Despite scoring all 10 of its points in the second half Saturday, No. 18 Texas couldn’t grasp victory, or even win the second half, against No. 4 TCU.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian’s team has developed a propensity for struggling in the second half of games, but Saturday’s 10-17 loss to the Horned Frogs in front of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium’s second largest crowd ever featured little to cheer for throughout the entire game. The offense was completely shut out in the first half. 

While the Longhorns defense performed well enough to keep the offense within striking distance of TCU, recording 14 tackles for loss and five sacks on the night, Texas just couldn’t put the ball in the end zone on its trips to deep TCU territory. The team’s lone offensive score was a 22-yard field goal as time expired in the third quarter.

“We had a couple opportunities in the second half to seize momentum on 1st-and-goals and came away with a total of three points,” Sarkisian said. “Sometimes, you’re gonna have ugly games, but you find a way. It was ugly, and we had a chance, and we didn’t find a way.”

Texas’ defense kept hopes alive for the program’s first FBS Top-5 win at home since 1999 the entire game. Despite TCU being No. 4 in the FBS for total offense, the Longhorns’ front seven held the Horned Frogs to 283 yards—over 200 yards less than their season average per game.

“Defensively, those guys played their hearts out (and) gave us a chance,” Sarkisian said.

Trailing 3-17 with 4:25 left in the game, junior defensive back Jahdae Barron saw TCU quarterback Max Duggan drop the ball while pressured on the blitz. After Duggan failed to recover it, Barron scooped up the fumble to run it back for Texas’ first touchdown of the night.

However, Texas’ defense couldn’t play the hero forever. Primarily using junior running back Kendre Miller, TCU secured the game, converting two third downs to running out the remaining clock.

“Barron had a heck of a game,” Sarkisian said. “A lot of guys played really good on the defensive side of the ball, plenty good enough for us to win. Offensively (we had) zero rhythm in the game.”

Redshirt freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers couldn’t hit any of his receivers for the majority of the night. When Ewers couldn’t connect with sophomore wide receiver Xavier Worthy on flashy long balls due to a couple of overthrown passes, Ewers targeted sophomore tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders in the first quarter on a 3rd-and-3 deep in Texas territory. 

Open with space for a catch-and-run for what would have been Texas’ first third-down conversion of the night, Sanders initially caught Ewers’ low throw but couldn’t hang on, forcing a Texas punt. 

While Ewers’ wasn’t the sole factor in Texas’ loss, the young quarterback didn’t look comfortable in the pocket all night. Because TCU’s defensive line sealed up running lanes, he couldn’t rely on the Longhorns’ typically strong ground attack. 

During Texas’ second trip to the red zone, Sarkisian tried to get the running backs involved on a designed wheel route for junior running back Bijan Robinson, but Ewers passed to Sanders in traffic, who was one of the more productive receivers on the night with 61 receiving yards. Robinson was wide open approaching the end zone on the play.

“He just didn’t see him,” Sarkisian said. “You try to do what you were doing that might be working that got you down there. Clearly, we were throwing the ball to get down there.”

Sarkisian would love to pinpoint one thing that lost Texas the game, but he acknowledged that very little went well. The team converted just one of its 13 third-down attempts and allowed TCU to hang 14 points on the board in the second half.

“We didn’t do anything good,” Sarkisian said. “It’s easy to point to that one guy, but that wasn’t the case. We didn’t play good offensive football.”