Texas Football: 4 reasons why Longhorns can dominate TCU in Week 11

For the final time as Big 12 foes, Texas football and the TCU Horned Frogs will square off in a battle under the lights at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth in primetime on ABC on Nov. 11. TCU has had Texas’ number in this series over the last decade, having won two of the last three meetings and seven of the last nine dating back to 2014.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns are confident heading into this matchup against the Horned Frogs, having won three games in a row. Last week, the Longhorns survived an overtime thriller at home at DKR in Austin against the No. 23 Kansas State Wildcats.

How Texas football can dominate TCU upon the return of starting QB Quinn Ewers in Week 11

Texas is a much healthier squad than they’ve been at any other point in conference play this fall heading into the TCU game in Week 11. In his Thursday press conference on Nov. 9, Sarkisian essentially said that Texas won’t have any injuries causing players to miss the TCU game this weekend.

The most significant player returning to the Longhorns lineup against TCU this weekend is redshirt sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers. Ewers returns from a shoulder injury he suffered in Week 8 against the Houston Cougars, which caused him to miss the last two starts. Redshirt freshman quarterback Maalik Murphy led the Longhorns to a 2-0 record as the starter in the last two games.

Here are four reasons why the Longhorns can dominate the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth in Week 11.

Josh Hoover has been prone to turnovers

TCU redshirt freshman quarterback Josh Hoover will get his fourth consecutive start against the Longhorns this weekend. Hoover has started at quarterback for the Horned Frogs since sophomore Chandler Morris suffered an MCL sprain in TCU’s loss to the Iowa State Cyclones in Ames in Week 6.

Hoover is a quarterback with the arm talent to get the ball out with velocity and throw from different angles. But he’s also a freshman dealing with the challenges of being a first-year starter and getting thrown to the wolves amid conference play. Turnovers have plagued the TCU passing game this season.

And that blame can’t fall solely on Hoover’s shoulders. While he does have over half of TCU’s interceptions on the season, Morris was also picked off five times in as many complete games played.

In his three starts this season, Hoover has as many passing touchdowns as interceptions (5). He’s making difficult throws into tight windows downfield in the intermediate and deep passing game, which is a high-risk, high-reward strategy. Hoover has thrown three touchdowns and five interceptions this season on passes with at least 10 air yards.

Losing the turnover battle has been costly to the Horned Frogs recently. TCU is 0-3 when it loses the turnover battle in the last four games. It’s also noteworthy that TCU has tossed at least one pick in the last four games, averaging over two interceptions per game in that span.

This is a huge opportunity for the Longhorns to get extra possessions on offense while keeping the athletic and quick TCU receivers on the sidelines. If Texas can get multiple interceptions this weekend, Ewers and the Longhorns should cruise to an easy victory.