Can TCU slow down Texas’ rushing attack led by Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson?
It’s no secret what TCU football must improve upon with Texas coming to town on Saturday.
The Horned Frogs have to find a way to slow down the Longhorns’ rushing attack led by Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson. TCU is reeling in that department after SMU had its way for 350 yards on the ground last week.
Texas, meanwhile, torched Texas Tech’s defense for 336 yards rushing last week.
“Obviously we gave up a lot of rushing yards against SMU, so that’s going to be a big emphasis this week,” TCU defensive back T.J. Carter said. “Just stopping the run and just getting better each day.”
Easier said than done against Texas.
Robinson rushed for 137 yards on 18 carries against the Red Raiders, while Johnson had 64 yards on 13 carries with two TDs.
UT quarterback Casey Thompson is also a rushing threat with three rushing TDs so far this season.
TCU coach Gary Patterson praised what Steve Sarkisian has shown early in his Texas tenure.
“Sark’s done a nice job,” Patterson said. “He moves things around. He does what he does. He’s got good players, especially the running backs on offense.”
Asked specifically about Robinson, Patterson said: “He’s a really good player — strong, fast, catches the ball. He’s like Zach Evans. He’s good in the backfield. All of the above.”
Three more things to keep an eye on this Saturday:
UT’s first Big 12 road game since SEC news
Fort Worth is the first Big 12 road trip Texas is making since announcing it’d be leaving the Big 12 for the SEC in the summer of 2025, at the latest.
Texas is used to hostile environments on the road, but being a lame-duck program in a conference is never enjoyable. The Longhorns shouldn’t expect much hospitality from the remaining eight programs.
But, for their part, TCU’s coaches and players aren’t overly concerned about realignment these days.
“I’m more worried about them not crossing the goal line and how do we score points,” Patterson said. “They’re playing hard.”
Red zone matters
TCU is the only school in the Big 12 that has come away with points on every trip to the red zone this season.
The Frogs have made 13 trips to the red zone and left with 10 touchdowns and three field goals. That’s solid, of course, but Patterson mentioned multiple times during his news conference this week that they must come away with touchdowns.
Texas, for instance, has scored 19 touchdowns in 20 trips to the red zone. TCU can’t be settling for field goals this week.
Patterson’s bounce back?
Patterson has clearly heard some of the criticism about TCU’s defensive performance against SMU.
He admitted his team got their “butts kicked” after the game and talked about it again during his midweek news conference.
“Someone said you have to have a better game plan? They had six blockers, I had seven defensive guys,” Patterson said. “What I’ve got to do honestly is I’ve got to reconfigure those seven because it didn’t work really well. Usually if you have six blockers, seven guys, it’s going to turn out better for me.
“At the end of the day, we have to do a better job of how we configure those seven because we didn’t handle it very well.”
But Patterson also defended himself, pointing out a few plays that show he hasn’t lost his edge.
Just before halftime, TCU made a pivotal stop when SMU went for a touchdown fourth-and-goal from the TCU 3.
“All of a sudden you don’t become a very good coach,” Patterson said. “I mean, everybody just didn’t seem to talk about when I called timeout right before the half so I could see their formation so we could get a better call. We had a better call and we got the blitz we wanted, and we covered the guys like we wanted, and we got an interception.”
At the end of the day, Patterson said, the defense is going through growing pains of having younger, inexperienced players.
But Patterson likes the potential of the team and the goals are still in front of them. The Frogs want to contend for a Big 12 championship and hope to take their first step toward doing so Saturday.
“Right now, we’re 2-1,” Patterson said. “Our job is to win more than we lose and still try to win a championship. If we can get guys back and keep getting guys back, then we’re going to have an opportunity to keep getting better as a football team. And hopefully that’s going to be this week.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
