winning a championship.

It was over when …

Texas threatened to go ahead in the game after Ehlinger connected with Keaontay Ingram for a 52-yard gain down to the TCU 17-yard line. Two plays later, however, Ingram lost the ball trying to push his way across the goal line and the Horned Frogs recovered. A 9-yard gain by Taye Barber on third-and-7 from the TCU 4-yard line sealed the victory the visitors from Fort Worth.

Top Offensive Performer

Sam Ehlinger didn't have his best day, but he did throw for four touchdowns. Ehlinger was outplayed by TCU's Max Duggan so the honor goes to tight end Jared Wiley, who made his two receptions count with both coming on critical third-down plays that extended drives where the offense reached the end zone.

Top Defensive Performer

Joseph Ossai did his part to help the Longhorns win the game, finishing with 11 tackles, one sack, 2.5 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and one quarterback hurry.

Reasons to Feel Optimistic

This was a game where Mike Yurcich said going into it Texas was going to need to take shots in order to get the win and the Longhorns were able to record their share of chunk-yardage plays. While the defense didn't do enough for Texas to get the win, the effort in the middle stages of the second half by the Longhorns kept them in the game. While TCU scored on four of six possessions from the middle of the second quarter to the early stages of the fourth, Texas forced the Horned Frogs to settle for field goals on those scoring opportunities.
Reasons to be Pessimistic

The run defense was brutal, particularly when it came to trying to slow down Duggan. In Chris Ash's third game as defensive coordinator with Texas facing a legitimate run threat behind center, the Longhorns couldn't hold up as Duggan's number was called time and again with defenders at the second level and beyond constantly out of position to defend the quarterback run game.

Modest Proposal

The Big 12 has got to do something to fix the negative perception of officiating across the conference because in Saturday's game, perception unfortunately was reality. When TCU got the ball back with Texas up by a field goal, 29-26, with 6:16 remaining in regulation, the two teams had combined for 25 penalties for a whopping 196 yards.

Forget the calls, both head coach have every right to submit to the league office that could've easily gone the other way, but the officiating crew made the game borderline unwatchable for a long stretch due to their involvement. It wouldn't be worth noting if the Big 12 hadn't rightfully developed a reputation where officiating has been inconsistent, to say the least, in recent years.
Drive of the Game

After Griffin Kell's third field goal gave TCU a 23-14 lead early in the second half to make it a stretch of nine unanswered points by the Horned Frogs, Ehlinger and Co. got it together to get Texas back in the game. Ehlinger's 36-yard run on third-and-1 from his own 22-yard line on a decision to pull the ball down and get what he could kickstarted an 8-play, 87-yard drive that ended on fourth-and-2 from the TCU 7-yard line.

TCU jumped offsides on a Texas field goal attempt, which prompted Herman to send the offense back out onto the field. Roschon Johnson motioned out of the backfield and with two blockers in front of him, Ehlinger flipped him the ball on the perimeter as he powered his way into the end zone to make it a 23-21 game with 9:55 to go in the third quarter.

Best Offensive Play

TCU took a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run by Duggan, but the answer by Ehlinger and the Texas offense included a beautifully-designed chunk-yardage play by Yurcich. After Ehlinger moved the chains on third-and-7 from his own 37-yard line by hitting Jake Smith for 18 yards, Yurcich's call involved a delayed release up the field by Brennan Eagles, who was the No. 2 receiver to the wide side of the field.

The vertical route by Smith (the No. 3 receiver in a trips set) pulled the safety out of the middle of the field. The release by Eagles allowed him to easily get behind Garret Wallow for a 45-yard touchdown to tie the game, 14-14, at the 13:01 mark of the second quarter.

Best Defensive Play

 

Ossai had been so close to getting home for a sack going back to last week's win over Texas Tech and he got to Duggan for a critical third-quarter stop for the Longhorns. With TCU facing a third-and-9 from its own 42-yard line, Ossai beat right tackle Andrew Coker around the edge and worked his way back up into the pocket, getting to Duggan to record a strip sack that T'Vondre Sweat recovered at the 36-yard line of the Horned Frogs.

Even though the offense was unable to convert the good field position into points, Ossai's forced fumble and his first sack of 2020 was part of a defensive effort in the middle of the game that allowed the Longhorns to hang around.

Biggest question heading into the next game

Are the Longhorns destined to be a sloppy team in 2020?

(Joseph Cook) Moment-by-moment: TCU 33, Texas 31

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The Longhorn offense had to wait through three different kickoffs. One neutralized by an offside, another that D’Shawn Jamison brought to the TCU one by offsetting penalties, and one Roschon Johnson brought to the 33-yard line. Ehlinger’s first two passes of the game fell incomplete, and his third did the exact same, forcing a three and out. TCU started its first series on its own 41. A completion and a Max Duggan scramble put the Frogs into Texas territory in two plays. Facing 3rd-and-short, Duggan attempted to run to the left side but was stopped short.

A delay of game took the decision out of Gary Patterson’s hands, and both defenses earned stops on two penalty-ridden opening drives. Texas’ second drive started on its own six and quickly was backed up to the one with a TFL from TCU’s Khari Coleman. Penalties became the theme of the early portion of the game, with two costing Keaontay Ingram long, long gains. The drive ultimately ended short of the line to gain and with another Ryan Bujcevski punt.

Duggan’s second time with the ball gained one first down. He faced a 3rd-and-short just inside Texas territory that was easily reached with a Darwin Barlow run. A 3rd-and-7 from the Texas 36 resulted in Duggan just getting a throw off to Derius Davis who was ruled to have gotten one foot in bound for the first. TCU moved into the red zone, and Duggan ran to the one to set up 1st-and-goal. Barlow found the end zone from one yard out to make it 7-0 with 4:01 left in the first.

In response, Texas committed another penalty, got backed up behind the sticks, and tried to go downfield to Jake Smith on 3rd-and-long… and was flagged for offensive pass interference. Texas’ 3rd-and-25 play was a long pass to tight end Jared Wiley for 48 yards that put the Longhorns on the TCU 38. From that play, Texas was forced again into 3rd-and-long again after a shot to Brennan Eagles in the end zone was ruled incomplete. Ehlinger found Tarik Black for a 1st down to keep the drive going.

A Roschon Johnson rush brought the ball inside the 10, and an Ehlinger run gave the Longhorns 1st-and-goal. Ehlinger took a hit as he threw on first down, but found Jake Smith for his first touchdown of the season to tie the game at seven as the first quarter was nearing its end.

TCU entered the second quarter starting inside its own 30. It moved inside the Texas 30 with a 50-yard pass to Quentin Johnston, and closer still after a pass interference penalty on Chris Adimora the very next play, marking the 14th penalty of the game through just over 15 minutes of game time. The 15th penalty occurred on the same play, as Juwan Mitchell was ejected for targeting for a hit on Duggan.

Following an extended focus on the Big 12 officiating crew led by Brad Van Vark, TCU moved inside the five. Duggan called his number and gave TCU a 14-7 lead after a short run. Jamison jump-started the next Texas possession with a return past the Texas 35. Facing 3rd-and-Long, Texas again converted with a long pass to Smith to move into TCU territory. TCU called a timeout, but it did nothing to help his side of the ball. Ehlinger found Eagles over the middle for a 45-yard score to tie it at 14.

TCU’s possession with the game tied continue to stress the perimeter of the Longhorn defense with motion and sweeps before moving past midfield with a pass over the middle to JD Spielman. After Duggan’s legs earned another first, Texas held firm forcing a 3rd-and-long that brought the 25 percent crowd to its feet. Their enthusiasm paid off as pressure from Joseph Ossai and Moro Ojomo forced the Horned Frogs to punt.

Roschon Johnson began the series with a run of nine yards but was bottled up on the next play, but Ehlinger used his legs to move the chains. Forced into a 3rd-and-long, Ehlinger tried to find Eagles deep. The defensive back made contact, but surprisingly, no flag was thrown and Texas punted the ball back to the Horned Frogs. With 7:31 left in the half, TCU started on its own 20 with the game tied at 14. It was forced into a 3rd-and-2 Duggan converted with a pass to Taye Barber, who was unaccounted for from the start of the play. Another 3rd down, made a 3rd-and-long with – of course – a penalty, resulted in an incompletion… but Texas was ruled to have roughed Duggan as he let go of the ball.

Now in Texas territory, Duggan scrambled when Ta’Quon Graham almost got him in the backfield on a free run on second down. TCU’s 3rd down play was a handoff to Kendre Miller, who brought the Frogs inside the red zone. A short pass to Barber made it 1st-and-goal for TCU, but on 2nd-and-goal, Cort Jaquess dropped Spielman for a loss to make it 3rd-and-goal from the 10.

Jaquess and DeMarvion Overshown made sure TCU had to settle for a field goal, which made it 17-14 Frogs with 1:28 left in the half. Texas utilized all of its timeouts in preventing TCU from reaching the end zone, and had 1:28 left on the clock to move 75 yards. But on the first play of the drive, Ehlinger threw an interception to La’Kendrick Van Zandt, who brought it inside the five but committed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to move to back to the 20.

TCU gained 5 with a pass to Barber, who got out of bounds to stop the clock. A 2nd down incompletion created a huge 3rd-and-5, but Jalen Green played Savion Williams about as well as a cornerback can in one-on-one coverage. TCU’s Griffin Kell hit his second field goal of the half to give TCU a 20-14 lead.

Texas received possession with 55 seconds left in the half, but was willing to head into halftime with the game within one score. Texas head coach Tom Herman’s decision to head into halftime instead of making the most of the 0:55 seconds available put pressure on his defense to succeed immediately in the second half. A TCU score would make it a two-possession game.

The Frogs’ first possession of the second half began with a 15-yard run by Miller, but Overshown was slow to get up on the play and had to be helped to the sideline. TCU kept the ball on the ground with Miller again, this time for 28 yards to get into UT territory. A holding disrupted the TCU drive, and on 3rd-and-long, Texas forced TCU into a 49-yard field goal attempt which was converted by Kell.

Texas started on its own 12 after a penalty on the kickoff on David Gbenda. UT faced a 3rd-and-short after a pass to Smith and a run by Ingram, and converted it with a long run of 36 yards by Sam Ehlinger. Texas was gifted 15 yards by the TCU bench after someone tripped an official on the run.

Inside the TCU 20, Texas gained a few yards on first and second down via Keaontay Ingram. Facing 3rd and 7, looked for Black near the end zone but couldn’t convert. Cameron Dicker was on to attempt a 29-yard field goal, but TCU jumped offsides giving Texas an opportunity on 4th-and-2. Texas went five-wide, and Ehlinger hit Johnson on a screen for the score to make it 23-21 TCU.

TCU took over on its own 25, and immediately committed a penalty. Then another penalty. The Horned Frogs gained some of it back, but were forced to punt on 4th-and-10. The Longhorns took over at their own 23, and moved to the 29 via a Smith reception on 2nd down. Texas looked for Smith on 3rd-and-4, but he dropped it even though there was no TCU defender within miles of him. Texas had to punt, and Spielman returned the ball to the Horned Frog 41.

The TCU possession started with Overshown limiting Duggan to no gain. A Jacoby Jones stop forced TCU into another long third down, and Texas got to Duggan and forced a fumble. Texas recovered by T’Vondre Sweat on the TCU 46. On second down, Ehlinger found a wide-open Al’Vonte Woodard to move into the red zone, but the play was brought back by an ineligible player downfield flag. 1st-and-10 became 3rd-and-16, and all Ehlinger could do was check down to Ingram and force Herman to send on the punt team. Bujcevski cornered the Frogs inside the 10 with his punt.

The Horned Frogs ran the ball twice to set up a short 3rd down attempt, which Duggan converted with a pass to Balir Conwright. A pass from Duggan Barber moved the sticks again to the TCU 46. Duggan once again made plays with his feet to move the chains again and bring TCU into Texas territory. A beautiful throw from Duggan to Conwright just past the outstretched hands of Jamison to get inside the Texas 20 as the third quarter expired. The Longhorn defense forced TCU into a 3rd down with four to go, and Keondre Coburn stopped Duggan on an attempted keeper to force a field goal to make it 26-21.

Texas began its first drive of the fourth quarter at its own 25. Johnson flipped the field with a 40 yard rush with blocking from Brenden schooler, taking Texas to the TCU 30. TCU made a few plays and forced Texas into 3rd-and-11, and Ehlinger found Wiley for 12 yards and the first down. Ingram rushed for 8 inside the TCU 10 to make it 1st-and-goal. Ehlinger threw the ball away on the first two downs, and on 3rd down found Malcolm Epps for a 7-yard score. Texas went for two, converted with an Ingram run.

An important TCU possession followed with the Longhorns finally in the lead. Johnston, a one-time Texas commit, hauled in a Duggan pass to move TCU to its own 39. With 3rd-and-long following an Ossai tackle for loss, Texas forced TCU to punt following heavy pressure on Duggan. What would Texas do with a lead and over eight minutes in the game, especially considering how some games in a similar situation ended last season? An Ingram run got one, an Ehlinger run three, and a pass to Smith for four, forcing a punt.

The Horned Frogs returned a punt inside Texas territory with 6:16 left. TCU created a 3rd-and-inches situation quickly converted by a Duggan sneak, creating 1st-and-10 on the 31. A run cut the distance to gain to five with over four minutes remaining. From an empty set, Duggan saw zero Texas defenders playing in the middle of the field and ran 26 yards to give TCU a 4-point lead.

Texas’ offense appeared to be sputtering before Ingram ran 52 yards to flip the field. However, Ingram went from penthouse to outhouse when he fumbled a ball on the one, turning it over to TCU with 2:32 left. TCU’s first play on its own one was stuffed for a very short gain. Their second down run gained maybe one more. Texas called timeouts following both plays to limit the time taken off the clock. Facing a 3rd-and-7, TCU handed the ball to Barber on a sweep, who just reached the line to gain.

The Horned Frogs ran the clock down to six seconds remaining, Texas needed a miracle, and didn’t get it after Duggan took a safety to prevent the Longhorns from getting so much as a chance. 33-31, TCU. Final.

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Cody Daniel: Initial takeaways from Texas’ 33-31 loss to TCU

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Texas entered the season proclaiming Big 12 title aspirations. Once again, Texas failed to look the part of a title-caliber team, and achieving that feat will now be even more difficult with Texas notching an early-season loss. Here are a few takeaways from Texas’ second underwhelming performance in as many weeks.

  • Texas once again committed entirely too many penalties. Rather than improving upon their lackluster effort against TTU, in which Texas committed 10 penalties for 100 yards, the Horns were even worse off on Saturday against TCU. The opening period saw Texas commit seven penalties, which now stands as the most penalized quarter of the Tom Herman era, and more notably, many of those penalties were costly. A holding call negates a near touchdown by D’Shawn Jamison on the opening kickoff. An ineligible man downfield call erased a 47-yard catch and run by Keaontay Ingram on a drive that ended as a three-and-out. On the following drive, a questionable pass interference call on Jake Smith erased a 34-yard pickup. Less than 30 seconds into the second quarter, Chris Adimora and Juwan Mitchell were respectively flagged for pass interference and targeting — TCU scored two plays later. Late in the third quarter, Christian Jones was flagged as an ineligible man downfield, which negated a 26-yard gain to put Texas within the red zone as part of a drive that stalled after just three plays. While those were among the more costly penalties, this theme remained throughout, and without even one or two of those penalties, Texas may be 3-0 instead of 2-1.
  • Sam Ehlinger’s Heisman campaign is over. Not only did Ehlinger have to play completely lights out to remain a legitimate Heisman candidate, but Texas had to continue winning. He did pass for four touchdowns vs. TCU, but he completed only 17-of-36 attempts, threw an interception that led to a costly three points, and of course, Texas lost. As is, Ehlinger seemed to be playing from behind in the Heisman race and in a shortened season, a lackluster performance in a loss while other Heisman candidates excel through all-but eliminate Ehlinger from realistic consideration.
  • The Longhorns pass rush may have arrived. Considering the expectations Texas’ defensive line entered the season with, the pass rush had largely been underwhelming early on. That wasn’t the case on Saturday. Texas was consistently in the face Max Duggan, who spent plenty of time on the turf, with much of that impact coming courtesy of a dominant showing from Joseph Ossai, who nearly sacked Duggan several times and did once for a strip sack. Texas still has plenty of room for improvement going forward, but the pass rush asserting itself a bit at least provides a bit of a building block.
  • Elsewhere, Chris Ash’s defense still has plenty of work to do. More missed tackles. Defensive backs losing one-on-one assignments. The rush defense being gashed for huge chunks of yardage, including Duggan’s 26-yard touchdown run to capture the lead late in the fourth. Prior to Duggan’s late run, the defense limited TCU to just six second half points and overall, had held to force four straight field goals, but excelling in spurts and then failing to make stops in key moments isn’t a recipe for success. Though Keaontay Ingram’s goal line fumble will be at the center of blame, the defense allowing Duggan’s touchdown run and then failing to get a stop after Ingram’s fumble on a crucial 3rd and 7 is just as significant.
  • This just doesn’t seem like a team capable of winning the Big 12. The talent is there, sure, especially at quarterback, but Texas is just too undisciplined and inconsistent to feel confident that this can end as a special season. I know, I know, every team in the Big 12 besides Okie State has at least one loss, but the fact that Texas should be 1-2 before the Oklahoma game doesn’t inspire much confidence. Again, the talent is there, so nothing would truly surprise me, but until proven otherwise, I expect this team to get in its own way in a couple more losses.

 

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 Eric Nahlin: Stand by them for a couple more weeks

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Countering @Toadvine ’s emotions, I recommend standing by the squad. The game was a total wreck but I actually think they played better than the week before. I’m not Mr. Positive Reinforcement, but I’d give them another week. Bump it next Saturday, I don’t care.

 

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(Bobby Burton) Snap Judgments: Good teams don't lose like this

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Good teams don't lose games like this one. Heck, good teams don't even play games like this one. The penalties were atrocious and wiped away multiple explosive plays, from the kickoff return of D’Shawn Jamison, to the reception by Jake Smith and the pass to Al’vonte Woodard that would have given Texas 1st and goal inside the TCU 10-yard line. It was a comedy of errors, and the final one came when Texas, with the ball, rushed to the line of scrimmage at the TCU one-yard line and subsequently fumbled it away.

You could debate so many things about that decision. First, why was Texas trying to hurry up with less than three minutes left? One reason could be to possibly catch TCU off guard. But why did Texas choose to run Keaontay Ingram, who was clearly taxed after two long plays? Well, I guess Texas didn't want to run Sam Ehlinger. If either of those decisions were made differently, we could easily be talking about a Texas win — one where the Horns outplayed the Horned Frogs for much of the second half after the circus of a first half.

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Ingram's fumble was regrettable. He extended the ball out on a first down run. Had it been a fourth down, it would have been understandable. But on first down? You just can't do it.

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The final TCU touchdown was maddening. It was clear the Horned Frogs spread Texas wide so they could run the QB, and it was so open I think Tom Herman could have scored on the play. Clearly, Texas missed the speed and athleticism of Juwan Mitchell on that play. And Texas also missed on the jet sweeps where the other Texas linebackers lacked the ability to get wide and slow the play enough.

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I don't understand how a holding flag against TCU gets picked up on a would-be touchdown. I don't understand how a pass interference penalty against TCU in the end zone gets picked up. I don't understand how a pass interference isn't called against TCU when Brennan Eagles was essentially tackled. I don't understand how even an illegal procedure is changed to an offsides call against Texas. If a call could go against Texas, it did.

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The Texas offense had some nice ideas, but just didn't connect on enough of those. Jake Smith dropped what might have been a TD on a simple crossing route. The touchdown to Brennan Eagles was a thing of beauty, as was the pass to Keaontay Ingram on the last Longhorn drive.

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The Texas OL held up better than expected in pass protection, but was average or below average for most of the day in the run game.

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The fourth quarter batted ball that was a TCU completion will go down as one of those rarely discussed but otherwise important plays of the game. Instead of third and eight, the completion made it third and one for the Horned Frogs on their final TD drive. TCU did not fare well in third and long against the Horns.

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Hats off to Jared Wiley and Malcolm Epps, who both came up with big catches. Wiley had two key grabs on third downs that wound up as scoring drives for the Horns. Epps snatched a bullet from Ehlinger to give Texas its only lead of the game.

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Texas played reasonably well for a half of this football game. But mental mistakes like the fumble or dropped pass contributed to a bad loss.

 

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32 minutes ago, satyanash said:

 

Very professional looking. One guy with his hat backwards and using perhaps the original computer camera and the other who can't even bother to sit down in front of his computer. I half expected him to fire up the lawnmower while he was talking.

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Why is Tom allowed to continually say ‘we have problems that can be fixed and that is on me’, and yet the problems continue to exist and we lose games. Like at some point you realize he indeed is the problem and it won’t be fixed until he is gone.

and maybe we should have a conversation about the program at large. A full purge maybe...I’m for it

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Chip Brown: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from Texas' 33-31 loss to TCU

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AUSTIN, Texas — It appeared Texas might pull off another escape after playing inconsistent, mistake-ridden football for the second straight week. But after two huge plays by Keaontay Ingram — a 52-yard reception and 16-yard run — to the TCU 1, Ingram took a first-and-goal handoff, had his momentum stalled and reached the ball toward the end zone, only to have it batted loose and recovered by TCU with 2:32 left.

After burning two timeouts to preserve the clock, Texas’ defense, which came up big at times on Saturday but was on the field way too much, couldn’t stop TCU on third-and-7 from the Horned Frogs’ 4. Taye Barber converted the third down with a 9-yard run, and TCU was able to run out the rest of the clock before taking a safety on the game’s final play. Texas found itself in that desperate situation at the end of the game because of all the mistakes the Longhorns committed before then.

Next up for Texas is the Red River Shootout, which figured to be a possible preview for the Big 12 title. Now, it will signify how disappointing the Big 12 has been thus far in the season. “I’m very confident we can get our problems fixed,” Tom Herman said. “I heard guys picking each other up in the locker room. The only way to fix things is through hard work.”

The Longhorns are now 1-6 in their last seven games against TCU and committed double-digit penalties for the second straight week. Those flags on Saturday wiped out big plays, including a 96-yard kick return by D’Shawn Jamison to the TCU 1 to open the game, a 47-yard catch-and-run by Keaontay Ingram and also resulted in the ejection of starting middle linebacker Juwan Mitchell for targeting TCU quarterback Max Duggan.

There was an interception by Sam Ehlinger just before halftime that led to a TCU field goal after Ehlinger thought Joshua Moore was running an in-route but instead ran a double move. Texas got nothing out of a strip sack caused by Joseph Ossai in TCU territory in the third quarter. There was a third-down drop by Jake Smith midway through the third quarter that would’ve gone for a huge gain if not a touchdown.

Texas ran the ball only three times in the third quarter, and one of those was a broken play, third-and-1 scramble by Ehlinger for 36 yards. Abandoning the run by Texas helped allow TCU to hold the ball for 34 minutes and 51 seconds, compared to Texas’ 25:09 time of possession.

But Texas opened its first drive of the fourth quarter with runs of 5 and 40 yards by Roschon Johnson, who limped off the field after the 40-yard burst to the TCU 30. After an 11-yard pass to tight end Jared Wiley on third-and-10, Keaontay Ingram had runs of 4 and 8 yards to the TCU 7. Then, after two straight incompletions, Ehlinger found Malcolm Epps on a crossing route in the end zone for UT’s first lead of the game with 9:56 left. Ingram ran it in for a two-point conversion, giving Texas a 29-26 lead.

Texas had its first real momentum of the game in the third quarter after an eight-play, 87-yard, touchdown drive and a strip sack by Joseph Ossai recovered by T’Vondre Sweat at the TCU 42 with 9:40 left in the third quarter. But Christian Jones was flagged for ineligible man downfield, negating a 26-yard pass to Al’Vonte Woodard that would’ve given Texas the ball at the TCU 11. Instead, Texas got nothing out of a strip sack by Ossai recovered at the TCU 42 by T'Vondre Sweat.

The lone third-quarter highlight for Texas’ offense came after a 36-yard run by Ehlinger on third-and-1 from UT’s 22 as well as a TCU offside penalty as Cameron Dicker was lined up for a field goal attempt. After the offside penalty on TCU, Tom Herman decided to go for it on fourth-and-2 from the TCU 7, and Ehlinger hooked up with Roschon Johnson for a 7-yard touchdown pass that cut TCU’s lead to 23-21with 9:55 left in the third quarter.

At halftime, Texas trailed only 20-14 despite being flagged 11 times, including the ejection Mitchell; despite Ehlinger going just 5-of-16 passing with two touchdowns and the interception that led to a TCU field goal and despite Texas having just 13 carries for 31 yards (2.4 yards per carry). Meanwhile, TCU’s Duggan was 12 of 19 passing for 144 yards as the Horned Frogs were able to run for 114 yards on 24 carries (4.8 ypc).

The only thing keeping Texas close was the Longhorns’ red zone defense and Ehlinger’s ability on third down (UT converted 4-of-7 in the first half), including a 52-yard completion to Jared Wiley on third-and-25 that helped set up UT’s first touchdown. After 11 total plays in the game, there were nine called penalties. Moore dropped a pass on UT’s first offensive play as Ehlinger opened the game 0-of-3 passing.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR TEXAS:

— Texas got back to the running game in the fourth quarter after running the ball only three times the entire third quarter.

— Texas played good red zone defense for much of the game, limiting TCU to three short field goals after getting into Texas’ red zone.

TCU OFFSIDE FLAG SETS UP TEXAS TD: Cameron Dicker was lined up for a field goal attempt on fourth-and-7 from the TCU 12. But TCU corner La’Kendrick Van Zandt jumped offside, and Tom Herman decided to go for it on fourth-and-2 from the TCU 7. Ehlinger threw a bubble screen to Roschon Johnson, who got a great block by tight end Cade Brewer, springing Johnson into the end zone for the 7-yard TD reception, cutting TCU’s lead to 23-21 with 9:55 left in the third quarter.

— After an interception by Ehlinger with 1:16 left in the half that gave TCU the ball at the Texas 20, the Longhorns’ defense limited the Horned Frogs to a 32-yard field goal that put TCU up 20-14 at halftime.

— Texas played some great red zone defense with just less than two minutes left in the half after TCU had first-and-goal from the 7. Joseph Ossai had a 1-yard TFL on first down; Cort Jaquess had a 2-yard TFL on TCU speedster J.D. Spielman; and then DeMarvion Overshown pressured Duggan into an incompletion on third-and-goal, forcing a 27-yard field goal that put TCU ahead 17-14.

EHLINGER-TO-EAGLES TIES GAME 14-14: After a perfect, 18-yard strike from Ehlinger to Jake Smith on third-and-10 to the TCU 45, Mike Yurcich dialed up a great play that was sold perfectly by Brennan Eagles. With trips receivers right, Jake Smith ran and out and up from the slot, while Eagles paused 15 yards downfield as if he was running a stop route, long enough for the safety to keep going with Smith. Then, Eagles kept going on a post route and was all alone in the middle of the field for the 45-yard, catch-and-run touchdown, tying the game 14-14 with 13:01 left in the half.

— Joseph Ossai pressured Max Duggan into throwing the ball away on third-and-10 from the UT 37, forcing a punt after a seven-play drive into Texas territory.

EHLINGER TD PASS TO SMITH TIES GAME 7-7: Texas overcame third-and-25 after two penalties (holding on Denzel Okafor and an offensive pass interference on Jake Smith) thanks to a 52-yard completion from Ehlinger to Jared Wiley. And after a 38-yard pass to Brennan Eagles in the end zone was ruled incomplete and after Tarik Black appeared to be interfered with on a pass in the end zone, Ehlinger connected with Smith for a 5-yard TD pass, tying the game 7-7 with 21 seconds left in the first quarter.

— Before Ehlinger connected with sophomore tight end Jared Wiley for a 52-yard catch-and-run to the TCU 38-yard line, Texas had six yards of total offense on its first nine plays as Ehlinger opened the game 0-of-3 passing with one rushing yard on two carries.

— The Horned Frogs lined up to go for it on fourth and two from the Texas 35-yard line early in the first quarter, but were flagged for delay of game and then punted.

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR TEXAS:

WAY TOO MANY MISTAKES: No explanation necessary.

DUGGAN QB DRAW PUTS TCU UP 33-29 WITH 4:01 LEFT: After an ill-timed three-and-out, Texas had to punt from its own end zone, and TCU ended up with a short-field TD drive, capped by a 26-yard, Duggan QB draw for a touchdown that put Texas up 33-29 with 4:01 left.

— Christian Jones was flagged for ineligible man downfield, negating a 26-yard pass to Al’Vonte Woodard that would’ve given Texas the ball at the TCU 11. Instead, Texas got nothing out of a strip sack by Joseph Ossai recovered at the TCU 42 by T’Vondre Sweat.

— After the Texas defense did a great job in the red zone at the end of the first half, the Horns gave up runs of 15 and 28 yards to TCU’s Kendre Miller, putting the Horned Frogs at the Texas 27. TCU ended up with a 49-yard field goal and a 23-14 lead

EHLINGER INT LEADS TO TCU FG BEFORE HALF: Joshua Moore dipped like he was going inside, and Ehlinger threw it there, but then Moore dipped back outside and kept running, so Ehlinger’s pass was an easy pickoff by La’Kendrick Van Zandt, returned to the Texas 5. A personal foul on Van Zandt (for kicking Cade Brewer after the play) moved TCU back to the 20. (UT’s defense held TCU to a 32-yard field goal, giving the Horned Frogs a 20-14 lead).

— Joseph Ossai was called for a questionable roughing the passer call on a third-down incompletion to Quentin Johnston, who had Jalen Green beat on the play and nearly made a one-handed grab. Instead of punting, the penalty extended TCU’s drive

— Caden Sterns was slow to get up and walked off the field with 12:04 left in the second quarter. He returned the next series.

FIFTY-YARD PASS FUELS TCU TD DRIVE: Josh Thompson had good position against TCU freshman receiver Quentin Johnston, but Johnston came down with the 50-50 ball for a 50-yard reception to the Texas 26. On the next play, Chris Adimora was called for face-guarding Taye Barber in the end zone, and Juwan Mitchell was ejected for targeting on a post-throw hit against Duggan. That helped set up a 5-yard TD run by Duggan that put TCU up 14-7 with 14:22 left in the second quarter.

— Brennan Eagles appeared to have possession of a 38-yard pass as he went into the end zone, but TCU corner Noah Daniels ripped the ball out, and it was ruled an incomplete pass at the end of the first quarter.

— Jake Smith was flagged for offensive pass interference, negating a 34-yard reception up the left sideline in the first quarter.

— Denzel Okafor was flagged for holding, giving Texas second-and-15 from its own 20 with 3:18 left in the first quarter.

— Max Duggan completed a tough, third-and-7 pass for 9 yards with Joseph Ossai pressuring him, and then ran for 15 yards to the Texas 1, setting up a TD run by Darwin Barlow on the next play, putting TCU up 7-0 with 4:01 left in the first quarter.

— Juwan Mitchell made a nice tackle for loss on TCU’s Taye Barber, forcing a third-and-7 from the UT 36, but Max Duggan, under pressure from Joseph Ossai made a nice throw to the wide side of the field for a 9-yard completion to Derius Davis for the first down.

— Brennan Eagles was called for ineligible player down-field, negating a 47-yard, catch-and-run completion to Keaontay Ingram, who was slow to get up from the tackle on the play with nine minutes left in the first quarter.

— Ehlinger was dropped for a 5-yard loss on a sack by TCU’s Khari Coleman on first down from its own 6, and then Texas was called for a false start on the next play, moving UT back to its own half yard line on Texas’ second possession.

— Special teams miscues occurred on UT’s first two returns of the game. Jerrin Thompson was called for holding, negating D’Shawn Jamison’s 96-yard kick return to the TCU 1, and Chris Brown was called for illegal hands to the face on UT’s first punt return, resulting in UT starting its second possession from its own 6.

— With TCU facing third-and-6 from the UT 38, Juwan Mitchell jumped offside and touched TCU’s center, giving TCU third-and-1 from the UT 33.

— Moore dropped what would’ve been a first-down completion on the opening play of the game for Texas. The Horns ended up going three-and-out.

—Jerrin Thompson was flagged for holding on D’Shawn Jamison’s 96-yard kick return to the TCU 1, creating offsetting penalties because TCU was offside.

 

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49 minutes ago, satyanash said:

#TurtleTom is actually trending... jeez.

 

I was wondering the same thing. We had a three point lead and there we were trying to run clock like we had Earl or Ricky in the back field, or shit, I don't know, weren't averaging 1.7 yds per carry on the game. 

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Sam Khan Jr: Sam Ehlinger says No. 9 Texas Longhorns 'deserves better' after again losing to unranked team

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"Losing bothers me the most," a visibly dejected Ehlinger said afterward. "This university deserves better. And it's very frustrating when it's self-inflicting and it's preventable by attention to detail and playing the way we all know that everybody is capable of playing in this program." Ehlinger said he tried to encourage Ingram after the loss. "Everybody made a ton of mistakes," Ehlinger said. "It's more on me than it is on him. I don't want him to think that he lost the game for us." He later added: "Everybody's got to take ownership of their mistakes. Own it. Don't point fingers."

The Longhorns face rival Oklahoma next week in the annual Red River Showdown. With both teams possessing a loss, it will serve as a critical game to both teams' hopes to make it to the Big 12 championship game, because the loser will have two conference defeats with six games still left to play. The team's focus, Ehlinger said, can't go beyond the day-to-day. "We shouldn't even be thinking big picture right now with the amount of small mistakes that we made," he said. "We've got to come in tomorrow and get better. Obviously, we've got a big one this week and we've got to focus on the next one."

 

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(Joseph Cook) The characters change, the story does not

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Mack Brown. Charlie Strong. Tom Herman. Johnathan Gray. D’Onta Foreman. Keaontay Ingram. John Harris. Lil’Jordan Humphrey. Jake Smith. David Ash. Tyrone Swoopes. Shane Buechele. Sam Ehlinger. The characters may change, but the story rarely does. TCU head coach Gary Patterson had answers for all of them and did once again on Saturday when TCU defeated Texas in Darrell K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium, 33-31.

Some small details may differ year over year, like whether it be a tight game or a one-sided affair, or whether it takes place in Austin or Fort Worth. The story, however, has not changed but twice since TCU joined the Big 12. “Sitting here right now, I don’t have a great answer other than we had a great week of practice,” Herman said following the game. “We’ve got to find a way to turn those great weeks of practice into great execution on game day.”

It is not totally a Texas-specific problem on game day, or a certain TCU counter. It is Patterson simply being better in preparing, improving, and coaching his staff and team than the coach in burnt orange standing across the field from him. For the third time in the last four years, that held true against Herman.

A plot twist did approach near the end of a penalty-ridden affair in which TCU had 14 penalties for 109 yards, while Texas was 12 for 92. Trailing by four with 4:00 remaining, the Longhorns and quarterback Sam Ehlinger took over possession once again seeking to come back against a Big 12 opponent as they had done the week prior.

This edition of the story started heading toward a deviation from what had been the norm since 2012. Ehlinger hit Ingram out of the backfield for a 52-yard pass before he was dragged down from behind by La’Kendrick Van Zandt at the Horned Frog 17. Ingram kept it going on the very next play, rushing 16 yards to make it 1st-and-goal from the TCU 1. This was where the story was going to change. This was where the purple narrative was going to be paused for at least a year. Almost.

Texas ran to the line of scrimmage and lined up ready to pound the ball into the end zone. Ehlinger took the snap and handed it off to Ingram. The junior running back had already accounted for 68 yards on the drive, what was one more? Additionally, Bijan Robinson saw limited action just one week after his frightening fall from a hurdle attempt, and Roschon Johnson was out with a shoulder injury. No. 26 could go one more yard, Herman and offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich thought.

Ingram took the handoff from Ehlinger, but there was not a lot of room available to him. He met contact and tried to extend the ball over the plane of the goal line. His extension was the moment the story turned. TCU’s Garret Wallow knocked the ball out of Ingram’s outstretched hand, and TCU recovered on its own one. Herman only had two timeouts left, so his defense needed a stop. The stop never came, and TCU’s Max Duggan, the hero of this iteration of the story, ran out of the end zone as time expired to make sure Texas never had a chance to change the ending.

The final moments will always be the ones that sticks out, and Ingram’s late-game fumble on the one-yard line tilted this game on its head. “There were a lot of different things that happened, and everybody made a ton of mistakes,” Ehlinger said. “It’s more on me than it is on him, so I don’t want him to ever think that he directly lost the game for us.”

Other occasions did make a difference, like Duggan’s 26-yard run to put the Horned Frogs ahead 33-29. Facing a 2nd-and-5 on the Texas 26 with under 5:00 left in the game, the Horned Frogs lined up with an empty backfield and five receivers spread wide. The UT defensive line was overloaded on the edges, leaving a gaping hole in the middle. No Texas linebacker was anywhere close to the play, and Duggan took the snap and sprinted to the go-ahead score.

So too did Ehlinger’s second quarter interception with enough time to put together a late-half scoring drive. Rather than drive 75 yards and make an attempt at points, Texas’ defense was forced back onto the field. It held its own, but TCU still escaped with an added field goal on a gifted possession and took a 20-14 halftime lead.

If Patterson has his quarterback situation figured out, he has proven near impossible for Texas to defeat. Texas’ win in Fort Worth in 2013 came with an entrenched Case McCoy battling Casey Pachall. Herman’s only win over Patterson in 2018 came as a result of a Shawn Robinson performance that greatly accelerated the end of his time in purple and white.

Duggan is simply the newest character in the same story. His 20-of-30 performance for 231 yards plus his 17 carries for 79 yards and two scores means there is no question about quarterback in Fort Worth, which has led to Longhorn issues when facing Patterson. Ehlinger was not the quarterback that lead Texas back from 15 down one week ago in Lubbock. He still performed well, going 17-for-36 for 236 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit on the headsets that Texas fans are all too familiar with when facing a Patterson team.

“We shouldn’t even be thinking big picture right now with the amount of small mistakes we made,” Ehlinger said. “We’ve got to come in tomorrow and get better.” Overall, one player was not going to be the one to overcome the advantage already established before the game even kicked off. The characters may change, but the story did not.

Texas heads to Dallas next weekend to take on the rival Oklahoma Sooners. Postseason goals are still mostly in-tact, as Herman and several players pointed out following the game. Still, those big picture goals are hard to square with the small detail failings against a Patterson team that occurred yet again on Saturday. “This university deserves better,” Ehlinger said. “It’s very frustrating when it’s self-inflicted and it’s preventable by attention to detail and playing the way we all know everybody’s capable of playing in this program.”

 

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Chip Brown: Miracle at Tech wasn't wake-up call, but rather start of a trend

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AUSTIN, Texas — Texas couldn’t get away with cheating death two weeks in a row. It turns out the mulligan Texas pulled off last week by coming back from 15 down with 3:13 left to win 63-56 in overtime at Texas Tech wasn't a wake-up call. It was the beginning of a mistake-ridden trend. Now, after a 33-31 loss at home to TCU chock full of unforced errors, the leadership of the Longhorns - from top to bottom - will be put to the test in a seven-day soul search heading into next Saturday’s showdown with Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl.

“Everyone has to take ownership of their mistakes,” said senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who was 17 of 36 passing for 236 yards and four touchdowns with an interception that led to a TCU field goal. “Own it. Don’t point fingers. Own it."

Ehlinger did his part in owning it by saying he’s more to blame for Texas’ loss than anyone pointing the finger at Keaontay Ingram’s fumble at the TCU 1 while trying to extend the ball into the end zone on a first-and-goal run with 2:32 left. “I reminded him (Ingram) as much as we love this, it is just a game. It’s not life or death,” Ehlinger said. “It’s certainly not on him. Everybody made a ton of mistakes. It’s more on me than it is on him. I don’t want him ever thinking he cost us the game.”

Ehlinger was right about there being enough mistakes to go around. Double-digit penalties for the second straight week, many of which wiped out big plays; losing the turnover battle; an ill-timed third-down drop with nothing but open field ahead; failing to convert a Joseph Ossai strip sack in TCU territory into points; inconsistency in all three phases. It all left the Longhorns scrambling for answers with Oklahoma looming.

A Red River Showdown that figured to be a possible preview of the Big 12 title game is now just the next deadline for the Longhorns to find themselves. “We shouldn’t even be thinking big picture right now with all the mistakes we made,” Ehlinger said. “We’ve got to focus on the next one.”

Defensive tackle Keondre Coburn described the team’s mood after the TCU game. “In the locker room, everyone is sad,” Coburn said. “Everyone is down, because we got guys who love to play football. And who likes to lose? But we still have a chance to still make it. This one loss is a step back, but we have to come back from it.”

TCU coach Gary Patterson, who is now 7-2 against Texas since the Horned Frogs joined the Big 12, called his team’s play Saturday “average.” “We can play a lot better,” said Patterson, who has to be kicking himself for keeping quarterback Max Duggan on the bench for the first half of last week’s 37-34 loss at home to Iowa State. In the second half of the loss, Duggan was 16-of-19 passing with three touchdowns and one interception that went through the hands of receiver Taye Barber as TCU nearly erased a 16-7 halftime deficit.

This week, Duggan improved to 2-0 against Texas by coming up with big plays when his team needed them. He was 20 of 30 passing for 236 yards without a TD pass or interception and ran eight times for 49 yards, including two touchdowns on the ground. TCU didn’t pay for Duggan's only miscue — the fumble on Ossai’s strip sack recovered by T’Vondre Sweat at the TCU 36 — with 5:21 left in the third quarter.

That’s because a Texas offensive lineman (Christian Jones) was called for ineligible man downfield for the third straight game — this time negating a 26-yard pass to Al'Vonte Woodard that would’ve given Texas the ball at the TCU 10. Last week, Texas was able to overcome the ineligible man downfield call on Denzel Okafor on the touchdown drive that tied up the game and forced overtime at Texas Tech.

Not this week. And now, as Ehlinger said, everyone — from the coaching staff to the players — has to look in the mirror and determine where this team goes from here. Texas’ loss to unranked TCU as an 11.5-point favorite does nothing to curb Herman’s reputation as a guy who can get his team’s up for the big games but not for the little games. According to ESPN Stats and Information, Herman’s six losses since 2017 to unranked opponents when Texas is ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 are the most in FBS in that span.

Saturday’s loss to TCU also dropped Texas’ record to 1-11 in games under Herman when Texas is trailing heading into the fourth quarter. The lone win was last week’s miraculous, 63-56 overtime comeback at Texas Tech. “I’m very confident we can get our problems fixed,” Herman said. “I heard guys picking each other up in the locker room. The only way to fix things is through hard work.”

Herman made a similar statement after last week’s improbable win over Tech in which Texas won despite miserable penalties, a poor third quarter by the offense and terrible tackling on defense. The defense tackled better against TCU. But the other mistakes still need fixing. “You just come in and fix the mistakes you made,” Coburn said. “We still get to play. Some teams aren’t getting to play. So let’s get back to work and go beat OU. To fix the mistakes, you gotta come and do more, work even harder and then go out on the field and dominate. That’s what we have to do.”

Ehlinger was asked what was pissing him off the most following Saturday’s loss. “Losing bothers me the most,” Ehlinger said. “This university deserves better. And it’s very frustrating when it’s self-inflicting and preventable by attention to detail. We know we’re capable of playing so much better.”

 

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2 hours ago, taybo20 said:

Why is Tom allowed to continually say ‘we have problems that can be fixed and that is on me’, and yet the problems continue to exist and we lose games.

Because he has a huge contract?

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Aaron Carrara: TCU Topples Texas 33-31

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It’s no secret that the Texas Longhorns (2-1, 1-1) haven’t fared well against the TCU Horned Frogs (1-1, 1-1) in recent years. And Saturday’s contest made sense of the old saying “some things never change.” After a slow first quarter riddled with penalties, poor officiating and unproductive offenses, it looked like Texas might manage just enough in the remaining three quarters to stay perfect on the season and in Big 12 play.  Keaontay Ingram’s fumble at the TCU one yard line with 2:32 remaining in the game erased those hopes, propelling Gary Patterson’s Horned Frogs to a 33-31 victory. TCU’s dominance over Texas continued, while the program improved its impressive head-to-head record over the Longhorns to 7-2 since joining the Big 12.

Sam Ehlinger threw for 236 yards and four touchdowns with one interception on the day.  The senior quarterback continued his surge in the record books, becoming the first quarterback to pass for 14 touchdowns through the first three games of a season.  Tight end Jared Wiley led the Longhorns in receiving with two receptions for 63 yards and Roschon Johnson led the team in rushing on 5 carries for 63 yards.

TCU quarterback Max Duggan improved his record against Texas to 2-0, throwing for 230 yards and rushing for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Quentin Johnston led all Horned Frogs in receiving catching three passes for 70 yards. The Longhorns gave up 457 yards of total offense to TCU.

The loss is a significant blow to the team’s preseason goal of competing in the College Football Playoff, but the conference race is still wide open. “I told our guys that the cool thing about the Big 12 is that the teams with the two best records at the end of the season are going to play for the Championship. We’ve still got a long way to go, hopefully, in this season. We’ll lick our wounds tonight and get back to the drawing board,” said head coach Tom Herman.

Texas will face the Oklahoma Sooners next Saturday (10/10/2020) at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

GAME SUMMARY

TCU won the coin toss and deferred to the second half.  After three kicks, two of which were re-kicks after penalties were called on both teams, the game got underway.  TCU struck first on Darwin Barlow’s 1-yard rushing touchdown with 4:01 left in the first quarter.  Texas managed to put a touchdown on the scoreboard just before the quarter expired, with Sam Ehinger finding Jake Smith for a five-yard touchdown to even the score at 7-7.  The quarter was a poor showing by both teams, and the 13 total penalties set a Big 12 record for penalties in the first quarter.

The Horned Frogs went to work quickly in the second quarter, with quarterback Max Duggan capping a 75 yard, 4 play drive with a 5 yard touchdown run. TCU led Texas 14-7 at that point.  Texas answered quickly, using 4 plays to score a touchdown of their own.  Brennan Eagles caught a 45 yard pass from Sam Ehlinger to tie the score at 14-14.

The Texas defense put together an impressive stand, holding TCU to a field goal with 1:38 left on the clock before halftime.  On the ensuing possession by Texas, Sam Ehlinger’s pass intended for Josh Moore was picked off by TCU’s La’Kendrick Van Zandt. Texas would hold Max Duggan and the Horned Frog offense to another Griffin Kell field goal, this time from 32 yards out. At the half, TCU led Texas 20-14.

TCU’s 49 yard field goal from Griffin Kell, on the opening drive of the third quarter, increased the Horned Frogs’ lead over Texas to 23-14. On the next drive, Sam Ehlinger’s 36 yard run, coupled with an offsides penalty on TCU, set up a Texas score.  On 4th and 3 from the TCU 7 yard line, Ehlinger hit Roschon Johnson, who muscled his way into the end zone for a touchdown.  The Longhorns cut the Horned Frogs’ lead to 23-21 at the 9:55 mark.

TCU kicker Griffin Kell made good on his 4th field goal of the day with 13:36 left in the fourth quarter to extend TCU’s lead over Texas to 26-21.

The Longhorns regained the lead when Sam Ehlinger threw his 4th passing touchdown of the day to tight end Malcolm Epps. Texas went for two and converted, courtesy of Keaontay Ingram’s three yard rush.  At that point Texas held a 29-26 lead over TCU, but the Horned Frogs would answer at the 4:01 mark.  Max Duggan’s 26 yard rushing touchdown gave the TCU the lead again, 33-29.

Keaontay Ingram’s fumble on the TCU 1 yard line proved to be the dagger for the Longhorns.  TCU recovered, ate clock and gave up a safety to Texas as the game clock expired.

FINAL: TCU 33, TEXAS 31

 

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(Bobby Burton) Texas-TCU grades: The consistently inconsistent Texas offense

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Quarterback

The senior Texas QB was outplayed by his sophomore TCU counterpart. Sam Ehlinger lacked accuracy early and was routinely confused by TCU’s defensive coverage calls. It was feast or famine for him, finishing 17 of 36 for 236 yards and four TDs with one INT. The TD to Malcolm Epps may have been his best throw of the day, finding a narrow window on a key third down conversion. But he also cost Texas points at the end of the first half. Overall it was a pedestrian performance at best.

Grade: C+

Running back

Keaontay Ingram was the key cog in moving the football into a position for the go-ahead score with less than three minutes remaining. He followed a hard 16-yard run with a 52-yard catch. Then he fumbled on the goal line. It was a regrettable snafu by Ingram and will be the focus of many. Of course, it’s debatable whether he should have had the burden to make that carry after those two long ones, and in a hurry up situation. Roschon Johnson played well, with a long 40-yard run when a shoulder injury sidelined him. It should be noted that both Ingram and Johnson both had clear paths to the end zone on two separate occasions but were tracked down by TCU defenders. Lack of top-end speed is an issue for the two RBs.

Grade: B-

Receivers

I didn’t realize that the inclusion of Jake Smith into the game would lead to the de-emphasis of Brenden Schooler. Nor did I think Joshua Moore, who was clearly somewhat hobbled, would be completely shut out of receptions. Brennan Eagles ran a great delayed route for a TD but also didn’t make a 50-50 catch at another opportunity. Eagles was clearly interfered with on another deep ball but somehow drew no flag. Tarik Black missed a difficult but catchable ball on the goal line and looks lost at times as a route runner. Smith led the team in receptions but two plays represent this game in a nutshell. First, Smith was called for pass interference in the first quarter, for nothing more than two-way hand fighting between him and the corner. It was a bad call. Second, Smith’s drop on a key third down in the third quarter was a simple crossing route that could have gone for big yardage. Smith is plenty good. But the Horns have to get Schooler and Moore involved.

Grade: C

Tight end

If any Texas fan predicted Jared Wiley emerging as the team’s leading yardage receiver from Saturday’s contest, they must have a crystal ball that works. The sophomore from Temple converted two big third downs, one in the first quarter and another in the fourth. Wiley looked good doing it. Unlike his teammate Cade Brewer, Wiley is a bigger, wider target who seems to give his QB a greater catch radius. Brewer finished with just one reception, while Epps ran a great route and snatched a TD on a big third down play. While Brewer may be more consistent, he doesn’t seem to give a competitive athletic or physical advantage, which means the other two TEs should start to see more playing time as the year wears on. Wiley was a clear bright spot in the game.

Grade: B

Offensive line

The pass protection was outstanding. Truly. Everything Gary Patterson threw at Texas, the Horns appeared ready for after the first quarter of the game. However, run blocking was inconsistent. And key penalties occurred multiple times — a lineman downfield, holding, etc. If anything, the group is consistently inconsistent. I’d give the Horns an A for pass protection and D for run blocking. The Horns had real problems with TCU’s quickness in the run game.

Grade: B-

Offense

I used the term consistently inconsistent to describe the OL and that’s how I feel about the offense’s performance as a whole on Saturday. Given the ball up three in the fourth quarter and needing a drive to put some space between themselves and the Horned Frogs, Texas went three and out. It was the fifth three and out of the game. The lack of a consistent run game was the key culprit. So was Ehlinger’s lack of accuracy and read the defense quickly enough. Texas never challenged TCU on the edge of its defense with a jet sweep despite using the motion at least 10 times during the game. At some point, the defense realizes it’s just window dressing and does not respect it. There were some great play calls, like Eagles’ TD and Ingram’s long catch and run. But the inability to get a first down with the game on the line contrasted to what TCU was able to do on the game’s final drive is telling. The offense has issues. They’re not great at anything, just reasonably good from time to time.

Grade: B-

 

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(Scipio Tex) 2020 TCU Postmortem: Offense

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Texas played TCU, the officials, and themselves. And lost to all three. TCU isn't very good but they have a coach who can adjust in-game, the zebras kicked us around like a hacky sack at a Phish concert, but, ultimately, the man in the mirror got Texas again. At times, the level of play suggested that it was a funhouse mirror.

There's no doubt that the officials put their thumbs on the scale for four quarters, but TCU was average enough and Texas played just hard enough to win this game late. Ultimately, Longhorn players and coaches decided they'd rather not win. Given that Tom Herman is now 1-11 in games where Texas trails going into the 4th quarter (and Herman Texas teams haven't been blown out, so those games were all competitive) at some point it must be acknowledged that Bill Belichick is not stalking our sideline.

Blame bad game management, inattention to detail, indiscipline, low football IQ between and beyond the lines, and a coaching staff that closes like a Pony league pitcher in a World Series Game 7. I guess 7 penalties in the first quarter didn't help either. Herman is the guy who shoots 90% free throws in practice, but put him on the line with the game tied with :03 on the clock, and that ball ain't drawing iron, much less net. If he wants to change that rap, he can do it by calmly swishing two. Let's examine the three primary components that contributed to the Longhorn loss on the offensive side of the ball:

The Officials

They outright sucked. At some very critical moments.

Offensively, an early PI call on a 34 yard completion to Jake Smith that negated a 3rd and 15 conversion was nonsense. That mild mutual contact happens on every pass play in college football. Sam then converted an terrific 52 yard throw to Jared Wiley on 3rd and 25 the next play, but it was a good example of what was to come. That doesn't make the earlier call OK. I'm looking at process, not result. A concept alien to the Longhorn program.

TCU CB Noah Daniels pinned Brennan Eagles' arm just moments later to negate a TD catch and he didn't draw a flag. That was later followed by another clear PI on Eagles by Van Zandt on a likely long scoring play that was so obvious, the TCU player lingered on the ground pissed at what he'd done, and then seemed genuinely startled to get a reprieve. He bounced up like a man who had just gotten a full pardon from the governor on the way to Ol' Sparky. "Huzzah, I got a final free meal, too!"

The ineligible downfield blocker call on Christian Jones erasing the 26 yard Woodard gain near the TCU red zone was laughable. If that was indeed the call. The game account says it was on Jake Smith? Jones wasn't in contact with anyone and he floated past the LOS limit line after the ball was in the air. The clear intent of the rule was not violated. TCU violated this precept multiple times in their RPO and screen game with nary a flag. Instead of 1st and 10 Texas at the TCU 9 yard line, it was 2nd and 15 at the TCU 42. That drive ended in a punt, not points.

On the same series that featured the Jake Smith PI fiction, Denzel Okafor was called for a hold on an Ehlinger run that wasn't. He got his feet around. Want to see hold from a lineman on the move trying to seal a playside defender? Watch Andrew Coker necktie Overshown to the ground on the Duggan red zone run, a flag gets thrown, then gets picked up. WTF. Make no mistake, Texas was also sloppy, but too many times, these high leverage calls crossed the line from over-officious to WTF is going on?

The Players

Keaontay Ingram stretching out an unprotected ball too far from the end zone when he had multiple defenders around him and trash at his legs preventing a clean path is a prime example of When Not To Ever Stretch The Ball Out 101. It is a Hey RB, Please Don't Do This instructional video. Particularly agonizing given that the player had just accounted for 68 yards on the two prior plays with a 52 yard catch and 16 yard run. Should Texas have been in hurry up tempo right then? No. Look at the play clock, for God's sake. This is when you burn clock. Not at 8:23 in the 4th. Should Texas have had the guy who just ran 68 yards on consecutive plays running from the 1? No. But this isn't the coaching stupidity section. This is the player section. You do not attempt to stretch out in that goal line situation. Ever.

Jake Smith dropped a perfectly thrown wide open 3rd down crosser that would have gone for at least 50+ and a likely TD. Instead, Texas punts. That's a rough swing. Smith also blew a block on a screen that allowed an unblocked DB to spear Schooler with a kill shot in the nuts.

Tarik Black dropped two balls. So much for the stabilizing senior reliable. By the way, the best X receiver on the field was a true freshman named Quentin Johnston. Josh Moore had two drops and he and Ehlinger miscommunicated on Ehlinger's pick that led to 3 easy TCU points. I don't know who was in the wrong there, but that's the game differential.

The OL pass protected much better against a pretty weak TCU DL, but didn't show up in the running game until late and when we spread it out. This is always when they show up, so perhaps the coaches will discern this phenomenon and ponder it as "a pattern." I don't know. I guess I just see shapes in the clouds.

Brennan Eagles was pushed off of his routes multiple times into the sideline, effectively giving Ehlinger a six inch target window. He outweighed the TCU CBs by 30 and 45 pounds respectively. I can deal with him being covered. I do no accept that they can steer him where they like.

Coaching

I can't throw the baby entirely out with the bathwater. There were some really good calls in this game. The quarters beater settle and go was a phenomenal gotcha call against TCU. Good OL protection and a good Ehlinger throw gave Eagles an easy 45 yard score. Great call. The Roschon swing pass in the red zone when Texas outnumbered TCU defenders was clearly something they saw earlier when they motioned him - the Frog LB didn't travel with him. Easy score. Three of the Longhorn's biggest plays that were called back were also fine calls. I also liked the overall willingness to attack downfield once Texas realized they could block them up front. There were several other passing game concepts that were wide open and the Longhorn receivers didn't make a play, or a penalty, real or imagined, negated it.

TCU was willing to concede some big plays gambling for negative plays, inefficiency, or turning us over. Hell, they even blew a Drop 8 coverage or two. If the refs step back and players step up in some key spots, Texas puts a lot more points on the board. However, game management once again left much to be desired. That's squarely on Tom Herman. We've been here before.

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Turtles likes eating snails, flowers, and fruit. This river turtle likes sitting on logs in the sun, and grabbing fishing hooks intended for bass. He has trouble regulating his body heat, so when the temperature gets turned up, he retreats deep into his shell. Let's call him Tom. For alliterative purposes only. He bears no relation to any particular person. I harped on this aspect of the program hard last year and if you're a TTF reader, you got a full essay on it, with Iowa State's pathetic end of game sequence as the worst example, but here we are again...

Herman may be the least self-reflective head coach I've ever seen at Texas, and Charlie Strong coached here.

Up 29-26, after a terrific drive running spread tempo with a two point conversion to boot, Texas was in the catbird seat. The defense forced a TCU three and out and Texas got the ball with 8:23 on the clock, all of the game momentum, facing a tiring TCU defense, and the lead. While TCU's O was being stopped by the defense, the Texas offensive coaches are on the headsets discussing how they want to handle the next possession. This is when you run your best stuff, attack tendencies that have developed over the game, and hit what has been working against weak link D personnel. Clock ain't a factor right now. Not yet.

Or you can...COMMENCE TURTLING SEQUENCE.

The Horns started at their 8 yard line. Again, there is 8:23 on the game clock. The key imperative here is not the clock. The clock is not relevant yet. The imperative is moving the football out of your side of the field and getting points. If that also attacks clock, lovely. Because moving and possessing the ball is the only way to attack the clock. Do you see how that works? Once you understand the order of imperatives, play calling is crystallized. Also, more points are needed on the board. Because the clock reads 8:23. Not 0:45. This game has multiple more possessions and our D is not 2009 Texas.

TCU gives us a full box and Texas runs it vanilla with Ingram. 2nd and 9. TCU doubles down. We respond with a called 3 yard Ehlinger run. 3rd and 6. Texas now has to make a money down conversion on a clear passing down. We dawdle. Running clock! But that allows Patterson to brain transplant the proper call and adjustments to his defense, probably while standing about 15 yards onto the field of play, sweating profusely, the ass of his Dockers looking like Niagara Falls. Short throw to Smith, short of the sticks.

Would it amuse you if I told you that this was essentially the same play sequence we ran against Iowa State in Ames with a 21-20 lead and 4:01 on the clock? The difference was that it was an Ehlinger called run on 1st, Ingram run on 2nd, then conservative attempted screen call to Duvernay, PBU. Punt.

Anyway, Texas punts. The punt is poor and TCU gets a good return. Why? Because the football gods hate pussies. Total time depleted by that tactic? Two minutes. TCU called zero timeouts because why would they? There are still more than 6 minutes on the clock. Good times. So TCU starts with the ball on the Longhorn 43 after TURTLE. They eventually dial up the 5 wide QB draw that's been there all day. Duggan Touchdown. Texas gets the ball back, goes hurry up, flies down the field with urgency and tempo and yacks it on the 1 yard line.

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Stack up enough turtles and it all comes tumbling down.

Positions

Let's keep this quick since I said what I wanted above.

OL

Better play as a unit. TCU's D isn't that good up front, but I'll take what I can get. The OL didn't surrender a sack, gave up some pressures and too much pocket collapse early, adjusted decently, and then held up against a lot of 3 and 4 man rushes. Only three tackles for loss surrendered. Poor push in the running game early. Poor pad level on zone. I don't like the structure of our run game, pass offs, and our angles, but that's above player pay grade.

Overall, they played well enough for us to win and the penalties they drew were understandable or fabricated bull****.

WR/TE

Some good, but some real bad. I put most of the bad above. It's nice having Jake Smith back and he was a drop away from a big day. Josh Moore no-showed. Tarik Black no-showed. Schooler got very few reps. Jared Wiley went 2-63, with two huge 3rd down conversions. Blocked OK. He'd be my #1 TE and I'd try to develop him as much as possible this year.

Cade Brewer was poor at the point of attack as an H-Back. He makes initial contact, then stands up while the defender slides off and attacks the ball. He was responsible for an early TFL doing just that. 1 catch, 1 yard. Penalty. Two consecutive subpar games IMO. Epps had a nice route and catch in the end zone out-sizing TCU's 5-8 star coverage safety. Eagles' score was a creation of a great call. His other plays were less noteworthy. If you're noticing a trend of DBs knocking the ball out from his hands and binding him up, I don't think that's coincidence. It's an inability to separate.

RB

Roschon had a nice 40 yard run with a good blocking and a sweet initial cut. 5 carries, 63 yards. Wish we could have gotten more effective cracks at the running game given the late success. Keaontay was bottled up early getting the lion's share of early reps (11-40 overall), but had some nice runs late. Obviously, a nice play out of the backfield on TCU's coverage bust when they blitzed his guy. I can't explain or excuse the fumble.

QB

Ehlinger was 17 of 36 for 236 for 4 TDs and a 1 pick. A ridiculously inefficient 5 of 16 for 133 yards at halftime. So 12 of 20 in the 2nd half. Like last year, TCU held Texas to a big play, low efficiency sort of passing game, but this time without the turnovers on frustration throws. I credit the new OC with less predictability and Sam's care-taking for that difference. It also must be said that without drops and ref intervention, #11 is looking at a 325+ yard day and a much more respectable completion percentage. His big 36 yard run around the corner was a drive saver.

Sailed a couple of throws, but he made some big time throws on 3rd and long to Smith twice and Wiley once. Also, took good care of the ball in the red zone. I've noticed he doesn't seem very comfortable sliding a little in the pocket with his eyes downfield and seeking windows, but that could be simple OL distrust and too much pocket compression. He's either going to stand in strong or bail outright. I need to watch this more.

The senior must feel strange knowing that he's the only thing keeping the offense in the game, but his head coach has zero confidence in him late on those turtle drives.

Final

"History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme" - Mark Twain.

(Scipio Tex) 2020 TCU Postmortem: Defense/Special Teams

Quote

The Frogs controlled the ball and time of possession (34:51), putting up 457 yards overall on 80 plays. 226 by way of the run, 231 by air.

While the Longhorns bent but didn't break from the mid 2nd quarter until the late 4th quarter, holding TCU to four field goals, TCU still racked up 33 points and made some crucial plays that led to touchdowns where they simply whipped Chris Ash by formation. The most notable example was the way Texas played TCU's empty set, also known as the "Hey, There's A QB Draw Coming, Dummy" formation. It ultimately cost Texas the game. Of course, a dozen other coaching errors, player errors, and refereeing gaffes also cost Texas the game, so get in line.

Go to 3:27.

TCU used the empty set QB run paired with a fake fly sweep for their first Duggan red zone touchdown to go up 14-7 in the first half. That's a fake read on the fly sweep. This is a keeper all the way. The fly sweeper wasn't even necessary, as you'll see later. Texas lost by alignment before the ball even snaps. Both LBs are vacated out wide, both DTs are in 3 techniques (shaded on outside shoulder of the guards). There is not a single Longhorn defender between the QB and the end zone paint at the snap of the ball for 12 feet across. On the Texas 5. That's bad red zone defense.

Go to 8:50.

Deja vu all over again. TCU went back to the well later with the same formation (with no fly sweep) for the 26 yard game winning TD by Duggan on 2nd and 5. TCU knew they'd get this alignment from Ash. Notice both LBs wide (eyeing the inside receivers for heaven's sakes), the DT's in 3 techniques, safeties split, zero chance of anyone recovering inside. The Texas defense has no chance here and TCU knew that this play would score. I'll bet you a large amount of money TCU was high fiving in the coaching box when they saw our alignment unchanged from the last time they did it.

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You don't allow yourself to get outnumbered inside against a dual threat QB in the red zone or defending deep in your territory with the game on the line. Why would you defend him like he's Dan Marino? This was the worst thing I saw from Ash all day and it's incomprehensible.

Overall, TCU did a nice job of attacking the Texas LBs and DBs in run support with both option and QB power/option concepts. They even ran a neat counter gaps play with Duggan as the runner. I'm sympathetic to what Ash has to work with at some spots, but when you beat yourself by alignment, my sympathy runs out. TCU has the appearance of being multiple, but they don't really have that many concepts. One clear imperative is to not lose before the snap. The Don't Beat Yourself DC beat himself there.

On the positive side of the ledger, the Texas defense held TCU to 4.4 yards per play in the second half (39 plays, 173 yards) after TCU did about what it wanted in the first half with 274 yards at 6.7 yards per play. But solid second half defense still yielded 13 TCU points - the final jog in touchdown being the most damaging. Chris Ash dialed in pretty well to what TCU was trying to do and gave the Texas offense a chance to get it together, but it's very difficult to forgive that final 26 yard TD by simple formation when the game is on the line. You have to understand your opponent and their capabilities. Texas repeatedly blow calls in high leverage situations or doesn't make simple adjustments when they get the D with something earlier in the game. The coaches just blow it. I can't explain it.

Let's get to the positions:

DL

Texas got away from straight vanilla pass rush and actually started playing some lines games, the most effective being Ossai coming on a stunt up the middle. The Horns DL notched only one sack, but got a lot more pressure and several good hits on Duggan, sometimes in combination with blitzers. It's a step forward, but TCU's OL is in the bottom third of the Big 12.

Coburn had himself a game anytime TCU tried to single block him. 7.5 tackles and 2 tackles for loss. Moving guys around him frees him up to disrupt. TCU ended up doubling him quite a bit, realizing that turning a Texas LB free was much more preferable to Keondre rag dolling people. Coburn does need to work on his handling of double teams. He's standing up a bit instead of trying to split it or submarine it. Graham had some nice penetration and a big QB hit. He showed up several times on the rewatch flushing TCU players to the chasers outside. Big Sweatt gave good relief snaps and totaled 2.5 tackles of his own.

Ossai was very disruptive in long spurts, particularly when freed to use his movement and hustle rather than pure rushing ability. Beautiful strip sack, 6.5 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss. Good sign of his ability to impact when we spice it up a little. We have to rest him occasionally, but on one of TCU's touchdown drives, Giles paired Leitao with Bush on the edge. We've got to manage the rotation a little smarter than that. Ossai had a personal foul on 3rd and 12 that gave TCU new downs that, on review, struck me as utter bull****.

Jacoby Jones made some nice plays crashing down from the backside, a couple saving big potential TCU runs when the linebackers bricked. 6 tackles. But very little pass rushing shown from a guy with a rep for flashing it in practice. We need this light to turn on in a big way. Ojomo had a beautiful rip move that drew a holding call. Nice QB hit on Duggan. Plays hard and tough, but will lose contain when it becomes a footrace. You saw TCU attacking quite a bit on reverses and jet sweeps. Didn't see a lot from Alfred Collins.

LB

Juwan Mitchell had two or three very solid plays and three very poor plays before his ill-advised targeting penalty. Apparently, sporting Cindy Brady's haircut isn't sufficient to make the ref think you're innocent. He had a nice stack and shed lined up outside on a 3rd and 1, but stepped the wrong way while unblocked on another 3rd and short. Got his hand on a ball for a pass break up, but then got sucked into no man's land multiple times on RPOs. Good pursuit on outside zone for a TFL, but unblocked on the play as playside DL was doubled. Drifts into blocking. Have no idea what's he's seeing sometimes. I get the sense he's just guessing out there sometimes and he may not be the only one.

Demarvion Overshown missed tackles early and I thought it was going to be Tech redux, but he got it together and started playing better. He also survived a friendly fire hit from Adeoye. He got a nice pressure, had a good hit on Duggan, got his hand on a ball for a PBU and was more solid than last week.

Cort Jaquess split time with Adeoye after Mitchell and did some nice things racking up 4.5 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. Good open field tackle on a jet sweep against a much quicker athlete. Cleaned up some trash from the DL as well. Too often our LBs aimlessly drift into piles and traffic instead of trusting their blocking key, taking a good angle, and decisively filling with authority. David Gbenda struggled. Game was too fast for him and his experience level.

DB

They didn't surrender a passing TD and balls didn't really go over their heads. The corners were largely OK. Josh Thompson got burned once by Quentin Johnston deep on a 50/50, but had a great hip level hit on Duggan and was generally solid. D'Shawn Jamison and Jalen Green were fine. Win some, lose some. TCU was really attacking our scheme and empty space more than really targeting individuals.

Caden Sterns had 8 tackles and returned after being shaken up in the 2nd. Chris Brown had 5 tackles. BJ Foster seemed to be first man off of the bench at both safety spots. Adimora earned a PI where he had excellent coverage but didn't get his head around and he missed a tackle. Other than those two hiccups, solid. Anthony Cook missed a tackle and took a bad angle in limited play. The inability to turn over the Frogs when TCU was letting Duggan throw it around a bit downfield was disappointing.

Special Teams

The game began fittingly enough with TCU tackling Jamison on the 10, having it negated by penalty, re-kick, having Jamison return it to the TCU 1, having that negated by offsetting penalty (Jerrin Thompson on the Texas side), and then the Texas offense going three and out. The Longhorns had three special teams penalties overall. One negated a massive kickoff return. And two personal fouls (Gbenda, Brown) pinned the Texas offense on a punt and kickoff return, respectively.

Bujcevski averaged 45 yards a kick, but some of his kicks lacked hang time and facilitated returns. Punt coverage was pretty poor overall, allowing TCU 14.2 yards per return. I guess not conceding a punt block TD and an onside kick is improvement.

Final

This defense can continue to improve, but Ash and his assistants need to make basic adjustments when a particular formation gets them. If they can't do this, Big 12 offenses will pick their scabs until they're a bloody mess.

 

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I can still remember back in 2018 when everyone would make excuses for Herman “playing down” to his competition as being some tactic used to save Ehlinger or some other horseshit. The fact of the matter is that his teams simply aren’t very good. He doesn’t “play down” but instead “plays up” or at least has gotten lucky in a handful of big games to earn him his reputation. The guy really hasn’t done a damn thing his entire career to warrant the expectation that he could return us to the salad days of the naughts.

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