Texas Football: 3 takeaways from upset loss at TCU in Week 9

1. Longhorns rapidly falling behind in Big 12 race

Texas came into the 2019 season with high hopes of pushing Oklahoma for the Big 12 championship. They came into their Week 9 showdown at TCU knowing that the Sooners had stumbled at Kansas State, opening the door for just about anyone to make noise in the conference race. Texas ceded that opportunity in a big way to the Horned Frogs.

In the process, the Longhorns raised big questions about their own position in the Big 12 race. Now 5-3 on the year and 3-2 in league play, Tom Herman’s team is now locked behind not only the Sooners and Baylor but also would lose a tiebreaker against the Horned Frogs.

Texas gets a bye at an opportune time, allowing them to figure out what went wrong in Fort Worth and how they might right the ship heading into the final month of the year. With a visit by Iowa State and road trips to Kansas State and Baylor looming on the schedule out of their bye, that trio of games will determine which team gets a trip to the Big 12 title game.

At this point, it looks less and less likely that the Longhorns will be that team competing opposite Oklahoma. Just when the Sooners presented an opportunity for their rivals to reclaim position in the Big 12 race, Texas threw away that chance and left a lot of questions about whether they are actually New Year’s Six material this season.