Football loses 24-7 at No. 10/12 TCU

Saturday, November 4

Fort Worth, Texas

6:15 p.m.

University of Texas

4-5 , 3-3

TCU

8-1 , 5-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Texas

TCU

11.04.2017 | Football

Box Score

The Longhorns will host Kansas next Saturday at DKR - Texas Memorial Stadium.

Final statistics | Postgame notes | Tom Herman postgame press conference | Photo Gallery | Gameday

FORT WORTH, Texas – In a battle of top-ranked defenses, The University of Texas (4-5, 3-3) dropped a hard-fought decision to No. 10/12 TCU (8-1, 5-1), 24-7, at Amon G. Carter Stadium on Saturday night.

The Texas defense forced eight three-and-outs in the game, but were done in by a pair of fourth-down conversions that led to TCU touchdowns.

The Horned Frogs got on the board early with a 1-yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead, closing out a 9-play, 75-yard drive to open the game that was aided by a pair of 15-yard personal foul penalties against Texas. The Horns almost ended the drive when TCU went for it on fourth-and-1 at the UT 21, but junior defensive lineman Chris Nelson narrowly missed picking off a lateral on the play, which the Horned Frogs converted for the first down to the UT 1-yard line.

Junior punter Michael Dickson pinned the Horned Frogs deep in their own territory before their next two possessions, the first on a 76-yard punt, tied for fifth-longest in Texas history, which was downed at the TCU 10. Dickson flipped the field again when his next punt went for 50 yards, spotting the ball at the Horned Frog 15-yard line. This time TCU drove nearly the length of the field to close out the first quarter, setting up third-and-goal at the UT 1-yard line as time expired.

On the first play of the second quarter, sophomore defensive end Malcolm Roach stuffed a TCU rushing attempt at the line, forcing the Horned Frogs to settle for an 18-yard field goal that put them up 10-0.

Texas came out firing on its first possession of the quarter, with sophomore quarterback Shane Buechele completing his first three pass attempts to push the Longhorns into TCU territory for the first time in the game. After an incompletion made it fourth-and-two at the TCU 42, Buechele connected with junior running Chris Warren III on a swing pass to the right for a pickup of 12 yards. The Horns were unable to move the ball any further, narrowly missing on three passes before a 47-yard field goal attempt came up short.

TCU responded with a 5-play drive that took just 1:31 to execute, scoring on a 14-yard touchdown run to increase their lead to 17-0.

The Longhorns answered with a quick strike of their own, scoring 47 seconds later on a 33-yard touchdown reception by sophomore wide receiver Collin Johnson to narrow the gap to 17-7. Buechele opened the drive with a 37-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Lil'Jordan Humphrey. After a TCU offside penalty, Buechele threw into the end zone where Johnson fought off two defenders for the catch, his second touchdown reception of the season.

Buechele completed 21-of-44 passes for 254 yards, connecting with 11 different receivers, the second straight week he has completed passes to ten-or-more receivers and the third straight week the feat has been accomplished by a Texas quarterback.

The Horns' defense forced back-to-back three-and-outs on the next two TCU possessions, while the offense was able to move inside the TCU 32 on their next two drives, but was unable to capitalize, as both teams failed to score in the rest of the half.

Both defenses dominated in the early portion of the second half, with each squad forcing a pair of three-and-outs and neither offense picking up more than 24 yards on a drive in a scoreless third quarter.

The trend continued into the fourth quarter, with the Longhorns forcing two more three-and-outs and the Horned Frogs picking up one of their own.

TCU broke the stalemate late in the fourth quarter, converting on fourth-and-1 at the UT 31 and running it in for the score with 4:23 remaining, extending the lead to 24-7.

A 42-yard catch and run by Humphrey on the ensuing drive put Texas at the TCU 35, but the Horns would go no further, turning the ball over on downs with 3:24 left in the game. Humphrey finished with six receptions and 109 yards, both career highs, while the 42-yard reception was the longest of his career.

After the defense forced another three-and-out, senior wide receiver Lorenzo Joe blocked the first punt up his career to give the Horns the ball at the their own 47 with a final opportunity to put points on the board, but the offense came up short.

Junior linebacker Malik Jefferson, who had 10 tackles, sophomore safety Brandon Jones and junior linebacker Gary Johnson, who pitched in with nine tackles a piece, led the Longhorn defensive effort that held TCU to 343 total yards, while collecting two sacks and seven tackles for loss.

Dickson finished the day punting nine times with five traveling for at least 50 yards, raising his season average to 48.8 yards per punt.

The Longhorns are back in action on Saturday, Nov. 11, when the will play host to the Kansas Jayhawks at Darrell K Royal – Texas Memorial