Football preview: at TCU

Saturday, October 2

Fort Worth, Texas

11 A.M. CT

University of Texas

TCU

09.27.2021 | Football, Tickets

Game Notes Quotes

Texas heads to TCU on Saturday for the first Big 12 Conference road game of the season.

Texas (3-1) at TCU (2-1)
October 2, 2021
Where: Fort Worth, Texas
Stadium: Amon G. Carter Stadium
Time: 11:00 a.m. CT
TV: ABC (Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek, Tom Luginbill)
Radio: Longhorn IMG Radio Network (Craig Way, Roger Wallace, Will Matthews)
Spanish Radio: Longhorn IMG Radio Network (Dr. Rubén Pizarro-Silva, Jesus Mendoza)

THE OPENING KICKOFF

The University of Texas continues its 129th season of football on Saturday when the Longhorns travel to Fort Worth Texas and Amon G. Carter Stadium for a road matchup with TCU.
Texas enters the weekend with an overall record of 3-1 and a 1-0 mark in the Big 12 Conference. UT is coming off a 70-35 victory over Texas Tech last weekend at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
UT has scored at least 58 points in each of its last two games, with more than 40 points coming in the first half of each contest.
TCU is 2-1 overall this season and the game with Texas will be the Horned Frogs' Big 12 opener. TCU is coming off a 42-32 home loss to SMU last Saturday.
Saturday will mark Texas' third day game of the 2021 season. The Longhorns are 2-0 in day games this season, with a 38-18 victory over Louisiana to open the season and last week's 70-35 win over Texas Tech.
Texas currently boasts 926 all-time wins, the fourth-most in college football history. UT holds an all-time record of 926-379-33 (.704).

THE ALL-TIME SERIES

Texas will meet TCU for the 92nd time in program history on Saturday in Fort Worth. The Longhorns own a 63-27-1 record all-time against the Horned Frogs, and fell to TCU, 33-31, in Austin last season.
Saturday's will be the series' 40th matchup in Fort Worth, where Texas holds a 27-12 advantage over TCU.
The first matchup between the schools was contested in 1897, when the Longhorns defeated TCU, 18-10. Texas and TCU met almost annually following their first encounter up until UT joined the Big 12 Conference prior to the 1996 season.
Texas owns the largest victory for either school in the all-time series, having posted a 72-0 win at home in 1915.
UT won 24 straight over TCU from 1968-91, which is the longest winning streak by either school in the series.

A Texas Win Would ...

Be Texas' 927th victory all-time, keeping UT as the fourth-winningest program in college football history.
Improve the Longhorns to 29-12 all-time against TCU in Fort Worth.
Give Steve Sarkisian his 50th victory as a head coach and fourth at The University of Texas.
Be the first road win for Texas in the Steve Sarkisian Era.
Give Texas a 4-1 mark under Steve Sarkisian, making Sarkisian the first Texas head coach to win four of his first five games since Fred Akers started 5-0 in 1977.
Mark Steve Sarkisian's third win as a head coach against teams from the state of Texas and improve his record to 3-1.
Improve Sarkisian's record against programs representing the Big 12 to 3-2 and bring his record against teams currently in the Big 12 to 2-1.

The Captains

This season, Texas will be naming game captains on a weekly basis.

LOUISIANA (Game 1): OL Derek Kerstetter, RB Roschon Johnson and LB DeMarvion Overshown.
ARKANSAS (Game 2): TE Cade Brewer, K/P Cameron Dicker and DL Moro Ojomo.
RICE (Game 3): OL Junior Angilau, DB B.J. Foster and WR Jordan Whittington
Texas Tech (Game 4): DB Anthony Cook, RB Keilan Robinson and QB Casey Thompson

Putting Up Points

In the victory over Texas Tech, the Longhorns scored 70 points in a game for the first time since 2005 Big 12 Championship Game against Colorado.
It was only the second time since 1977 and 11th time in school history that UT has scored 70 points in a game.
The 70 points tied for the second most scored against a Big 12 opponent in conference play, while the 42 points scored in the first half were also the second most in a Big 12 contest.
Texas has scored at least 38 points in three of four games this season.
It was the fifth time in the last six games the Longhorns have scored 35 or more points.
The Longhorns have surpassed 50 points in four of the last six games.
Texas has scored at least 40 points in the first half of each of its last two games (44 vs. Rice/42 vs. Texas Tech), marking the first time since 2003 (41 vs. Rice/49 vs. Tulane) that the Longhorns have tallied at least 40 first-half points in back-to-back games.

Full Steam Ahead

The running backs ran wild in Texas' 58-0 win over Rice with three Longhorns breaking runs for over 60 yards, the first time in program history that three different players have registered rushes of over 60 yards in the same game.
Junior Roschon Johnson started things off with a 72-yard jaunt for a score in the first quarter and sophomore Bijan Robinson followed with a 62-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Not to be out done, sophomore Keilan Robinson added a 65-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Texas finished the game with a program-single-game record 10.4 yards per carry (41 carries for 427 yards).
The last time Texas had three different players with a run of 60 yards or more in a season was 2004. Romance Taylor had a 74-yard touchdown run in the season opener against North Texas and Cedric Benson busted a 60-yard run at Arkansas the following week. Vince Young added one of his own with a 60-yard run in the Rose Bowl against Michigan.
Texas' previous season with at least three runs of 60 yards took place in 2015, when D'Onta Foreman had three (Kansas – 93 yards, Oklahoma – 81 yards, West Virginia – 65 yards) and Chris Warren III had one (Texas Tech – 91 yards).
The last time there were three plays of 60 or more yards in a single game occurred against Oklahoma in 2005 when Jamaal Charles ran 80 yards for a touchdown, Rodrique Wright scored on a 67-yard fumble return and Vince Young connected with Billy Pittman for a 64-yard touchdown pass.
In addition to three players busting 60-plus yard runs, four different players rushed for touchdowns against Rice, with freshman Jonathon Brooks joining the trio with a 17-yard score in the fourth quarter.

Breaking Big Plays

Texas has registered 600 yards of offense in each of their last two games (620 vs. Rice/639 vs. Tech). That's just the second time in school history that the Longhorns have had back-to-back 600-yard games. UT had 3-straight 600-yard games in 2005 (606 vs. Oklahoma State/645 vs. Baylor/617 vs. Kansas). The 1,259 yards over two games are the second-most yards in a two-game stretch in UT history.
Texas rushed for 427 yards last week against Rice and 346 against Texas Tech, the first time rushing for more than 300 yards in back-to-back games since 2016 against Cal (307) and Oklahoma State (329).
The Longhorns surpassed 300 yards passing and 300 yards rushing on the day, which was last accomplished against Colorado in the 2020 Alamo Bowl.

Passing on Punts

Texas has not attempted a punt in the last two games against Rice and Texas Tech, the first time in program history the Longhorns have not punted in consecutive games.
The Longhorns have gone nine-straight quarters without attempting a punt.
The only other season in which Texas had two games with zero punt attempts was in 2011 (vs. Texas Tech, at Baylor).

Efficient in the Red Zone

The Longhorns converted 6-of-6 red zone opportunities against Texas Tech with six touchdowns.
Texas is 19-of-20 in the red zone this year.
UT has scored touchdowns on all 19 successful red zone appearances.

Bijan Breaking Through

Sophomore RB Bijan Robinson opened the 2021 campaign in style, earning Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) National Offensive Player of the Week honors after racking up 176 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, including 103 on the ground and a touchdown on 20 carries, along with four receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown in leading the Longhorns to an opening week win over No. 23 Louisiana.
Robinson rushed for 127 yards on 13 carries (9.8 ypc) and scored three touchdowns against Rice to earn an Honorable Mention Player of the Week nod from The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award.
In four games this season, Robinson has carried the ball 70 times for 436 yards (6.2 ypc) with five touchdowns and has eight receptions for 145 yards (18.1 ypc) with two touchdowns. All told, he has 581 yards on 78 plays for 7.4 yards per play with seven touchdowns.
His seven touchdowns this year surpass the six he scored as a freshman in five fewer games played.
Against Texas Tech, he carried the ball 18 times for 137 yards and had two receptions for 54 yards and one touchdown. He had a career-long 38-yard touchdown reception and runs of 33 and 22 yards, giving him six plays of 20 or more yards this season and 20 in his career.
Has scored 13 touchdowns (nine rushing and four receiving) in his last six games.
Has surpassed 100 yards rushing in six of the last eight games with the Longhorns sporting a 6-0 record.

Thompson at the Helm

Junior QB Casey Thompson is making the most of his opportunity since being named the starter in week three against Rice, putting on a show during his first two games as the starter under center, earning a spot on the Davey O'Brien Award's Great 8 list following his second-ever start last Saturday against Texas Tech.
In his first career start against Rice, Thompson completed 15-of-18 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns.
The junior took it to another level against Texas Tech, completing 18-of-23 passes and establishing career highs with 303 passing yards and five touchdowns, while also carrying the ball seven times for 29 yards and a touchdown.
In all, Thompson accounted for six touchdowns against Texas Tech, tied for second-most in a single game in UT history. His five touchdown passes also tied for second in program history.
He threw for 467 yards in his first two career starts, the fifth-most by a Longhorn quarterback.
Thompson is the first Texas quarterback to win his first two career starts since Shane Buechele in 2016.
Over his last three games, Thompson has completed 38-of-49 passes for 524 yards and
seven touchdowns while rushing 16 times for 80 yards and three scores.
Has converted 16-of-23 third downs and 4-of-4 fourth downs this season.
In 2021, Thompson has connected on 42-of-54 passes (77.8 percent) for 565 yards and eight touchdowns and carried the ball 16 times for 80 yards (5.0 ypc) and three scores.

Casey Creating Points

Thompson is leading Texas to the end zone at an exceptional rate. In the 22 drives he has led this season, the Longhorns have scored 19 times with 18 touchdowns, including a streak of 11 consecutive touchdown drives the ended against Texas Tech.
Since entering at the beginning of the second half in last season's Valero Alamo Bowl for then-senior QB Sam Ehlinger, Thompson has guided 27 Texas drives with the Longhorns scoring on 24 of them including 22 touchdowns (12 passing and 10 rushing) and two field goals.

2020 Valero Alamo Bowl vs. Colorado
1. Joshua Moore 13-yd TD pass from Thompson
2. Joshua Moore 25-yd TD pass from Thompson
3. Cameron Dicker 35-yd field goal
4. Bijan Robinson 23-yd TD pass from Thompson
5. Kelvontey Dixon 73-yd TD pass from Thompson

2021 vs. Louisiana
6. Jordan Whittington 14-yd TD pass from Thompson
7. Cameron Dicker 49-yd field goal
8. Punt

2021 at Arkansas
9. Casey Thompson 5-yd TD run
10. Casey Thompson 2-yd TD run

2021 vs. Rice
11. Bijan Robinson 6-yd TD run
12. Interception
13. Roschon Johnson 72-yd TD run
14. Bijan Robinson 7-yd TD run
15. Bijan Robinson 62-yd TD run
16. Jared Wiley 20-yd TD pass from Thompson
17. Xavier Worthy 13-yd TD pass from Thompson
18. Keilan Robinson 65-yd TD run

2021 vs. Texas Tech
19. Bijan Robinson 38-yd TD pass from Thompson
20. Roschon Johnson 3-yd TD run
21. Casey Thompson 1-yd TD run
22. Xavier Worthy 23-yd TD pass from Thompson
23. Roschon Johnson 7-yd TD run
24. Interception
25. Jordan Whittington 5-yd TD pass from Thompson
26. Xavier Worthy 3-yd TD pass from Thompson
27. Xavier Worthy 62-yd TD pass from Thompson

The X-Factor

Texas true freshman WR Xavier Worthy is causing a stir on the Forty Acres through the first four games of his Longhorn career.
In last week's victory over Texas Tech, set a freshman record with three touchdown catches in a game, highlighted by a 62-yard score that ranks as the 18th-longest touchdown reception by a freshman in program history.
Worthy finished the day with five receptions for 100 yards, becoming the 13th freshman to hit the century mark in Longhorn history.
Prior to the showing against the Red Raiders, Worthy came up huge in the Longhorns' win over Rice, establishing a career best with six receptions, to go along with 71 receiving yards and one touchdown reception, the first score of his career.
Worthy's six receptions are tied for 11th-most by a freshman in a game in UT history.
His four touchdowns this season rank third in Texas history for touchdown receptions by a freshman.
Through four games, Worthy has five plays of 20 or more yards, including 62-yard and 23-yard touchdown receptions against Texas Tech.
Worthy also had a 34-yard reception against Louisiana, a 25-yard catch at Arkansas, and a 31-yard grab against Rice.
In four games with four starts, Worthy has 14 receptions for 246 yards (17.6 ypr) and four touchdowns. He has also returned three punts for 47 yards.

Thompson's Time

Senior DB Josh Thompson has played in 40 career games with 17 starts at Texas. In that time, he has registered 90 total tackles (66 solo), 5.5 tackles for loss, broken up five passes, intercepted two and recovered one fumble.
Thompson earned a College Football Performance Awards National Performer of the Week Honorable Mention nod following his stellar performance against Texas Tech.
Against Texas Tech, Thompson returned an interception 27 yards for the first defensive touchdown for Texas since 2017. He also collected five tackles (for solo) in the Longhorns win over the Red Raiders.

Dicker the Kicker

Senior K Cameron Dicker has made 48 of his 67 career field goal attempts. He was 15-for-21 on field goals in 2020, and made 50-of-51 PATs.
In Texas' victory over Rice, Dicker was successful on all 10 of his extra point attempts, equaling the UT single-game records for both attempts and successful tries.
Dicker went 3-for-3 on extra point attempts against Arkansas, bringing his career scoring total to 309 points.
Dicker currently stands fifth on the Longhorns' all-time scoring list and third in scoring among kickers with 324 career points.