When Keaontay Ingram fumbled on the one-yard line against TCU last season, it was the beginning of the end for Tom Herman. Max Duggan took a time expiring safety to give the Longhorns a 33-31 loss at home to the Horned Frogs and a 4OT loss to Oklahoma quickly followed the next week.
Off the field, problems began to arise as well. The Eyes of Texas became a huge controversy while recruiting began to fall apart as well. Four-star athlete Billy Bowman went across the Red River, citing he wanted to play for a better coaching staff. And the worst of them all, five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers decommitted before going off to Ohio State.
To say it was a mess would be an understatement. All broke loose because of (another) loss to Gary Patterson’s TCU.
Steve Sarkisian will have the opportunity to go up against the defensive guru the first weekend of October. Texas will be in the DFW area for two consecutive weekends, heading to the Cotton Bowl the following Saturday.
Before ever thinking about being on the same level as Oklahoma, Sarkisian must get over the TCU hump Texas has been stuck on for years.
Herman beat the Horned Frogs once during his four years. No. 17 TCU came to Austin in 2018 and left a 31-16 loser. Texas ended up in the Big 12 championship that season thanks to their 4-0 conference start.
2017, 2019, and 2020 all ended in TCU losses and rather disappointing seasons. Losing to in-state opponents stings but dropping seven on nine since they joined the Big 12 is detrimental.
So, why is getting a win on Oct. 2 so important for Texas? Outside of just finally being able to get one over TCU, it sets up the expectation for the rest of the season. A win in Fort Worth, and you can believe Sarkisian has his team in a better spot than Herman did last season.
TCU returns Duggan, their three-headed monster at running back headlined by former five-star Zach Evans, and their top receiver and former Texas commit Quinten Johnson. Three defensive players leave for the NFL but Patterson does not have a bunch of schmucks sitting around. His defense is always legit.
Texas’ talent level is certainly regarded at a higher level. Just look at the recruiting rankings on a yearly basis. Coaching has been the biggest difference between the two programs.
Win in Fort Worth, Sarkisian proves he is capable of winning games in difficult atmospheres, and Texas build momentum before facing Oklahoma and Iowa State. Find a way to snag a win over one of those two, you have a chance to be in the Big 12 championship. From there, the sky is the limit.
To add on, Texas will have an early opportunity to separate themselves from the middle of the Big 12. Not to say TCU is a middle-of-the-pack conference team — in LonghornWire’s latest power rankings, they were No. 4, just behind Texas.
However, a road win, against a Gary Patterson team expected to bounce back, would set the tone for the Sarkisian era.
P.S.
Another factor of note: Chris Del Conte was the athletic director of TCU and left to become the athletic director of Texas. What does that tell you about what athletic department he thinks should be at a higher level? Dropping football games to his former school must eat him up inside.