As No. 4 TCU pays a visit, No. 18 Texas is looking for some elusive second-half scoring

In each of Texas' last two games, the Longhorns have scored exactly 34 points.

On paper, that’s not a bad number. Out of 131 FBS-level teams in the country, only 32 are averaging more than 34 points a game.

But there's one problem with those 34 points.

The Longhorns scored only three in the second half of a seven-point loss at Oklahoma State on Oct. 22. And though they beat Kansas State 34-27 last week, they again mustered only three points after halftime.

"I didn't really like the execution in the second half" against Kansas State, UT quarterback Quinn Ewers said. "I think we could have executed a lot better."

Texas' 24th-ranked scoring offense is putting up 36.1 points per game. But the Longhorns are averaging only 13.1 in the second half. Not surprisingly, the first quarter (76 points) and the second quarter (131) have been Texas' best offensive sessions.

Texas did put up 52 points in the second half of nonconference wins over Louisiana-Monroe and UTSA. And the Longhorns put together three second-half touchdown drives in the Oklahoma game. But Texas was held to just three second-half field goals against Alabama. And after scoring 66 total points in the first half of its games against Texas Tech, West Virginia and Iowa State, Texas posted only 10 in each of those second halves.

The offense really sputtered after a solid start in Stillwater last month. In an eventual 41-34 loss, Texas managed only a 33-yard field goal from Bert Auburn after halftime.

After a bye week, Texas again got off to a good start at Kansas State last Saturday, building a 31-10 lead by halftime. But the rest of the way, the UT only score was Auburn's 29-yard field goal. Texas drove to Kansas State's 14-yard line but played it safe inside the red zone and extended its lead to 34-24 with 4 minutes, 24 seconds to play.

"I knew how valuable that field goal was going to be," Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. "We got down there to do it. I would have loved to have scored a touchdown, but I didn't want to risk the football in that moment to get the three points."

Now, Oklahoma State and Kansas State do have defensive coaches who get paid, too. Derek Mason, the former Vanderbilt head coach who took over the OSU defense this season, is reportedly getting $1.1 million annually. Kansas State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman recently got his salary bumped to $600,000.

Still, Texas averaged only 2.9 yards on its 36 second-half rushes in the Oklahoma State and Kansas State games. Ewers completed 13 of 34 passes for 180 yards and two interceptions. Texas also lost a fumble in the third quarter in Manhattan.

Penalties also have hurt the Longhorns.

Against Oklahoma State, the Texas offense was penalized three times in the second half. One of those was a late holding call that negated a 33-yard run by Ewers. Another was a fourth-quarter false start that pushed back a manageable fourth-and-3 attempt into a longer try that Texas failed to convert.

Last week, Texas had four false start penalties called in just the third quarter.

"As we were taking two steps forward, we were taking one step backwards," Sarkisian said about the Kansas State game. "Inevitably it's more about what we did opposed to what they did, and that was something that we'll continue to work on to get better at."

Added running back Roschon Johnson: "To be honest, we've just got to focus, make focusing a key point of emphasis. If you look at the errors that happened and you watch film and recap the game, it wasn't like we just failed to go out and play. It was just small errors, false starts and just penalties, just dumb things that put you behind the chains and that play in the other team's favor."

TCU, No. 4 in both The Associated Press Top 25 and the College Football Playoff rankings, is allowing 26.9 points per game. The Horned Frogs (9-0, 6-0 Big 12) have surrendered a fourth-quarter touchdown in four of their six conference games.

The Longhorns haven't beaten a top-five team in Austin since 1999. Twenty-three years ago, Major Applewhite's two touchdown passes helped Texas record a 24-20 win over No. 3 Nebraska.

Yet the oddsmakers are favoring the Horns by a touchdown. UT defensive lineman Keondre Coburn, though, didn't think the undefeated Horned Frogs will arrive in Austin with an underdog mentality.

"I wouldn't expect them to be nervous," Coburn said. "They're the No. 1 team in the conference, top four in the nation. Why would they be nervous? If anything, they're coming down here to destroy us. I wouldn't expect nothing else but that. They better be ready, like we better be ready, too."

Saturday's game

No. 4 TCU (9-0, 6-0) at No. 18 Texas (6-3, 4-2), 6:30 p.m., ABC, 104.9, 105.3 (Spanish), 1260, 99.3, 98.5

Scouting TCU

Last year: 5-7, tied for seventh with Texas and Texas Tech in the Big 12 (3-6), and didn't make a bowl game.

It's Miller's time: Last week, Texas' Bijan Robinson outdueled Kansas State's Deuce Vaughn for the Big 12 rushing lead in dramatic fashion. This week it's TCU's Kendre Miller who's challenging Robinson. Miller is now the conference's second-leading rusher, trailing by 120 yards. Through nine games, Robinson has 192 carries for 1,129 yards and 12 touchdowns; Miller has 153 carries for 1,009 yards and 12 scores as well. They're two of only four players in the conference who average more than 100 rushing yards a game.

Three players to watch: (1) QB Max Duggan, who'll be making his 38th career start and leads the Big 12 in passing yards, passing touchdowns, passing efficiency and yards per attempt; (2) WR Quentin Johnston, whose 42 catches for 650 yards and four touchdowns essentially make him TCU's version of Xavier Worthy (40-552-9); (3) LB Dee Winters, who leads TCU with 6½ sacks, 9½ tackles for loss and six hurries and is TCU's active career leader with 210 tackles, 28½ tackles for loss and 11½ sacks.

FYI: Nationally, TCU is tied for No. 3 in points per game, No. 4 in total offense, No. 13 in rushing and No. 22 in passing. ... Two former Longhorns are on the roster: TE Jared Wiley and LB Terrance Cooks. ... TCU head coach Sonny Dykes is the son of Texas Tech coaching legend Spike Dykes, offensive coordinator Garrett Riley is USC head coach Lincoln Riley's younger brother, and the roster includes the grandsons of Roger Staubach and Jack Pardee and the nephew of LaDainian Tomlinson. ... TCU has scored at least 34 points in every game, the nation's fourth-best improvement in scoring from last season.

Rich Tijerina

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football looks for some elusive second-half offense against TCU