AUSTIN – – Senior day was the backdrop for what most believed to be Charlie Strong’s last game at Texas. The day’s festivities kicked off with a tribute to the senior class at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The Longhorn offense was forced to punt on the opening drive of the game, and TCU went right to work. Kenny Hill marched the Horned Frogs down the field with surgical precision, and finished the drive off with a 4-yard touchdown run. Hill was a perfect 6-6 passing on the initial scoring drive, and the Longhorns looked to be on their heels. Texas was able to get on the board with a field goal after a 48-yard pitch and catch from Buechele to Devin Duvernay took them inside the TCU red zone.
The Texas defense was able to hold on the next two drives thanks to the play of the Longhorn front 7. Malik Jefferson returned to action just in time to record a big third down sack of Kenny Hill. The Longhorn offense struggled to get in gear in the early part of the first half. D’Onta Foreman came alive in the second quarter as he raced for a 2,000 yard season. In what was possibly his last game home game at Texas, Foreman tallied runs of 15, 13, and 17 yards as Texas marched into scoring territory. Penalties put the Longhorns behind the chains, and Trent Domingue’s 38-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right. While the Longhorn defense found their groove, the offense just couldn’t seem to get anything going. The Texas offense once again ventured into scoring territory after success in the passing game, but D’Onta Foreman was ruled short of the goal line on a 4th and goal carry from the 1. DeShon Elliott intercepted Kenny Hill on the following drive to put Texas inside the 10, but the Longhorns were unable to capitalize once again. Mitchell Becker came on to kick in place of Domingue, and his 24-yard field goal cut the lead to 7-6. Texas got the ball back at their own 40-yard line with 1:18 seconds left in the first half, but the offense stalled once again. Both teams went into halftime trying to figure out their offensive failures.
D’Onta Foreman extended his streak of 100 yard games to 13 straight on 23 carries in the first half. The Longhorn defense got off the field each of the five times they faced a TCU third down. The Frogs managed just 27 yards in the first half after their initial 75-yard scoring drive. The Frogs came out firing on their first drive, but they were unable to reach the end zone and settled for a 28-yard Brandon Hatfield field goal to extend their lead to 10-6. D’Onta Foreman reached the 2,000 yard mark early in the third quarter on a 44-yard durn into the red zone. The Longhorns were unable to convert once again, and Mitchell Becker made his second field goal of the game which cut the lead to 10-9. Kenny Hill scored the second touchdown of the game with a 41-yard touchdown run in which he tight roped the sideline, and went around Dylan Haines on an electrifying run. The Longhorns continued to sputter as they struggled to overcome a 17-6 lead at the end of the third quarter. As the clock ticked down on what was likely the final quarter of Charlie Strong’s tenure, reports surfaced that Texas would meet with Tom Herman for an interview the following weekend. The eerie darkness that set in over the stadium in Austin resembled the metaphorical shroud that’s been present over this team since their loss to Oklahoma State.
TCU backup quarterback Foster Sawyer came into the game during the 4th quarter following an injury to Kenny Hill. With his back to the goal line, Sawyer engineered a 97-yard scoring drive on 8 plays thanks to the effort of Trevorris Johnson. TCU took a 24-9 lead on that play, and the game was effectively over. The Frogs added another late score when Darius Anderson rushed for a 70-yard touchdown, and the Horns fell 31-9. The loss dropped Texas to 5-7 for the second straight year, and eliminated them from a post-season bowl. Emotions ran high after the game, but the most heartbreaking image was that of D’Onta Foreman crumpled over in tears as he tried to exit the field. The junior running back cared so much about this team and coach that he couldn’t even celebrate his historic season. Strong characterized his workhorse after the game as the ultimate team player. “For him to get the two thousand yards, I’m so happy for him. It hurts him more than anyone because how bad he wanted to win that football game. He doesn’t ever just look at the records for himself, he knows it’s a team effortâ€. Strong himself looked dejected, but resigned to his ultimate fate, which will undoubtedly be decided this weekend. The embattled coach seemed to know what was coming for him, but he did make one last plea in his post-game comments. “The foundation has been laid hereâ€, said Strong. “The thing is, we’ve been building it for three years. Even when I looked at it, I said the third year we’ll make progress, the fourth year will be our year. It’s just like baking a cake. The cake has been baked. The only thing you need to do now is put the icing on it and slice itâ€.
Strong also talked about his goals when he took this job in a heartfelt opening address for his post-game conference. “When I took this job three years ago, I came here to win a national championship, and I came here to change lives. I looked it at it as having a chance to impact society, change society. What I was looking at, when you’re at the top 1% of 1%, which this is, and you’re at an unbelievable university, then you have a chance to impact a minority who wants to go be a CEO of IBM, or wants to be the CFO of a major corporation. I felt like that when I had success here, that would carry on, and they would get those opportunitiesâ€. Strong clearly failed his objective of winning games, but his legacy will live on inside this program. Strong’s nature was necessary for a culture change that needed to take place in Austin. His evaluation and recruiting skills will leave the cupboard stocked full for whoever the next coach might be. If this team goes on to win big in the next few years it will be built upon the foundation Strong laid in Austin. He can leave this job knowing he changed lives for the better, and that his players are set up to become productive members of society once they leave Austin. While the Texas program continues to look for the magic potion that’s been missing for this entire decade, Strong can move on to his next station in life and continue to positively influence young men. While all of those traits are admirable in a man, Texas is desperately in need of a coach that can restore the pride and winning tradition of the University of Texas. That process is already underway, but for now we will close the door on the 2016 Texas Longhorns.
