Texas Longhorns Football

The unranked TCU Horned Frogs stunned the No. 9 Texas Longhorns with a 33-31 road win on Saturday.

Afterward, Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger said the Texas "deserves better" from its football team.

"Losing bothers me the most," Ehlinger told reporters, per ESPN's Sam Khan Jr.

"This university deserves better. And it's very frustrating when it's self-inflicting and it's preventable by attention to detail and playing the way we all know that everybody is capable of playing in this program."

Per B/R Betting, Texas was a massive -420 money line favorite ($420 bet to win $100) pregame, but TCU only trailed for 5:55 of game time en route to its two-point win.

Per ESPN, the loss marked Texas' sixth as a ranked team against an unranked opponent since head coach Tom Herman took over in 2017.

Texas has struggled since going 10-4 in 2018 and beating Georgia in the 2019 Sugar Bowl.

The 2019 season ended with Texas going 8-5 overall and just 5-4 in the Big 12, well outside the national championship conversation despite starting the season ranked 10th in the Associated Press poll.

The Longhorns began 2020 with an emphatic 59-3 win over UTEP, but they need a miraculous 15-point comeback in the final three minutes of regulation to force overtime and eventually beat unranked Texas Tech, 63-56 last Saturday.

On Saturday, Texas trailed for more than half the game and fell behind 23-14 at one point. The pass game was largely inefficient, with Ehlinger completing just 17-of-36 passes at 6.6 yards per attempt.

The defense allowed 226 rushing yards on 4.52 yards per carry. The Longhorns also committed 12 penalties in an ugly game where TCU had 14 infractions of their own.

Still, Texas had a chance to take a late lead after running back Keontay Ingram broke off 68 yards on two plays to put the Longhorns at the TCU 1-yard line with four minutes left and his team down 33-29. However, Ingram fumbled the ball on the next play.

TCU was able to run out the clock for the win after getting a first down and then purposely taking a safety with no time left.

Texas doesn't have much time to get right with arch rival Oklahoma next on the ledger in Dallas' Cotton Bowl.

No. 17 Oklahoma State, which is the lone remaining undefeated Big 12 team, looms large on Oct. 31 when they welcome Texas into Stillwater, Oklahoma. 

After flirting with defeat last week, the ninth-ranked Texas Longhorns were upset 33-31 by the TCU Horned Frogs at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.    

Texas got down to TCU's 1-yard line trailing 33-29 with less than five minutes to play, but Keaontay Ingram fumbled and George Ellis III recovered it for the Horned Frogs. They ran out the clock to get their first victory over a Top 10 opponent since 2017 (Oklahoma State).

FUMBLE!

Keaontay Ingram fumbles near the goal line to give it back to @TCUFootball with 2 minutes left in the 4th.pic.twitter.com/C8o9WMUQbM

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) October 3, 2020

TCU quarterback Max Duggan beat the Longhorns defense with his arm and legs. The sophomore went 20-of-30 for 231 yards through the air and racked up 79 yards with two touchdowns on 17 carries. 

Duggan's biggest play of the game was a 26-yard touchdown run on 2nd-and-5 with four minutes remaining to put the Horned Frogs up 33-29. 

MAX DUGGAN TOUCHDOWN! @TCUFootball re-takes the lead thanks to this TD run from QB @MaxDuggan_10 pic.twitter.com/NVIIeL6JVl

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 3, 2020

Sam Ehlinger's performance was more of a mixed bag. The Texas star did have four more touchdown passes Saturday after throwing five touchdowns in each of the past two games. But he only completed 17 of 36 attempts for a 47.2 completion percentage, his worst mark in a game since last year's loss against TCU (45.8). 

Even though this game will technically go down as an upset, the Horned Frogs have had Texas' number since they joined the Big 12 in 2012:

TCU vs. ranked teams over the past three seasons…

vs. Texas: 2-0 (incl. Saturday)

vs. All others: 0-5

— Jason Starrett (@starrettjason) October 3, 2020

TCU was invited to the Big 12 in 2012 largely due to TCU lobbying Texas officials to vote yes on an invitation.

Since that meeting, TCU has gone 7-2 against Texas.

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) October 3, 2020

After opening the season with a 59-3 win over UTEP on Sept. 12, the Longhorns have struggled since moving into conference play. They allowed 35 points in the second half last week against Texas Tech before erasing a 56-41 deficit in the final three minutes of regulation to win in overtime. 

Ehlinger and the offense were close to bailing out the defense again this week, but Ingram's fumble near the goal line sent Texas to its first loss. 

Head coach Tom Herman will have to rally his team in a hurry with Oklahoma awaiting next week in the Red River Showdown. 

TCU rebounded after a 37-34 loss last week against Iowa State to get its first win of the season. Gary Patterson's squad will look to keep its positive momentum going next Saturday at home against Kansas State. 

The Texas Longhorns trailed Texas Tech 56-41 with 3:13 remaining in regulation Saturday, but UT quarterback Sam Ehlinger propelled his team to a 63-56 overtime victory after throwing for two touchdowns and a two-point conversion in regulation before adding a 12-yard TD pass in overtime.

After the game, Longhorns defensive tackle Keondre Coburn offered lofty praise for his quarterback by comparing him to six-time Super Bowl winner and Tampa Bay Buccaneers signal-caller Tom Brady, per Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman:

Texas DT Keondre Coburn said Sam Ehlinger had the same mentality throughout the entire game. "That's the GOAT right there. That's the Tom Brady of college football."

— Brian Davis (@byBDavis) September 27, 2020

Ehlinger completed 27 of 40 passes for 262 yards, five touchdowns and one interception to help No. 8 Texas fight off an upset loss to unranked Texas Tech on the road.

Per ESPN's Win Probability tracker, Texas Tech had a 99.8 percent chance of winning after going up 56-41, but Ehlinger had other ideas.

He completed three of four passes that covered 59 yards in 34 seconds on Texas' next drive, which was capped by a 12-yard Brennan Eagles touchdown reception and an ensuing extra point to make the score 56-48.

Touchdown @TexasFootball!

They are just 8 points back with just over two minutes to play! pic.twitter.com/TMMUA0ogbI

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 26, 2020

Texas' Malcolm Epps then recovered a Cameron Dicker onside kick to give the Longhorns a chance to tie the game:

LOUD NOISES@texasfootball recovers the onside kick down a TD against Texas Tech pic.twitter.com/EtcA4xBtPr

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 26, 2020

Ehlinger went back to work. He rushed three times for 18 yards and found Keaontay Ingram twice for 16 more yards to set Texas up at the Texas Tech 8-yard line.

However, a pair of five-yard penalties (a false start and an ineligible man downfield) put Texas on the 18-yard line in a 1st-and-goal situation.

That didn't phase Ehlinger, who hit Joshua Moore for an 18-yard score with 40 seconds remaining:

TOUCHDOWN @TexasFootball 🤘 pic.twitter.com/cJWMhKnKWP

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 26, 2020

Texas then needed a two-point conversion to tie the game at 56 and got it when Ehlinger found Eagles:

😤🤘 @TexasFootball ties it! pic.twitter.com/zDcm9NltSa

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 26, 2020

The two teams went into overtime after Texas Tech could not launch a last-gasp scoring drive to end regulation.

Once the two teams got to the extra session, Ehlinger shined again.

A one-yard pass to Brenden Schooler and an Ingram 12-yard run set up a 1st-and-10 at the Texas Tech 12, and that's where Ehlinger found Moore for a touchdown.

😤 @TexasFootball strikes first in OT! pic.twitter.com/i8Icbxu13N

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 26, 2020

Texas Tech failed to get a first down with its chance to tie or take the lead, and the ballgame was over.

Ehlinger went 8-of-9 for 106 yards and three touchdowns and rushed three times for 18 yards after Texas fell behind 56-41.

Two days after Texas 5-star safety B.J. Foster reportedly quit the team during the Longhorns' 59-3 win over UTEP, coach Tom Herman said the junior starter will remain with the team, per ESPN.

According to a report from OrangeBloods.com's Anwar Richardson, Foster was frustrated with his lack of playing time and walked off the field on Saturday. But Herman said the Texas native, who played in 22 games for the Longhorns in his first two seasons, spoke with coaches to remedy the situation: 

"He was very contrite, very apologetic. We'll handle the discipline in-house. He knows what he did was wrong and let his frustration get the best of him. It's OK to be frustrated, but we've got to be able to control our actions. He realizes that, and again, is very apologetic and will serve his penance internally, and it'll be water under the bridge for us and his team."

As 24/7 Sports' No. 3 safety and No. 24 player in the 2018 recruiting class, Foster lived up to expectations upon his arrival in Austin. He totaled 46 tackles, 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception in 13 games as a true freshman, and rebounded from a hamstring injury to log 34 tackles, 1.5 sacks and one interception.

But in 2020, Foster's career began to take a turn. He underwent shoulder surgery to fix a lingering injury he sustained as a sophomore and would miss spring practice, and he began voluntary workouts this summer with a broken hand he suffered in an off-field incident that involved "a fight with a car bumper," per Herman.

Per the Dallas Morning News' Marcus Krum, senior Chris Brown started ahead of Foster on Saturday, recording two tackles and a pass breakup in the first half. 

Junior safety B.J. Foster may have played his final game with Texas.

OrangeBloods.com's Anwar Richardson reported Foster "quit the team" midway through the third quarter of the Longhorns' 59-3 win over UTEP on Saturday. Richardson followed up to say the Angleton, Texas, native was frustrated with his lack of playing time.

Foster arrived with big expectations as the No. 3 safety and No. 24 player overall in the 2018 recruiting class, per 247Sports' composite rankings.

He made an immediate impact, finishing with 46 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception over 13 games as a true freshman. A hamstring injury briefly took him out of action in 2019, but he still posted 34 total tackles, 1.5 sacks and an interception.

Foster's 2020 didn't get off to a great start. He underwent shoulder surgery to address a problem dating back to last year, and he fractured his hand after punching the bumper of a car upon discovering somebody had damaged the automobile.

The Dallas Morning News' Marcus Krum noted first-year defensive coordinator Chris Ash installed Chris Brown as the starting strong safety ahead of Foster.

Were his relationship with Texas to reach a point of no return, Foster could enter the transfer portal. He'd have to sit out the remainder of the season to satisfy NCAA eligibility rules, though.

The University of Texas announced Monday it is launching a program called LEVERAGE to help its athletes build their brands and monetize their names and images.

Giving our student-athletes #LEVERAGE 🚀 to build their personal brands. #ThisIsTexas #HookEm pic.twitter.com/pNUTQ2d20Q

— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) August 31, 2020

Texas is launching its own program called LEVERAGE to help athletes ultimately monetize their name, image, likeness. This is the new frontier in the college athletics arms race.

— Brian Davis (@byBDavis) August 31, 2020

Last October, the NCAA decided to allow athletes to profit off their name and likeness starting in 2021 at the latest.

Michael V. Drake, the chair of the NCAA's board of governors and president of Ohio State, said in October:

"We must embrace change to provide the best possible experience for college athletes. Additional flexibility in this area can and must continue to support college sports as a part of higher education. This modernization for the future is a natural extension of the numerous steps NCAA members have taken in recent years to improve support for student-athletes, including full cost of attendance and guaranteed scholarships."

While there are still calls for college athletes to be paid—especially in college football, which generates hundreds of millions of dollars for universities every year—allowing athletes to monetize their image and likeness without losing eligibility was seen as a step in the right direction.

It's also the next frontier in recruiting, as schools will try to convince high-level prospects they can offer the best chance to fully monetize and expand their public image and earning potential. Texas is already seizing on that idea:

There is no better place to #LEVERAGE🚀 your name, image & likeness than the University of Texas. 🤘

Announcing a new program built to empower our student-athletes to take their personal brand to new heights, while at Texas and beyond. pic.twitter.com/SgWZwPdBu3

— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) August 31, 2020

For the brand. #Leverage. 🚀🤘#ThisIsTexas #HookEm pic.twitter.com/wyMDX419bV

— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) August 31, 2020

Other schools with prominent football and basketball programs are surely implementing plans to do the same.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Sam Ehlinger really wanted another chance to beat the defending champion LSU Tigers.

In fact, Ehlinger said he cried when he learned this year's scheduled game between Texas and LSU was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, per Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman.

The nonconference game was scrapped when the SEC shifted to an all-conference schedule and the Big 12 went to a plus-one model with all league games but one.

LSU's 45-38 win over Texas last year was one of the most memorable games of the season. Ehlinger threw for 401 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions while running for another 60 yards and a score, while Joe Burrow threw for 471 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.

Burrow led his team to the victory and eventually won the Heisman Trophy and national championship.

At least Ehlinger can take solace in the fact he has a fall football schedule for now. The Big Ten and Pac-12 postponed fall sports, while the SEC, Big 12 and ACC plan on playing football in the fall.

Perhaps he can lead the Longhorns to a conference crown and face LSU in the College Football Playoff.

The Texas Longhorns may have found their quarterback of the future Friday when 2022 recruit Quinn Ewers committed to the program. 

Ewers, a Southlake, Texas native, announced his decision to play for the Longhorns on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/QuinnEwers/status/1294389935298969600

Per 247Sports' composite rankings, Ewers is a 5-star pro-style quarterback prospect and the top-ranked overall player in the 2022 recruiting class. 

In a Nov. 2019 scouting report for 247Sports, Gabe Brooks offered this assessment of Ewers' game:

"Prototype frame for elite QB prospect. Good height with lean, athletic build that will hold more bulk. Dynamic natural playmaker at QB position. Shows impressive stand-and-deliver in-pocket ability, in addition to terrific off-schedule instincts. Varies arm angles as needed. Enormous production as a sophomore for perennial Texas 6A power."

Brooks also noted that Ewers threw for 45 touchdowns with just three interceptions as a sophomore last year "against outstanding competition relative to the high school level."

Assuming Ewers' recruiting ranking doesn't change in the next two years, he will be the highest-rated player to join the Longhorns since Tom Herman took over as head coach in November 2016. 

Herman has done a terrific job of recruiting for Texas. The program has landed among the top 10 in 247Sports' team rankings every year since 2018. 

Texas Longhorns quarterback Sam Ehlinger is doing his part to help fight the hardships created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Sunday, he announced the GoFundMe he set up raised "approximately $200,000" through public and private donations. He explained, "your generosity provided over 150,000 meals and helped many other people/organizations."

Ehlinger received approval from the NCAA to set the account up in March.

Shortly after receiving approval from the NCAA, he announced that he was raising funds for organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club of America, Pets Alive in Austin and the Central Texas Food Bank:

Please share with friends and family and let’s raise $1,000,000 for COVID-19 Relief. Shoutout @Trevorlawrencee and his girlfriend, Marissa, for setting a great example with their fundraising platform. Link to donate and share is in my bio and attached below. pic.twitter.com/lEN3FSkQXi

— Sam Ehlinger (@sehlinger3) March 27, 2020

He also notably shouted out Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and his fiancee, Marissa Mowry, in the message. Lawrence and Mowry set up a GoFundMe to raise money for COVID-19 relief and received a waiver from the NCAA after the Clemson compliance department initially told him to take it down for fear it was a violation.

"Shout out to the NCAA. Thank y'all so much for granting a waiver," Lawrence said. "They're allowing us to continue to raise money for what we were doing originally. So we're gonna take some time and kind of think about how we're going to restart it back up."

Ehlinger completed 65.2 percent of his passes for 3,663 yards, 32 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while leading the Longhorns to an 8-5 record during the 2019 season.

He elected to return for his senior season after Texas fell short of elevated expectations, although the upcoming campaign is still somewhat up in the air because of the pandemic.

Off the field, Ehlinger is doing what he can to help those most impacted by that pandemic.

The University of Texas plans on limiting seating capacity to 50 percent inside Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium for the upcoming college football season.

As Joe Cook of Inside Texas shared, Longhorns athletic director Chris Del Conte wrote an email to season-ticket holders updating them on plans amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"As we continue to work closely with the Governor's office and follow state guidelines for social distancing, we anticipate seating at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium to be at a reduced capacity," Del Conte wrote. "As of today, capacity is limited to 50 percent." 

The email also noted the school expects to offer every season-ticket holder the chance to purchase season tickets.

Season-ticket holders who choose to opt out of attending games amid the pandemic will have three options. They can either receive a full refund, convert their ticket cost to a 2021 credit or convert it into a tax-deductible donation to the Longhorn Foundation.

The decision comes with plenty of questions looming over the immediate future of college football, which is fragmented into conferences across the country and does not have a single commissioner to implement significant rules like professional leagues do.

The Big Ten and Pac-12 have already announced they will be moving to conference-only schedules in an effort to establish more uniformity in rules and dealing with health and safety concerns during an uncertain time.

Texas is in the Big 12, which has not made such an announcement yet, so it might play more games than teams in the Big Ten and Pac-12.

Ross Dellenger and Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated reported the ACC, Big 12 and SEC have at least explored working together to alter their schedules accordingly and perhaps preserve at least a handful of marquee nonconference games. 

Texas is scheduled to visit the defending champion LSU Tigers on Sept. 12 if that game happens as planned.

The Longhorns may not have many people in the stands pulling for them in that game, but the school appears to be doing what it can to create a home-field advantage for games at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium amid the pandemic.