1. This was yet another frustrating loss for Texas, which once again falls below .500 with a 4-5 record. Losing to a good TCU team on the road is no big sin, but to lose the way Texas did in this game, with virtually no offensive success aside from two big pass plays in the second quarter, is another bitter pill to swallow for Texas fans. Texas managed just 263 yards of offense. The Longhorns totaled 9 rushing yards. Texas had -2 yards of offense in the first quarter. The offense passed the 50-yard line once in the second half. Brutal.
2. Again, Texas crossed midfield once in the second half, and that only happened on what really amounted to a busted play. Shane Beuchele pulled a bit of a Houdini act to avoid pressure in the pocket, then he looked up to find Lil’Jordan Humphrey who was able to make a nice run after the catch and weave his way for 42 yards down to the TCU 35. After that, it was four straight incomplete passes for Texas.
3. Credit, once again, to the Texas defense, that played a very good game overall after a slow start in the first quarter. That side of the ball eventually wound down (who wouldn’t?) but the defense was really good in the second, third and most of the fourth quarters. Same story, different week for that group.
4. That first drive by the Texas defense was a disaster. Holton Hill picked up a personal foul TCU’s, then after what should have been a third and long, Brandon Jones was called for a facemask away from the play after the running back had already been stopped. Two not-so-smart mistakes that helped TCU drive right down the field for an easy score. You just can’t do that, on the road, against a team in which you’re going to have to play at a high level just to give yourself a chance. Frustrating start for the defense, but it did bounce back.
5. Chris Nelson did a great job of sniffing out TCU’s throwback trick play on fourth down and was about six inches from tipping the ball for what would have been an incomplete pass. Instead, it went for a fourth-down conversion and TCU scored a touchdown on the very next play. Texas just seemed it was an inch or two away from making a handful of key plays that could have turned this thing in UT’s favor.
6. Daniel Young got the start at running back, which was nice to see. Young and the rest of the offense didn’t get much help from the offensive line, but I still love the confidence the coaches showed in the true freshman in a key road game.
7. Gary Johnson played well yet again, including a nice tackle on third down early in the game to force a punt. It was a really good read by Johnson after Texas blitzed up the middle and off the left edge to create a potential hole in the defense. Johnson did a great job of flowing to the left to cover the receiver coming off the line into the voided area, then made a sure tackle a yard short of the marker. That was a small play that will show up as nothing more than a solo tackle in the stat book, but it was a really fine play by Johnson in the read and execution and it set Texas up with pretty good field position.
8. I thought Shane Buechele did a great job in the first half of taking some shots downfield and giving his receivers a chance to make a play. The passes resulted in a couple big plays and Texas’ only points in the game. TCU adjusted its coverage some in the second half and we really didn’t see it again after Collin Johnson’s touchdown catch. At some point, you have to wonder if Texas can do a better job of finding a way to force the issue with those types of passes.
9. Buechele was solid, for the most part, although his final stats don’t look great after a bunch of incomplete passes to end the game. Buechele finished with 254 yards and 1 TD on 21-of-44 passing. As has become the norm, Buechele faced pressure on just about every throw and he did a good job of delivering the ball and protecting the football.
10. Many fans are divided on the quarterbacks, but the truth is that this offense is going to struggle regardless of whether it’s Buechele or Sam Ehlinger in the game, especially against a defense as good as TCU’s. With the o-line issues, I’m not sure there’s a quarterback on the planet that could look good in this offense. Buechele and Ehlinger are different style of players and Ehlinger does seem to bring a different spark when he’s in the game with his intensity, but the overall play of the offense isn’t much different regardless of which one is in the game. Not at this point. Anyone who says differently is just being stubborn with his or her views. Both quarterbacks have been pretty average, all things considered.
11. Texas hasn’t had many games that have played out the way they actually appeared they would on paper, but this one was pretty close to expected form. Both defenses were dominant, but Texas absolutely has to be more productive on offense. I know TCU’s defense is outstanding, but like I said in the podcast this week, anything less than 20 points would feel like a disappointment to me. There’s no excuse for scoring only 7 points. None. This felt like watching an SEC slugfest where Texas played the role of LSU, a team that just cannot find a way to score and had to hope for a huge play by the defense or special teams to even have a chance of getting over the hump.
12. Antwuan Davis played really well in filling in for P.J. Locke. Davis didn’t make any mistakes that I saw and made a couple really nice tackles, including blowing up a wide receiver screen in the third quarter. He had a team-high 6 tackles in the first half and finished with 7 stops overall.
13. Texas possessed the ball for 3:21 in the first quarter and totaled -2 yards of offense. Slow starts on that side of the ball continue to plague this team and at this point, it’s probably an issue that’s not going to get fixed.
14. After a slow start to the game, the Texas defense once again played at a winning level. The Horned Frogs had 138 yards of offense in the first quarter, but finished the game with 343 yards (77 on their back-breaking TD drive late in the game) and at one point were forced to punt on seven consecutive possessions.
15. Michael Dickson was outstanding again, including a 76-yard punt on UT’s second drive. Unbelievable. He also made a nice open-field tackle after a 62-yard punt in the fourth quarter. MVP. Dickson averaged 50.8 yards on nine punts and had three downed inside the 20.
16. It’s not even worth harping on at this point, but the play of the offensive line was once again disastrous. Both tackles struggled, two plays by true freshman Derek Kerstetter that killed Texas on a couple third down plays, once getting beat for a sack and once completely whiffing on a zone read keeper that made Shane Buechele a sitting duck. The play on the interior wasn’t much better.
Even on plays when four guys seemed to block well, one guy would routinely blow his assignment and let someone rush free, forcing a hurried throw. And the run blocking was pretty much non-existent. Tough night overall, and this offense is going to struggle every single week with the type of play it’s getting up front.
17. Josha Rowland … what was that? His 47-yard field goal attempt was finally online, but it came up a good five yards short.
18. That fourth and three play by on the plus side of the field where the offense snapped the ball quickly and none of the receivers looked for the ball was a disaster. It looked like Texas was trying to set up a wide receiver screen but every single WR went to block. The players have to know what they’re doing, but that one doesn’t look very good for the coaches either. That simply cannot happen.
19. After building up some momentum with a dominating win last week over a bad Baylor team, this feels like a sizeable step back. Seven regular-season wins is still doable, but it’s also not at all out of the question that this team is going to have to fight its guts out just become bowl eligible.
Player of the game: We should just call this the Michael Dickson award since he could win this one every single week. There were quite a few really good performances on the defensive side of the ball, including another terrific effort from Malik Jefferson and Poona Ford, but the nod here goes to Gary Johnson. The JUCO transfer just seems to find himself around the ball and he finished with 9 tackles and 2 sacks on the night.
Best position group:The combination of Jefferson and Johnson were terrific from the linebacker position. That duo combined for 19 stops.
This game was over when ... TCU quarterback Kenny Hill converted a third-and-2 with TCU up 17-7 in the fourth quarter. At that point, all hope pretty much went out the window. TCU would go on to score a few plays later, putting the nail in the coffin.
Best decision: Throwing the ball downfield in the first half and giving Texas’ big-bodied receivers like Collin Johnson and Lil’Jordan Humphrey a chance to make plays against the TCU DBs.
Head-scratcher: Not going back to the downfield passing attack in the second half. I understand that TCU did some things schematically to make it difficult to push the ball downfield, but Texas has to find ways to counter-attack to get guys like Johnson and LJH downfield with a chance to make a play on the ball.
What's next?:Kansas will head to Austin next weekend for a game that will put Texas back at .500 on the year, and then it’s a matter of picking up a win at West Virginia or at home against Texas Tech (neither of which is a given) to become bowl eligible.
