No. 4 TCU sends message with physical victory at No. 18 Texas

In front of the second-largest crowd for a Texas home game, No. 4 TCU took a 10-3 lead into the final quarter of a battle that had Big 12 and national implications.

It was far from the shootout many expected and was much closer to a grudge match as the game featured more punishing hits than touchdowns.

As it has all year, TCU finished strong as the Horned Frogs pulled away for a 17-10 victory and sent a message to the College Football Playoff committee and the college football world.

“It was obviously a very hard fought game,” TCU head coach Sonny Dykes said. “I don’t know that anybody saw the game going that way. Really proud of our guys, great effort tonight. I thought physically we’ve been able to takeover games in the second half and I felt like the same thing happened today.”

The Longhorns may have a roster that’s filled with Top 10 talent according to the recruiting services, but TCU had the better and stronger players and wore out a roster full of five- and four-star recruits. That includes potential first round pick Bijan Robinson, former No. 1 overall recruit Quinn Ewers and the talented Xavier Worthy at receiver.

The Horned Frogs were fully aware of what was being said about the talent Texas had offensively.

“Everyone on our defense has a little chip, something to prove. That’s what making us play really good team defense,” linebacker Johnny Hodges said.

With the defense giving them time to find a rhythm, the offense came alive in the second half.

Star receiver Quentin Johnston put TCU ahead 17-3 with 12:36 remaining as he found the end zone thanks to a Texas coverage bust. Johnston missed most of the Texas Tech game and his status was in question. Once he got to the stadium Johnston said there was no way he wasn’t going to play.

“As soon as we stepped in the stadium for warmups, I felt the energy of the crowd,” Johnston said. “I said ‘Shoot, we’re going to have to wrap it up, tape it up, whatever we’ve got to do. I’m going to play tonight.’”

The Horned Frogs forced a turnover on downs with 9:40 remaining on the Longhorns’ next possession to add to a brilliant defensive performance.

The Horned Frogs were unable to completely chew the rest of the clock, but TCU’s defense forced another turnover on fourth down with 4:46. There was still late drama as Texas returned a Max Duggan fumble for a touchdown with 4:25 left to pull within 17-10.

TCU avoided the crisis as Duggan completed a strike to Johnston to convert a third down with just over three minutes remaining. The Horned Frogs’ running game then gained a couple of first down to seal the game.

The Horned Frogs shutdown one of the game’s most creative offensive minds in Steve Sarkisian, got the better of former coach Gary Patterson — now a Texas adviser — and locked up a spot in the Big 12 championship game in a magical night.

“It’s a little bit of a relief honestly,” Dykes said of TCU clinching a spot in the title game. “You have a two-game lead and start seeing all these scenarios, it’s good to get that monkey off our back and know that we’re going to have a chance to play in that game.”

A defensive performance for the ages

The TCU defense taken its fair share of deserved criticism this year, but defensive coordinator Joe Gillespe’s unit put together its finest performance of the year. The defense held Texas scoreless in the first half. It was the first time since 1997 the Longhorns failed to score in the first half at home.

“That’s a very high-powered offense, those guys have really good skill players that can make a big play at any point in time,” Dykes said. “I thought defensively we just played lights out. I thought we ran to the ball, when we missed a tackle there was somebody else there to pick up the slack. I thought Joe Gillespie and his staff had a real sense of what Texas was trying to do and made some great calls.”

All-American talent Bijan Robinson was shutdown as the Horned Frogs flew to the football repeatedly and became just the third team to hold Robinson under 100 yards. Alabama was the last team to do and anytime you’re in the same company as Nick Saban, it’s an achievement. Robinson finished with only 29 yards on 12 carries.

“If you’re really serious about winning a championship you start playing really good defense at the end of the year,” Johnny Hodges said. “Our d-line played great, our linebackers played great.”

The biggest drive for the unit came after TCU went up 17-3. The Longhorns started their drive at the 50 thanks to a nice kickoff return and eventually got to the TCU 5 on first down. The Horned Frogs stopped the potential scoring drive on downs.

The story of the game was the defense and how they carried the load after having the offense do the same so many times this season.

Texas had just 199 total yards, including only 28 on the ground. Dykes said it was as good a defensive performance he’s been around in his coaching career.

Miller continues to dominate

If Kendre Miller’s latest 100-yard performance doesn’t cement Miller’s status as one of the nation’s best running backs then nothing will. Miller rushed 21 times for 138 yards, his seventh time with 100 yards or more in eight games. When asked if he was the best running back in the Big 12, Miller had no hesitation with his answer.

“Yes,” Miller said bluntly.

Miller’s second half performance will be remembered for sometime. His 75-yard touchdown run where he bounced to the right and outran an aggressive Texas defense gave TCU a 10-0 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter. It’s the 11th straight game, dating back to 2021, that he’s scored a touchdown.

Even when he wasn’t scoring Miller was still producing eye-popping plays like when he willed himself to a first down on screen pass. He slipped away from four defenders just to move the chains. Despite playing on the same field as Robinson, who’s projected to be a first-round draft pick and an All-American selection, it was Miller who was the best running back on the field.

“We trusted the gameplan, Coach (Anthony) Jones told us trust it, don’t get frustrated and we stayed patient,” Miller said. “We stayed with the run. Coach Garrett Riley told us we were going to get their d-line tired and we were going to win on the ground.”

Hodges-Tomlinson is him

Corner Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson had another big game, putting himself in line to be a first-team All-Big 12 selection for the third year in a row. For the fourth straight games, the nephew of Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson forced a takeaway. At the beginning of the second quarter Hodges-Tomlinson picked off Quinn Ewers after he made a poor decision to throw the ball in double coverage.

That wasn’t the only time he made a play as broke up a pass on the Longhorns’ first offensive play and had another with Texas pinned deep in their own territory. Speedster Xavier Worthy was held to just two receptions on eight targets in the first half as Ewers struggled to complete passes against Hodges-Tomlinson and Josh Newton.

Hodges-Tomlinson broke up a Quinn Ewers pass on fourth down with less than five minutes left to ice the game for TCU.

“Great players play their best on big stages and this was a big stage,” Dykes said. “Tre Tomlinson played an excellent game, he was around the ball all the time and really played aggressive football.”

A grimy first half

For awhile it looked like TCU and Texas would be the first Big 12 game to be scoreless in the first half since 2007. Two of the most talented offenses in the country were outplayed by their defenses in the opening half as the Horned Frogs had to scrap and claw for a 3-0 lead at halftime.

TCU was held to 68 yards while Texas only managed 72. The Horned Frogs struggled to block the Texas defensive line’s blitzing schemes. Duggan was sacked four times and Texas had 11 tackles for loss. Most of them came when the Horned Frogs tried to attack the edges of the Longhorn defense. The speed of the Texas front seven wiped out all of those plays.

“They had a good gameplan coming in,” Max Duggan said. “We knew their front was very good and caused pressure. They did a great job of giving us different looks on the front end that was causing me to sit in the pocket a bit longer and put our guys upfront in a bad position.”

On the flip side, the Horned Frogs held Texas to just 2.7 yards per play and kept Robinson in check as he had just 23 yards in the first half. It was easily the most impressive stretch for the unit this season and the Horned Frogs did it without Dee Winters, who was suspended for the first half after being ejected for targeting against Texas Tech.

The Horned Frogs added a late field goal after they finally found a counterpunch to the blitz. Max Duggan led the offense down the field methodically with four short completions for first downs to four different receivers as TCU used quick stop routes in the spaces where the blitzer vacated. Griffin Kell hit a 34-yard field goal to give TCU the lead with 1:20 left in the half.

What’s next

TCU has two regular-season Big 12 games remaining: At Baylor next Saturday, then at home against Iowa State on Nov. 26. Then there’s the trip to AT&T Stadium for the Big 12 championship game on Dec. 3.