Longhorns’ defense on the defensive

No. 15 Texas faces TCU with plenty of questions despite 5-2 record

By Steve Habel, Senior Contributing Writer

AUSTIN, Texas – Five wins in seven games has put No. 15 Texas among the top teams in the nation.

Yet its defense, racked by injury and inconsistent performances from its mostly unproven backup players, has the Longhorns standing on the edge of a dangerous precipice as it prepares to face one of the most dangerous teams in the Big 12.

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That’s the stage that’s set when Texas travels up I-35 to Fort Worth to square off against TCU on Saturday afternoon at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

Texas head coach Tom Herman explained this week that he has to remind his players “daily to tune out the outside noise.”

“We’re 5-2, and sometimes if you’re not careful at Texas, that can feel like 2-5,” Herman said. “It’s irrelevant, it can do nothing to help us and have a large part in hurting us. And then, you remind them. Here’s the thing, we didn’t play our best in those games. Our best is good enough.”

Texas (5-2, 3-1 in Big 12 play) needed 629 yards of total offense and a last-second game-winning 33-yard field goal from Cameron Dicker to outlast Kansas 50-48 last week. The Jayhawks, on their third offensive coordinator since December, amassed 569 yards against the Longhorns’ defense that started nine players that were either freshmen or sophomores.

Texas ranks 119th out of 130 FBS teams in total defense, surrendering 469.9 yards per game and 6.42 yards per snap. Both are on pace to shatter the team records for defensive futility.

“We as coaches and players — they’ve got to take some ownership in this too — we’ve got to make sure that we prepare each and every week to be at our best,” Herman said.

The Longhorns will get back cornerback Jalen Green after the sophomore missed the past three games with a shoulder injury. But Texas will likely be without safeties B.J. Foster and DeMarvion Overshown, who Herman said would be “a game-time decision” to play against the Horned Frogs after practicing all week wearing green “no-contact” jerseys because of injuries.

TCU (3-3, 1-2 in Big 12 play) has lost two straight games, both on the road, including a 24-17 setback last week at Kansas State. The Horned Frogs lambasted Kansas 51-17 for its only conference win of the season, a performance that has to have the Longhorns and their coaches scrambling.

Since that win over the Jayhawks, TCU has struggled offensively, especially through the air. The Horned Frogs, with freshman quarterback Max Duggan taking the bulk of the snaps, are averaging their fewest yards (202) passing in more than a decade.

Still, TCU head coach Gary Patterson is not considering a change at the position, saying Monday on the Big 12 Conference coaches’ teleconference that Duggan remains the best option to get the offense going in the right direction.

“As far as practice and everything else, he’s been the best one of the group,” Patterson said of Duggan. “It’s pretty simple. We like eating, paying our bills, but at the end of the day you evaluate the guy you’re going to play with that you feel gives you the best chance to win. That’s the reason we’re playing Max.”

Given Texas’s defensive woes, the Horned Frogs should be able to get the passing game going on Saturday. The Longhorns have the league’s worst-ranked passing defense, allowing 310 yards per game.

“I’ve been impressed – for a true freshman he’s played really well,” said Herman of Duggan. “He’s managing the game as good as you can for a true freshman. Their offensive staff is doing a good job in terms of not overloading him and not asking him to do a whole lot.”

Texas is 63-25-1 all-time against the Horned Frogs in a series that dates back to 1897. The Longhorns defeated TCU, 31-16, last season in Austin to snap a four-game skid against the Horned Frogs.

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