Texas Football: 3 takeaways from big-time win over TCU in Week 4

3. Is the Big 12 becoming a defense-first conference?

For much of the game, the showdown between the Longhorns and the Horned Frogs was a defensive battle. The two teams kept thwarting each other’s attempts to get on the scoreboard, closing down drives and forcing punts and field goal attempts.

The two teams played out a 7-6 first quarter and were locked in at 13-10 TCU at the half. When the game resumed after the break, the Horned Frogs were promptly held to a field goal by the Longhorns. It looked like we were destined for another half of defensive football, the two teams throwing up roadblocks at every turn.

Then TCU’s defense broke down, Texas held firm, and the two teams diverged quickly in the second half. With 21 unanswered points, the Longhorns ran away with a victory that sets them up as a legitimate challenger for the Big 12 title. TCU still has a strong defense, and they still have a chance to stay right in the mix. But they open the campaign in a deficit, in large part because their defense couldn’t get the job done as well as their counterparts for the Longhorns.

In the end, it really was as simple as that in many ways. Texas held up defensively and TCU could not. For any team hoping to challenge defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma this season, defense will be a critical component to making that happen. And Herman’s squad showed itself more consistent in that phase of the game, at least on this Saturday.