Texas Longhorns Survive TCU Horned Frogs Late Surge, Move to 9-1

The Texas Longhorns nearly gave up another big lead, but held on to beat the TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday.

In potentially the final meeting with the TCU Horned Frogs, the Texas Longhorns were looking to leave their in-state conference rivals with a resounding goodbye while simultaneously making a statement in the Big 12 title and College Football Playoff race.

However, Saturday night's contest in Fort Worth ended up being another game of many up and downs for the No. 7 Longhorns, who welcomed back Quinn Ewers from a two-game absence. But despite a second-half rally from TCU, Texas (9-1) used a dominant game from running back Jonathon Brooks and had stifling defense for the first three quarters to secure a close 29-26 win.

There was major concern late when Brooks exited the game in the fourth quarter after suffering an apparent lower body injury. He needed help walking as he made his way back to the locker room. He finished the game with 21 carries for 104 yards and two scores while adding three catches for 74 yards.

Texas Longhorns defensive lineman T'Vondre Sweat (93) sacks TCU Horned Frogs quarterback Josh Hoover (10) in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, November. 11, 2023, at Amon G / © Ricardo B. Brazziell, Austin American-Statesman

Though it was shaky, the Longhorns offense was able to close things out without their top rusher. As the Longhorns were backed up at their own 13-yard line, Texas receiver Adonai Mitchell closed out the game with a 35-yard grab on 3rd and 12 that allowed the offense to run out the clock. 

"We had a chance to kind of finish them, and we didn't," Texas coach Steve Sarksian said on ESPN's postgame. "Lesson learned there."

In his return from injury, Ewers shook off some early rust and put together a solid game before finishing 22 of 33 passing for 317 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Xavier Worthy finished with a team-high 137 yards on 10 catches, but it was Mitchell who made arguably the play of the game late in the fourth quarter. He secured his ninth touchdown of the year and fifth in the last four games while totaling three catches for 61 yards.

The Texas defense got leaky in the second half, allowing TCU to get back into game. Horned Frogs quarterback Josh Hoover - who finished the night 24 of 36 passing for 302 yards, two touchdowns and a pick - bounced back from a poor first half to lead TCU on three fourth-quarter scoring drives after the Longhorns were up 26-6 headed into the final frame. Frogs receiver Savion Williams had a game-high 164 yards and a touchdown on 11 catches while running back Emani Bailey added 21 carries for 98 yards and another score.

But Pete Kwiatkowski's unit proved to be a huge difference for most of the night despite the late collapse. The Longhorns held TCU out of the end zone in the first half and got a huge interception from Terrence Brooks at the end of the second quarter that allowed Texas to build a 26-6 cushion at halftime that ended up being just enough for the win.

Additionally, the Horned Frogs didn't make their first trip into the red zone until the end of the third quarter, but came up empty after turning it over on downs at the Texas two-yard line.

The Longhorns hold sole possession of first place in the Big 12 ad will look for their 10th win of the season in next week's matchup at Iowa State.