FORT WORTH – What a difference a year makes. 

Flashback 364 days to when TCU kept the Texas offense out of the end zone in a 17-10 win in Austin that solidified the Horned Frogs as Big 12 favorites and legit College Football Playoff contenders. Quinn Ewers was 17 of 39 for 171 yards, zero touchdowns, and one interception in the loss. Star receiver Xavier Worthy managed just four catches for 32 yards. As a team, Texas ran the ball 22 times for 28 yards despite two NFL draft picks in the backfield. Steve Sarkisian’s record as head coach of Texas was 11-11 after the game. Sonny Dykes was 10-0 as TCU head coach. 

Since then, the Horned Frogs are 7-8 while Texas is 11-2. The Longhorns scored three first-half touchdowns in the 29-26 victory to improve to 9-1 on the season. TCU is 4-6. Quinn Ewers threw for 317 yards and a touchdown. Worthy caught 10 passes for 137 yards. The team rushed for 165 yards and two scores on 41 carries. 

Now, it is the Longhorns eyeing conference crowns and playoff games. Texas entered Week 11 ranked seventh in the College Football Playoff rankings and tied with Oklahoma State atop the Big 12 standings. Following the Cowboys’ loss to UCF on Saturday, Texas is alone at the top of the Big 12 and three wins away from knocking on a national semifinal door. 

For that to happen, though, Texas needs some help – and a killer instinct. The possibility of four undefeated conference champions remains a possibility. Texas isn’t even the top-ranked one-loss team. That distinction falls to Oregon, and the Ducks have the tougher schedule down the stretch which allows for impressive victories. 

It’ll also take Texas finishing 12-1 with a conference championship and that’ll require playing four quarters of football. The second-half woes that cost Texas multiple times in Sarkisian’s first two years in charge reared its head last week against Kansas State and again versus TCU. The Longhorns led Kansas State 27-7 at one point in Week 10. They were up on the Horned Frogs 26-6 at halftime. 

“No one wants us to play a four-quarter football game more than me and the players on this team,” Sarkisian said after the game. “We need to develop that killer instinct. We’re going to need to play four quarters at some point down the stretch.” 

Next up for Texas is a trip to Iowa State to face a Cyclones team still in the Big 12 hunt despite early-season struggles. If the Longhorns pass that test, a home date against Texas Tech is the only thing separating them from the Big 12 championship game. 

TCU is headed in the opposite direction, though Sarkisian was quick to point out that the Horned Frogs are much better than the 4-6 record. Four of those losses were in one-possession games and three were by a field goal. They were 6-1 in one-score games last season. The biggest difference is the quarterback play. TCU no longer has a Heisman finalist to make a big play in key moments of consequential games. Josh Hoover finished with 302 yards and two scores, but a poor first half put the Horned Frogs in a 20-point hole in the second half. 

The contest was the 94th between TCU and Texas. The only teams the Longhorns have played more times in history are Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Baylor. Texas won’t play TCU or Baylor following 2023 because of a move to the SEC. The Longhorns have played the Horned Frogs in three separate centuries and at least once in each of the last 14 decades. 

Texas and TCU switched places since the 93rd meeting. The Horned Frogs are scratching for a bowl bid while the Longhorns get to keep dreaming about trophies. And just like TCU last year, Texas isn’t a perfect team. It might not matter, though. The Longhorns’ only job is to win out and see where the chips lie. TCU caught a break last year when USC lost a Pac-12 championship to keep a fourth spot open. Texas likely needs the same break, but Sarkisian isn't looking that far into the future.  

“Going into the season, we had a goal and a mission to be champions,” Sarkisian said. “To do that, we have to make it to Arlington on Dec. 2 and to do that we need to win two more games. Anything beyond that? That’s out of our control.”