Horns247 Board

There are a number of reasons for the loss. But these stick out.

1. Turnovers by David Ash deep in TCU territory early in the game and then the fumble deep in Texas territory.

2. The inability of the offense to score touchdowns on two other drives (one in the first half and another on the first drive of the second half) to get the game back to within one score.

3. A gambling defense to start the game.

4. Absolutely horrible run defense in the first half as a result of those gambles gave TCU a lead and allowed TCU to drain the clock and play keep away.

5. Poor performance on 3rd down by the defense containing a running quarterback.

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I'm going to start with the defense.

If you can't stop the run, you're just not a very good football team.

That describes Texas to a T.

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The defensive gameplan just looked questionable to me from the start.

After the big pass play to start the game (a corner blitz), why didn't Texas just try to make the unproven TCU quarterback beat them instead of allowing the proven TCU running backs to do it?

Instead, I saw stunts, slants, twists, zone blitzes, etc., the entire first drive for the Longhorns.

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On that first drive for the Horned Frogs, TCU had four runs of more than 10 yards.

To put that in perspective, Texas had just one designed run of more than 10 yards the entire game.

Yet TCU had four +10 runs on the game's very first drive and eight total for the game.

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TCU's first drive went 94 yards and set the tone for the entire game.

IMO, there was no reason to come out and play junk defense against an inferior TCU offense. But that's exactly what Texas did and it gave TCU the upper hand that the Horns never recovered from.

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Is it the scheme or is it the personnel? It's most certainly both.

But I question the scheme more than I do the players this late in the season.

The coaches, at this point in the year, should know what they have, know what they do well and know what they don't.

What Manny Diaz did tonight was revert to gambling early and often instead of playing straight up. The byproduct was that the Longhorns didn't make a poor TCU offense move the ball all the way downfield and execute until the second half.

In the second quarter, I watched Alex Okafor run a stunt as B.J. Catalon rushed for 42 yards right by his earhole. It's a perfect example of why I don't understand ever dropping a great defensive end like Okafor into a zone blitz.

By comparison, I certainly didn't see TCU's two defensive ends in a zone blitz once the entire night.

And whose defense was more effective on the night

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How bad was the Texas defense, particularly early in the game?

Consider these numbers:

- The TCU quarterback only attempted 9 passes the entire game.

- TCU ran the ball 14 consecutive times in the first half (part of the first quarter and well into the 2nd).

- TCU rushed for 221 yards and averaged 4.6 yards per attempt.

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I thought Ash looked terrific on the game's first drive. Then he underthrew Mike Davis on a skinny post.

He never looked the same again and it was a sign of things to come.

In the second quarter Ash didn't see the safety on another post route, this one by Shipley, and was picked off at the goalline.

A third turnover in the first half, on a ball that was either batted out of his hand by a TCU defender or he lost his grip, ultimately cost Texas 7 points.

He rallied somewhat early in the third. But, the truth is, Ash never looked truly confident after he threw the very first interception.

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Ash is not a great quarterback right now. He's a solid quarterback who is still learning.

TCU played mind games with him tonight and won.

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TCU's defensive ends may have been talked about the most by ESPN announcers but the entire front four for TCU out-played the Texas front.

Trey Hopkins, Mason Walters and Dominic Espinosa couldn't do anything up the middle of the field and the TCU defensive tackles were routinely getting pressure up the middle of the field against the pass.

So once again, against the better defensive lines, the Texas OL comes up short. They just aren't very powerful.

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I thought the call against Kendall Thompson for a late hit was the wrong one. Thompson didn't lead with his head, he lead with his shoulder.

That negated a great play by Tevin Jackson in the red zone.

TCU scored just two plays later and it gave the Horned Frogs a two-score lead.

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The only Malcolm Brown sighting all night was on the fake statue of liberty pass.

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The flip pass to Marquie Goodwin worked but the Horns only tried the sweep one time all night.

Daje Johnson also took a play wide for a 13-yard gain. Outside of that, the Horns didn't really test the Horned Frogs on the edges.

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TCU's defense was well coached. They played hard, they played fast and they were disciplined.

Texas still squandered its chances to win with turnovers but Patterson deserves his accolades as a standout defensive coach.

His defense made it tough on the Horns and didn't give Texas anything easy all night long.

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Texas virtually abandoned the run game after the first drive of the third quarter.

Down by two scores, TCU milking clock and Texas having mixed success at best on the ground, you have to think that was the right call by the Horns.

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When Alex Okafor deflected the pass but it was still caught by TCU for a three-yard gain, the feeling I got was that it might just be one of those nights. I'm sure I'm not alone in that feeling.

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The injury list is significant.

Demarco Cobbs (knee), Alex Okafor (ankle) and Marquise Goodwin (thumb) could not return although Okafor tried to.

The radio broadcast reported that Ash injured his ribs at some point during the contest.

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Poor kick coverage to start the second half by the Horns. In dire need of momentum, that's not what Texas wanted to start the half.

But Texas got the ball back three plays later on an interception by Adrian Phillips.

Phillips, announcers said, was playing with a strained quad.

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TCU gave Texas the intermediate routes, and particularly the shallow crosses all night. But the Horns weren't consistent enough to move the ball downfield enough to get the Horned Frogs to come out of their base shell defense.

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Case McCoy rallied the Horns in the 4th. But he gambled too much on the final throw.

He was too risky at a time when he didn't have to be. It was a first down play with more than a minute left on the clock near midfield.

As good as McCoy played on the prior drive, that pass wiped much of it away.

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Where do the Horns go from here?

Kansas State will play the Horns the exact same way. They'll play smart, fast defense and they'll be safe on offense just with a better quarterback.

Texas is 8-3 and will most certainly be the underdog in Manhattan, Kans. The Horns are staring an 8-4 regular season in the face.

The Horns better get back to work.