Texas Longhorns Must Find 'Killer Instinct' To Compete For Big 12 Championship, College Football Playoff

The Texas Longhorns nearly blew a big lead yet again vs. the TCU Horned Frogs On Saturday.

As has become a trend over the last few weeks, the Texas Longhorns started out a game with a bang and came out flat in the second half. Luckily, they were able to survive, winning 29-26 over the TCU Horned Frogs, and moving to 9-1 on the season.

That said, it wasn't pretty.

Thanks to touchdowns by Adonai Mitchell and Jonothan Brooks in the first half, the Longhorns were able to get out to a 20-point lead. 

However, the offense fell stagnant in the second half, and the defense that had the Horned Frogs struggling throughout the first half was unable to continue their stellar showing either.

The Horned Frogs slowly but surely cut the Longhorns' lead, turning a 20-point lead into a 10-point lead by the time the fourth quarter rolled around.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian with TCU head coach Sonny Dykes / © Jerome Miron, USA TODAY

By the time the game was under five minutes, TCU had cut the lead to three. This marks the third time in the last four weeks that the Longhorns have seen a 20-point lead evaporate in the second half. 

"In the fourth quarter, it was unfortunate. We couldn't convert a third down, then they were scoring quickly," Steve Sarkisian said after the game. "We couldn't stay on the field because we were having a hard time converting 3rd and 3s, 3rd and 2s... As always, there are things to work on, but it sure feels good to be 9-1."

It happened when they led Houston by 21 points, and two weeks later against Kansas State when they blew a 20-point lead and needed overtime to win by three. 

Fortunately for the Horns, they were able to survive yet again.

"Good teams continue to improve as the season goes on," Sarkisian said. "You never hit this point where you can't improve... Where we can improve is that killer instinct, that mental intensity, that focus, that tenacity that we played the first two quarters with, then come out in the third quarter and go finish a team off."

But, if Texas is truly going to compete for the College Football Playoff this year, or any year, this ongoing issue needs to be fixed. 

And nobody wants to figure it out more than Sarkisian.

"Nobody wants us to play a complete four-quarter game... nobody wants it more than I do and our players do," Sarkisian said.