Saturday, Oct. 3, Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, Texas, noon ET
TCU Horned Frogs
Sophomore Max Duggan looks to start for the Horned Frogs against the Longhorns after playing the entire second half of TCU’s 37-34 loss at Iowa State last week. Duggan, who was diagnosed with a heart condition in August but has since fully recovered, completed 16 of 19 attempts against the Cyclones for 241 yards and three touchdowns, the last coming as time ran. He had one interception. Taye Barber and Emari Demercado each had five receptions to lead the team in that category.
The critical issue was in the running game. Demercado led with just 39 yards on eight carries as the Frogs managed only 99 yards on the ground, averaging just 2.2 yards per carry. Adding back the 46 yards lost on six sacks given up still gets the Frogs to only 145 yards for the game.
Texas Longhorns
The Longhorns may have put up 63 points in the overtime win at Texas Tech, but the numbers weren’t all that staggering when looking at what was happening at say Baton Rouge where Mississippi State was putting up over 600 yards in a win over LSU. The Longhorns rushed for 214 yards with Keaontay Ingram leading with a modest 89 yards.
Shane Ehlinger (27 of 40) passed for 262 yards, giving him 688 on a 71.2 percent completion rate in two games. He has 10 touchdown passes with five in each of the Longhorns’ wins and rallied the Longhorns from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit with 22 unanswered points for the 63-56 overtime win at Tech. “Our players on defense, they’re embarrassed,” coach Tom Herman said.
TCU Horned Frogs at Texas Longhorns Betting Pick
The Horned Frogs have been enjoying some uncommon success against the Longhorns recently, winning six of the last eight meetings overall and three of the last four in Austin. The Frogs also intercepted Ehlinger four times in last year’s meeting in rolling to a 39-27 victory in Fort Worth.
TCU Horned Frogs at Texas Longhorns Betting Pick: Longhorns (-13) 28, Frogs (+13) 24
TCU Horned Frogs at Texas Longhorns Best Bet
TCU’s defense should be a much better test for the Longhorns than what the ‘Horns have faced in scoring fests their first two games (59-3 vs. UTEP, 53-46 vs. Texas Tech). Having Duggan from the get-go will make a difference for the Horned Frogs, and coach Gary Patterson should have the TCU defense better prepared. “If we don’t change some of the things we do,” Patterson said, “the result is not going to get any better.”
TCU Horned Frogs at Texas Longhorns Best Bet: Horned Frogs to COVER
