PLAYERS TO WATCH
–RB Darius Anderson is by far TCU’s most explosive and dependable playmaker entering the 2018 season and will be leaned on heavily to move the chains if the passing game fails or offensive line falters. With 154 yards on 12 carries vs. Ohio State, Anderson had his fourth career 100-plus-yard rushing game. It was the second-best rushing game of his career, surpassed only by his 160 yards in last season’s 44-31 win at No. 6 Oklahoma State. His game against Ohio State featured a 93-yard TD run that was the longest rushing play in TCU history. He now has and has 263 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries for the season.
–QB Shawn Robinson posted career highs in completions (24), attempts (40) passing yards (308) and total offense (315) in last week’s loss to Ohio State. Robinson is the first TCU quarterback to win his first three starts since Jeff Ballard won 11 straight from 2005-06. He did not have an interception in his first 70 pass attempts at TCU, the longest streak by a quarterback to begin his career under coach Gary Patterson.
–LB Ty Summers has been Mr. Production for TCU, needing just 63 tackles to become the all-time tackling leader in the Gary Patterson era. He played quarterback in high school, so he has position flexibility, too, playing linebacker and defensive end. Summers ran a 4.55-second 40-yard dash in the spring and has recorded a 36-inch vertical. He has 10 stops, two of them tackles for a loss, a quarterback hurry and a sack through the first three games.
–DE Ben Banogu, a senior, made a huge splash in his first season with TCU. After transferring from Louisiana-Monroe and sitting out the 2016 season, he became one of the nation’s top defensive ends. Banogu was first in the Big 12 with 16.5 tackles for loss and was second with 8.5 sacks. The 6-foot-4, 250-pounder was named Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year, First-Team All-Big 12, First-Team AP All-Big 12 and Honorable-Mention Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year. He had three tackles and two quarterback hurries in the loss to Ohio State and now has five stops, a forced fumble that led to a TD return and two quarterback hurries for the season.
SERIES HISTORY: Texas leads TCU 62-25-1. The Longhorns own a record of 33-14-1 all-time against TCU in Austin. Texas won 24 straight over TCU from 1968-91, but TCU’s current four-game win streak is tied for their longest ever against the Longhorns.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “If you gave me a choice of who you need to beat, it’s conference play. You’d want to win the Texas game. Whether that permeated with them, we’ll find out. But that’s the thing you have to understand — to get to the playoffs you’ve got to win your conference, or get to be one of those final two teams (in the Big 12 title game). It starts this week.” — TCU coach Gary Patterson on whether beating Texas is more important than a win over Ohio State would have been
