Head coach Mack Brown found a silver lining to the three-hour and six-minute lightening delay that prevented Saturday’s game against TCU from ending before midnight.
“They’ve all had a goal and a dream to play on Sunday and now they’ve done that,” Brown joked.
While playing into the wee hours of morning likely wasn’t how they envisioned their first experience of Sunday football, the Longhorns had plenty to be pleased with following their 30-7 victory over the Horned Frogs.
“TCU’s a really good football team that was 3-0 at home coming in to tonight,” Brown said. “I really thought this would be a fight and a battle.”
The Longhorns' running backs allowed them to get the better of this battle, rushing for 187 yards on 52 carries against a TCU defense that allowed a Big 12-leading average of just 115.3 rushing yards through its first seven games. Sophomore running back Johnathan Gray had 94 yards on 22 carries, and junior running back Malcolm Brown scored two touchdowns while contributing 51 yards on the ground.
Coming off an impressive performance in his last game against Oklahoma, senior quarterback Case McCoy connected on nine of 19 attempts for 228 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions. McCoy was especially effective on throws down the field, as four of his completions went for at least 33 yards.
The Longhorns shut down TCU senior quarterback Casey Pachall in his first game since breaking his left arm on Sept. 7, as he managed just 139 passing yards and threw an interception on 13-of-34 passing. In addition, Texas limited the Horned Frogs to 45 rushing yards on an average of just 1.9 yards per carry.
“We’re just playing pretty sound, solid football,” defensive coordinator Greg Robinson said. “It really does start up front, and I think our D-line just keeps getting better. The rest of the guys are getting around the ball. All in all, we’re playing pretty well together, and that’s real important on defense.”
After season-long speculation on whether he would play this season, freshman quarterback Tyrone Swoopes made his debut with 4:57 remaining in the fourth quarter. He did not attempt a pass while losing two yards on three carries.
With the victory, Texas improved to 4-0 in conference play to tie Baylor atop the conference standings. While it would be easy to look ahead to their season finale against the undefeated Bears in Waco on Dec. 7, senior defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat said the team remains focused on winning every week.
“We want to win this Big 12,” Jeffcoat said. “We’re not just happy with one win, we want to keep trying to get more and more.”
