The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
TCU
No. 7/7 Football preview: at TCU
11.06.2023 | Football
Texas faces TCU on Saturday for the 94th all-time meeting.
Texas (8-1, 5-1) at TCUI (4-5, 2-4)
November 11, 2023
Where: Fort Worth, Texas
Stadium: Amon G. Carter Stadium
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
TV: ABC (Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek, Tom Luginbill)
Radio: Longhorn Radio Network (Craig Way, Roger Wallace, Quan Cosby)
Spanish Radio: Longhorn Radio Network (Dr. Rubén Pizarro-Silva, Arturo Mata, Daniel Trejo)
National Radio: Touchdown Radio (Brett Dolan, Gina Torreta)
THE OPENING KICKOFF
• The University of Texas continues its 131st season of football on Saturday when the Longhorns travel to face TCU for the 94th all-time meeting and 41st time on the road.
• Texas was ranked No. 7 in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season last week, the first highest ranking and the first Top-10 appearance in program history.
• Texas (No. 7) is ranked in the AP Top-10 for the ninth consecutive week, the longest single-season stretch for the Longhorns since 2009.
• Last time out, the Longhorns (8-1, 5-1) defeated Kansas State in overtime, 33-30, improving to 5-0 at home on the year.
• The victory marked the sixth consecutive home win for the Longhorns and seventh-straight overall against Kansas State.
• The Longhorns' 8-1 start is the best for the program since 2009.
• Texas is 5-1 in Big 12 Conference play, the best start for the team since 2013.
• TCU (4-5, 2-4) enters play on Saturday riding a two-game losing streak following a 35-28 loss at Texas Tech on Thursday.
• Texas currently boasts 944 all-time wins, the fifth-most in college football history. UT holds an all-time record of 944-391-33 (.702).
SERIES HISTORY VS. TCU
• Texas and TCU will play for the 94th time in series history. Texas has only played Oklahoma (119), Texas A&M (118), Baylor (113) and Rice (97) on more occasions.
• The Longhorns lead the all-time series 64-28-1 with a 28-12 advantage in Fort Worth.
• Texas won the last game at TCU, 32-27, snapping a three-game road losing streak to the Horned Frogs.
• UT is 52-28-1 versus TCU in conference play, holding a 49-20-1 mark as Southwest Conference foes, while the Horned Frogs have won eight of 11 games when facing the Longhorns as Big 12 Conference opponents.
• Each of the last three games have been by one-score games.
TCU Horned Frogs Scouting Report
• Sonny Dykes is in his second season leading the TCU Horned Frogs.
• Dykes led the Horned Frogs to a 13-2 record and an appearance in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in 2022.
• TCU has scored 30 or more points five times this season, including three games of at least 40.
• Running back Emani Bailey ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 908 rushing yards and is one of only four players in the conference averaging at least 100 yards rushing per game. He is averaging 116.6 all-purpose yards per game, the fifth-best mark in the Big 12.
• Kick returner Major Everhart leads the Big 12 in kickoff returns (22) and yards (498), while his average of 22.6 yards per return is fourth-best in the conference.
• Linebacker Namdi Obiazor is tied for fourth in the Big 12 in total tackles (72) and solo tackles (41).
• Following a 3-1 start, the Horned Frogs have lost four of their last five games.
A Texas Win Would ...
• Be Texas' 945th all-time victory, the fifth-winningest program in college football history.
• Give Steve Sarkisian his 68th victory as a head coach and 22nd at Texas in his 116th career game as a head coach.
• Mark the first 9-1 start for a Steve Sarkisian led team and the best for the Longhorns since 2009 (10-0).
• Give Texas a 6-1 start to conference play, the Longhorns' best mark since 2013 (6-1).
• Improve Texas' all-time Big 12 Conference record to 155-79.
Third Season of Sarkisian Era
• Texas Football Head Coach Steve Sarkisian is in his third season at the helm of the Longhorns and his 10th season as a head coach overall.
• Last season, the Texas offense ranked 24th in the nation and third in the Big 12 Conference with 34.5 points per game, the fourth-straight top-25 scoring output for a Sarkisian-led offense.
• The offensive showing also marked the eighth top-25 scoring offense in Sarkisian's career.
• Marked the seventh time a Sarkisian offense averaged at least 34 points per game.
• Jonathon Brooks surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the season in the victory over Kansas State, marking the 12th consecutive year a Sarkisian offense (as head coach or offensive coordinator) has had a 1,000-yard rusher.
Scoring in Bunches
• Texas has scored 30 points or more points in each of the first nine games of the season for the first time in program history.
• The Longhorns are one of three teams to score at least 30 points in each of their first nine games of the season. The other two are Michigan and Oregon.
• UT has scored at least 30 points in 11 of the last 12 games and 18 of 22 games since the start of the 2022 season.
• The Longhorns scored at least 21 points in a quarter in each of the first four games this season with two of those occurrences taking place in the fourth quarter.
• In the home opener against Rice, the Longhorns opened the second half with three consecutive touchdown drives.
• UT trailed Alabama 16-13 heading into the fourth quarter, but quickly scored a pair of touchdowns on back-to-back drives early in the frame to take 27-16 lead. Texas added a touchdown on their next drive to go up 34-24.
• In week three, Texas and Wyoming were all square, 10-10, heading into the fourth quarter. The Longhorns collected touchdowns on their firsts two drives then added a third on a Jerrin Thompson pick-six that closed out the scoring, 31-10.
• Against Baylor, the Longhorns scored three rushing touchdowns in the second quarter to build a 22-point halftime lead on the way to a 38-6 road win.
• UT has had at least one quarter in seven of nine games in which they have scored at least two touchdowns.
Complimentary Football
• Texas ranks seventh in ESPN's College Efficiencies rankings with an overall rating of 84.1. The Longhorns rank 19th in offensive efficiency (72.3) and sixth in defensive efficiency (83.8) and are one of nine teams nationally (Florida State, Kansas State, Louisville, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon) that rank among the top-20 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
• Texas ranks 14th among Power 5 programs in total offense (456.8) and 21st in total defense (331.6), one of seven programs to rank among the top-21 in both categories. The others are Georgia, Louisville, Miami, Oregon, Tennessee and UCLA.
• The Longhorns are one of only nine FBS schools (and seven Power 5 programs) scoring at least 34 points (34.3) and allowing 18 or fewer points (17.6) per game. The list also includes Florida State, Georgia, Kansas State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, Penn State and SMU.
Offensive Explosion
• Texas exploded for 661 yards of offense against Kansas in the Big 12 Conference home opener.
• The 661 yards were the sixth-most in program history and the most since totaling 689 yards against UTEP in 2020.
• UT's 661 yards were the most in a Big 12 game in program history, topping the previous mark of 658 in 2016 against Texas Tech.
• Texas rushed for 336 yards and threw for 325 yards in the victory over Kansas. It marked the seventh time in program history the Longhorns rushed and passed for over 300 yards in the same game and the first time since 2021 against Texas Tech.
• The Longhorns tallied at least 500 yards of offense in three-straight games at Baylor (503), against Kansas (661) and vs. Oklahoma (527), equaling the longest stretch in UT history.
• It marked the sixth time in program history and first time since 2016 that the Longhorns tallied 500-plus yards in three consecutive games with the prior instances occurring in:
- 1968: 538, at Rice, 547, SMU; 657, at Baylor
- 1969: 676, at SMU; 555, Baylor; 651, TCU
- 2005: 606, at Oklahoma State; 645, at Baylor; 617, Kansas
- 2007: 545, Nebraska; 589, at Oklahoma State; 551, TCU
- 2016: 548, Baylor; 658, at Texas Tech; 536, West Virginia
Air and Ground Assault
• Texas' offensive effort against Kansas was highlighted by the second-ever game with a 300-yard passer, 200-yard rusher and 100-yard receiver in program history.
• In the victory over Kansas, Quinn Ewers passed threw for 325 yards, Jonathon Brooks rushed for 217 yards and Adonai Mitchell tallied 141 receiving yards.
• The only other 300-200-100 game in Texas history came in 1999 when Major Applewhite threw for 328, Hodges Mitchell rushed for 204 and Montrell Flowers recorded 111 yards receiving in a 38-28 win over Oklahoma.
• In addition to the efforts of Ewers, Brooks and Mitchell, Xavier Worthy posted 93 receiving yards and CJ Baxter collected 67 rushing yards.
• The following week against Oklahoma in Dallas, the Longhorns notched the program's second-ever game with a 300-yard passer, 100-yard rusher and two 100-yard receivers and first in the Red River Rivalry.
• Ewers threw for 346 yards and Brooks rushed for 129 yards, while Jordan Whittington tallied a career-high 115 receiving yards and Worthy added 108 yards.
• The previous 300-100-100x2 game occurred against Ole Miss in 2012: David Ash - 326 pass; Malcolm Brown - 128 rush; Mike Davis - 124 rec; Marquise Goodwin - 102 rec.
• The Kansas and Oklahoma games also featured a 10-catch receiver for Texas in each contest - Adonai Mitchell against Kansas and Jordan Whittington versus Oklahoma.
• It marked the second time in program history and first time since 2009 - Jordan Shipley, UTEP (10) and Colorado (11) - that Texas had back-to-back games with a receiver collecting 10+ receptions.
Protecting the Rock
• Since the beginning of the Steve Sarkisian Era in 2021, Texas' featured running backs have been a phenomenal job of holding on to the football.
• During the stretch, Bijan Robinson (498 touches), Jonathon Brooks (242 touches) and Roschon Johnson (214 touches) combined for 954 touches (859 carries, 95 receptions) and had only five lost fumbles.
Running Into a Wall
• Texas limited Rice to 27 rushing yards in the Horns season-opening 37-10 victory.
• UT did it, again, in the conference opener at Baylor, holding the Bears to a total of 60 yards on the ground.
• At Houston, the Cougars were only able to muster 14 yards rushing, the fewest surrendered by a Texas defense since 2018 (-5 vs. USC).
• The Horns made it back-to-back games by holding BYU to 95 yards.
• UT notched a third-straight game against Kansas State, limiting the Wildcats to 43 rushing yards in the overtime victory.
• The streak of three consecutive games holding opponents under 100 rushing yards is the longest since 2018.
• It marked the eighth time in the last two seasons that Texas has limited its opponent to fewer than 100 rushing yards.
• Texas has held five opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing for the first time since 2019.
