AUSTIN, Texas — To listen to the Texas-TCU game, here are some options.
Final: Texas 31, TCU 33
Game analysis:
Penalties and turnovers were the name of this game. The game started with two straight penalties on the opening kickoff(s) and ended with a penalty and safety.
TCU scored late on a 26-yard touchdown run from quarterback Max Duggan to take a 33-29 lead. UT responded quickly, but ultimately fumbled on the TCU one-yard line. Texas had all three timeouts, but were unable to stop the Horned Frogs offense in the first set of downs. TCU was faced with fourth and long, but only six seconds remaining on the clock. Duggan snapped the ball and ran into the back of the end zone, with the lineman blatantly holding. The play ended with a safety, a holding penalty called, but no time on the clock. The referees explained that the holding penalty and untimed down could not be applied to a scoring play, and thus the game was over, despite the Longhorns deficit being narrowed to 33-31.
With the loss, Texas has fallen to TCU in six of the past seven seasons.
Sam Ehlinger threw for 236 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Max Duggan threw for 231 yards zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. Duggan rushed for 79 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
UT committed 12 penalties for 92 yards and TCU committed 14 penalties for 109 yards.
“There’s a thousand reasons why they happened but it goes back to us not being able to translate our practices and game work to the field. Nobody is going out there being careless or trying to commit a penalty," head coach Tom Herman said. "We’ve got to find a way to manufacture rep after rep after rep to make sure that it’s second nature when they’re doing whatever job description it is that they’re doing. That there’s no thinking and that they’re not out of position. That comes with repetition. We can teach it, preach it, coach it until we’re blue in the face, but we’ve got to find a way to make sure that we’re getting the necessary reps to where it’s second nature and not a deal where guys are thinking too much."
The Longhorns have lost six games as an AP-ranked team against unranked opponents in the Tom Herman era, which is the most such losses in the FBS in that span (since 2017), according to ESPN.
"On the game, credit to Coach [Gary] Patterson and TCU. They made more plays than we did. Really sloppy game in all phases," Herman said. "We had a chance to win at the end and couldn’t do it. We’ll lick our wounds tonight and go back to the drawing board. 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."
For a look at Texas' schedule moving forward, click here.
Fourth quarter:
Texas 29, TCU 33
TCU (Own 1):
Key moments/plays: Darwin Barlow ran for two yards. Texas called its first timeout with two minutes and 32 seconds left. Kendre Miller ran for one yard. Texas took its second timeout with two minutes and 20 seconds left. On third down, Taye Barber got the first down. Barlow ran for one yard. Texas used its final timeout with one minute and 38 seconds left. Foster ran the ball two more times and did not get a first down. Six seconds remained on the clock. TCU ran the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety and got called for holding penalties. Scoring penalties cannot hold over penalties, and thus the game ended with the safety. TCU wins, 33-31.
Result: Safety.
Texas (Own 25):
Key moments/plays: Sam Ehlinger hit Keaontay Ingram on a 52 yard pass down the middle. On the next play, Ingram got another 16 yards to the one-yard line. On first and goal at the one, Ingram fumbled the ball and TCU recovered it. Two minutes and 32 seconds remain in regulation.
Result: Fumble. Four plays, 74 yards.
TCU (Texas 43):
Key moments/plays: Duggan has a pass tipped at the line, but caught by Quentin Johnston to set up third and short. Duggan quickly did a quarterback sneak to gain the first down. Duggan ran a quarterback draw up the middle for a 26-yard touchdown run. TCU takes a 33-29 lead with four minutes left in regulation.
Result: Touchdown. Five plays, 43 yards.
Texas (Own 8):
Key moments/plays: Keaontay Ingram and Sam Ehlinger both had short runs to set up third and six. ON third down, Ehlinger hit Jake Smith on a crossing route, but could not gain the first down. Texas punted the ball and JD Spielman returned the punt to the Texas 43-yard line.
Result: Punt. Three plays, eight yards.
TCU (Own 25):
Key moments/plays: Max Duggan completed his first pass of the drive to Quentin Johnston for 14 yards. After a short run and a sack, Duggan could not complete the third down. TCU punted the ball to the Texas eight-yard line.
Result: Punt. Four plays, 13 yards.
Texas (Own 25):
Key moments/plays: Roschon Johnson ripped off a 40-yard run up the middle. On third and 10, Sam Ehlinger hit a crucial 11-yard throw to Jared Wiley. Two Keaontay Ingram runs pushed the UT offense inside the 10-yard line. ON third and goal form the seven-yard line, Ehlinger capped off the drive with a touchdown pass to Malcolm Epps. Roschon Johnson ran in the two-point conversion to give UT a three-point lead.
Result: Touchdown. 10 plays, 75 yards.
TCU (Con't/Texas 14):
Key moments/plays: JD Spielman ran for six yards to the Texas eight-yard line. On third and four, Duggan was tackled for a two-yard loss. TCU kicked a short field goal to extend the lead. Texas has held the TCU offense to field goals in the red zone on three separate drives.
Result: Field goal. 11 plays, 83 yards.
Third quarter:
Texas 21, TCU 23
TCU (Own 7):
Key moments/plays: Daimarqua Foster got some work on the ground early in the drive. Max Duggan completed a 11-yard pass and got a 16-yard run to move TCU's offense across midfield. Duggan completed a 34-yard pass down the sideline to Blair Conwright.
Result: End of third quarter.
Texas (TCU 36):
Key moments/plays: Sam Ehlinger got 28 yards on a completion to Alvonte Woodard, but the play was wiped out by yet another UT penalty. The ineligible man downfield penalty stalled the UT drive and forced Texas to punt.
Result: Punt. Three plays, negative five yards.
TCU (Own 41):
Key moments/plays: After back-to-back runs for no gain, Texas forced a sack-fumble and UT recovered the ball at the TCU 36-yard line.
Result: Fumble. Three plays, negative five yards.
Texas (Own 23):
Key moments/plays: Sam Ehlinger completed a short six-yard pass to Jake Smith. On third and four, Smith dropped an open crossing route. Texas punted the ball to the TCU 41-yard line.
Result: Punt. Three plays. zero yards.
TCU (Own 25):
Key moments/plays:Two penalies moved the TCU offense back. TCU was unable to gain a first down on the next three plays. To this point, TCU has 13 penalties for 104 yards. UT has 11 penalties for 87 yards. TCU punted the ball away.
Result: Punt. Three plays, one yard.
Texas (Own 25):
Key moments/plays: Sam Ehlinger took off on a third down and short to gain 36 yards on the ground. Ehlinger hit Jake Smith for 12 yards. TCU was penalized for sideline interference, which placed the ball at the TCU 15-yard line.
On third and seven from the TCU 12-yard line, Ehlinger could not connect with Tarik Black. TCU was called for offsides, which set up fourth and two. Texas decided to take the field goal unit off the field and go for it. Ehlinger threw a screen pass to Roschon Johnson and scored a touchdown.
Result: Touchdown. Eight plays, 87 yards.
TCU (Own 30):
Key moments/plays: TCU started the drive with a pair of big runs of 15 and 28 yards from Kendre Miller. A holding penalty dropped the TCU offense back to the Texas 37-yard line. TCU stalled and hit a 49-yard field goal.
Result: Field goal. Six plays, 39 yards.
Halftime: Texas 14, TCU 20
Summary:
Penalties, penalties, penalties. That was the storyline of the first half. There were 9 total penalties called in the first 12 total plays. Texas was called for nine penalties for 70 yards and TCU was called for eight penalties for 58 yards.
Sam Ehlinger has had flashes, like the 45-yard touchdown pass to Brennan Eagles. But, he also threw an interception late in the second quarter, already down 17-14, which led to another field goal, extending the deficit to 20-14.
Texas needs to get out of their own way in order to turn this game around.
Second quarter
Texas 14, TCU 20
Texas (Own 25):
Key moments/plays: Keaontay Ingram got no yards on the first down carry. Ingram ran one more time and that ended the first half.
Result: Halftime.
TCU (Texas 20):
Key moments/plays: Duggan completed a pass to Taye Barber for five yards, then threw two straight incompletions. Texas defense holds TCU to a field goal with the short field.
Result: Field goal. Four plays, five yards.
Texas (Own 25):
Key moments/plays: Sam Ehlinger threw an interception on the first play. TCU takes over in Longhorn territory.
Result: Interception. One play, zero yards.
TCU (Own 20):
Key moments/plays: Taye Barber ran around the left end for 17 yards to bring the TCU offense near midfield. A converted third and short was wiped out by a holding penalty. On third and 12, Duggan threw a deep shot for Quentin Johnston, which was almost hauled in with one hand.
TCU still got a fresh set of downs though due to a roughing the passer penalty. Duggan and Kendre Miller run drove the ball to inside the red zone in the run game. On third and goal from the 10-yard line, Texas stopped Duggan and the TCU offense. TCU hit the 28-yard field goal.
Result: Field goal. 14 plays, 70 yards.
Texas (Own 20):
Key moments/plays: Texas inched forward with a flurry of run plays. On third and 12, Sam Ehlinger dialed up a deep pass to Brennan Eagles, but the pass was incomplete. Texas punted the ball away.
Result: Punt. Six plays, nine yards/.
TCU (Own 25):
Key moments/plays: Max Duggan hit JD Spielman for 20 yards to midfield. A few plays later, TCU was faced with third and 10 from the Texas 37-yard line. Duggan was flushed from the pocket and had to throw the ball away. TCU punted the ball into the end zone for a touchback.
Result: Punt. Seven plays, 38 yards.
Texas (Own 37):
Key moments/plays: Sam Ehlinger threw two straight incompletions, but converted a third down and long to Jake Smith for 18 yards to cross midfield.
On the very next play, Ehlinger found Brennan Eagles over the middle seam for a 45-yard touchdown.
Result: Touchdown. Four plays, 63 yards.
TCU (Con't):
Key moments/plays: Duggan opened the drive with a deep pass to Quentin Johnston for 50 yards.
A pass interference penalty on a deep pass against the UT defense set up TCU with a fresh set of downs in the red zone. Juwan Mitchell was also reviewed for a targeting penalty on the play. After review, Mitchell was called for targeting and disqualified from the game. The ball was placed at the Texas 11-yard line. Max Duggan capped off the drive with a touchdown run. TCU retakes the lead.
Result: Touchdown. Four plays, 75 yards.
First quarter
Texas 7, TCU 7
TCU (Own 25):
Key moments/plays: Daimarqua Foster ran for four yards.
Result: End of 1st quarter.
Texas (Own 25):
Key moments/plays: A holding penalty on Texas backed up the Longhorns offense. On third and 15, Sam Ehlinger connected with Jake Smith for a huge gain, but Smith was called for offensive pass interference. On third down and 25, Sam Ehlinger hit Jared Wiley over the middle for 53 yards.
Back-to-back incompletions set up third and 10 again. Ehlinger hit Tarik Black for another first down conversion. Roschon Johnson ran the ball inside the 10-yard line. Ehlinger capped off the drive with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Jake Smith.
Result: Touchdown. 10 plays, 75 yards.
TCU (Own 33):
Key moments/plays: Darwin Barlow got some work in the ground game to guide the TCU offense passed midfield and in field goal range. On third and seven, Duggan converted a strike on a crucial out route to Derius Davis. Duggan took a quarterback keeper down to the one-yard line. Barlow capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run.
Result: Touchdown. 11 plays, 67 yards.
Texas (Own 6):
Key moments/plays: Sack on first play to the one-yard line. A 48-yard gain on third down from Sam Ehlinger to Keaontay Ingram was wiped out by a penalty. On third and long, Texas was unable to convert. There has been 11 total plays and eight penalties combined between both teams. UT punted and another flag was thrown on the return for block in the back on TCU.
Result: Punt. Three plays, one yard.
TCU (Own 40):
Key moments/plays: A few runs from Max Duggan helped TCU cross midfield. On third and six, Texas got called for an offsides penalty to set up third and one. UT held a quarterback-designed run from Duggan. TCU punted to the Texas 11-yard line. A penalty on UT set the ball half the distance to the goal
Result: Punt. Five plays, 19 yards.
Texas (Own 33):
Key moments/plays: The game started with two straight offsides penalties on the opening kickoff. DShawn Jamison returned the second kickoff to the one-yard line, but a UT penalty offset the return. On the third kickoff, the ball was returned to the 33-yard line. Sam Ehlinger started with three straight incompletions.
Result: Three-and-out. Punt. Three plays, zero yards.
Pregame:
Editor's note: The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The No. 9 Texas Longhorns take on TCU Horned Frogs Saturday in their second home game of the 2020 season. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.
Everything you need to know:
Texas enters this matchup off an improbable comeback overtime win on the road against Texas Tech. UT was losing by 15 points with just over three minutes remaining and somehow found a way to leave Lubbock with a win.
TCU, on the other hand, is 0-1 after losing at home to Iowa State, 37-34. On paper, Texas is favored to beat TCU.
Also, the Horned Frogs won only six of their past 39 meetings against Texas when they were still together in the old Southwest Conference through the 1995 season.
However, Coach Gary Patterson and TCU have matched that win total in eight games since joining the Longhorns in the Big 12 less than a decade ago. TCU has defeated UT in five of the past six games, including in Fort Worth last season.
As for 2020, Texas senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger has 688 yards passing for 10 touchdowns with one interception. He had 321 yards and two TDs against TCU last season, but also had the only four-interception game of his career. As a true freshman the matchup last season, Max Duggan threw for 273 yards with two touchdowns and ran for 72 yards and another score in the Frogs’s 37-27 win. Duggan threw for 241 yards against Iowa State in his only half of action last week.
ESPN's Football Power Index also predicts an 80.5% chance the Longhorns win against TCU as of Friday, Oct. 2. Take a look at what the KVUE Sports team predicted here.
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