On Saturday, the Longhorns looked to enact revenge following TCU’s tough 17-10 win over the Longhorns last season in Austin. Propelled by the return of Quinn Ewers and a solid end to the first half, the Longhorns were able to escape from Ft. Worth with a 29-26 win after nearly relinquishing their lead late.
After missing two weeks due to an injury, Ewers started the game a little rusty. After a few misfires and an interception, Ewers started to find his groove in the first half – capitalized by a 6-yard touchdown pass to Adonai Mitchell with 1:01 left in the second quarter. However, second half offensive struggles continued to plague the Longhorns as Ewers and the offense could only produce three points in the entire second half. Similar to (seemingly) every week, the Longhorns left the door open for their opponent and nearly paid the price.
Like the Texas offense, the Longhorns defense also had a less than inspiring second half. After an impressive first half which included a Terrance Brooks interception (later setting up a 22-yard touchdown rush by Jonathon Brooks) and a total of 110 yards of total offense allowed, things started to fall apart late in the third quarter. Starting with TCU running back Emani Bailey’s 17-yard touchdown rush with 14:02 left in the third quarter, and ending with quarterback Josh Hoover’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Savion Williams with just 3:28 left in the game, the Longhorns looked to be on the verge of collapsing.
However, Texas wide receiver Adonai Mitchell continued to prove why he has been such an important addition for the Longhorns as his first-down gaining catch on Texas’ final drive allowed the Longhorns to hold onto their three-point lead as they drained the clock out.
With tonight’s win, Texas’ dream of a College Football playoff appearance is still alive, and the team looks poised to make a a trip to Arlington for the Big 12 Conference title game in December.
The 9-1 Texas Longhorns will be traveling to Ames, Iowa next weekend to take on the Iowa State Cyclones. Kickoff is set for 7 P.M. (CT) in a game which will be televised on FOX.
