Texas will possess plenty of momentum spurred by a record-breaking offense when it travels up I-35 to play TCU on Saturday afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas.
Even so, don’t expect the Horned Frogs to be intimidated entering the key Big 12 Conference clash. No matter how well the Longhorns are playing before they square off with TCU, the Horned Frogs have usually found a way to beat Texas over the past decade.
The Longhorns (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) routed previously undefeated Texas Tech 70-35 in their most recent game, last Saturday in Austin, Texas, a performance that landed them in the 26th spot in AP poll voting.
Casey Thompson passed for 303 yards and five touchdowns and ran for another score, and Bijan Robinson racked up 191 total yards in the win, which was the first time Texas scored 70 points in a game since the 2005 Big 12 Championship Game against Colorado.
Thompson was named conference player of the week while wideout Xavier Worthy, who hauled in three of Thompson’s scoring tosses, was named Big 12 newcomer of the week.
Texas led 42-14 at halftime, and for the second straight game, the Longhorns did not punt, which has never happened in back-to-back games in the program’s history.
“Our guys played really hard, which is something I’ve been trying to stress and emphasize,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday. “We had really good mental intensity in the first half in all three phases.”
None of that will mean a thing when the Longhorns take the field on Saturday. TCU has owned Texas in the recent past, with wins in the last two meetings and six of the past seven.
“We’re not naive to the fact we’re 2-7 against TCU the last nine years,” Sarkisian said. “We’re also not going to buy the lie that we’re going to play the same TCU team that just played SMU.”
The Horned Frogs (2-1, 0-0) open their conference slate after a 42-34 loss at home to Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex rival SMU last Saturday.
Zach Evans led TCU with 113 yards on 15 carries during the loss, the fourth time in the past six games he topped 100 yards. He added three receptions for 70 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown for his first career receiving score.
Quarterback Max Duggan passed for 276 yards and a career-high-tying three touchdowns in the loss to SMU.
The Horned Frogs’ defense was at fault in the defeat. TCU surrendered 350 rushing yards to SMU and has given up more than 400 total yards in each of the past two games.
“There’s only one person in charge who takes blame on that — that’s me, right now,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said following the SMU game. “I’m the one that’s supposed to fix it.”
