Texas football vs TCU full injury report for Week 11

No. 7 Texas football is the healthiest it’s been throughout most of Big 12 play, entering Week 11 on the road against the TCU Horned Frogs. Texas got multiple players back from injuries in the last couple of weeks. And that trend continues with Texas getting a few notable players on the two-deep, including two important starters back against TCU this weekend.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns need this squad to be as healthy as possible to reach their goals down the stretch this season. Texas is looking to get a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game and remain in contention for a berth in the College Football Playoff.

Texas is 8-1 (5-1 Big 12) entering the Week 11 matchup on the road in Fort Worth against TCU. The Longhorns are riding a three-game winning streak after a 33-30 overtime victory over the No. 23 Kansas State Wildcats.

TCU 4-5 (2-4 Big 12) has struggled of late, having lost four of its last five games and two in a row entering Week 11. Head coach Sonny Dykes and the Horned Frogs must win two of their last three games, two of which come against ranked foes (Texas on Nov. 11 and the No. 17 Oklahoma Sooners on Nov. 24) to reach bowl eligibility.

The Frogs aren’t the same team this season that won the Big 12 in the regular season and made it to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game last year.

Here’s a look at the full injury report as No. 7 Texas faces TCU on the road at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth on Nov. 11, with the kickoff time set for 6:30 p.m. CT.

Texas football injury report vs. TCU

Christian Jones, OT (Probable)

Kitan Crawford, S (Probable)

Jalen Catalon, S (Probable)

Quinn Ewers, QB (Probable)

In his Thursday press conference on Nov. 9, Sark announced that all Longhorns players who were dealing with injuries coming out of the win over Kansas State last week practiced this week. That means that all key players for the Longhorns on the two-deep who have dealt with injuries in the last few weeks will be active vs. TCU this weekend, barring any setbacks.

Most significantly, that means redshirt sophomore quarterback Quinn Ewers will start vs. TCU on Nov. 11 after missing the last two starts due to a shoulder injury. Ewers suffered a Grade 2 AC joint sprain in his right (throwing shoulder) in a win on the road in Week 8 over the Houston Cougars.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Maalik Murphy led the Longhorns to a 2-0 record in two starts in Ewers’ absence due to the shoulder injury. Murphy led Texas to wins over the BYU Cougars on Oct. 28 and Kansas State on Nov. 4.

Another key starter the Longhorns will get back against TCU this weekend is senior safety Jalen Catalon. Catalon missed the last three games for the Longhorns after suffering a leg injury against Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry game on Oct. 7.

Catalon’s return will be a big boost for this secondary, especially given some of Texas’s troubles at safety this season in pass coverage. It’s noteworthy that Catalon will face the offensive coordinator, Kendal Briles, who was at Arkansas with him during his four years in Fayetteville.

Fellow senior safety Kitan Crawford also returns from an injury that forced him to miss time for the Longhorns. Crawford missed last weekend’s game against Kansas State, but he should be back in the safety rotation against TCU in Week 11.

In the absence of Catalon and Crawford, Texas rotated true freshman Derek Williams Jr., redshirt sophomore Michael Taaffe, and senior Jerrin Thompson at safety against Kansas State last weekend.

Lastly, Texas looks like it will get super senior right tackle Christian Jones back in the lineup against TCU after he missed the Kansas State game last weekend due to an ankle injury. Jones was hobbled in practice last week, which caused him to miss Week 10 action against the Wildcats.

Second-year offensive tackle Cam Williams got the start in place of the injured Jones last week. Williams performed well in his debut, grading out as Texas’ second-highest-graded starting OL in pass blocking. He also didn’t give up a single quarterback pressure in Week 10.

TCU injury report vs. Texas

Chandler Morris, QB (Questionable)

Jack Bech, WR (Out)

Warren Thompson, WR (Out)

Dylan Wright, WR (Out)

Chase Curtis, TE (Questionable)

Most of TCU’s injuries this week come at the skill positions on offense. Dykes announced in his press conference this week that wide receivers Jack Bech, Warren Thompson, and Dylan Wright will miss Week 11 against Texas due to injuries.

TCU was missing Thompson and Bech due to injury last week in the weekday loss on the road in Lubbock to the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Thompson last played in TCU’s Week 8 loss to Kansas State. He is TCU’s sixth-most targeted player (24 targets) in the passing game and fourth on the team in receiving yards (246).

Bech has only played six games for the Frogs this season. When healthy, the former LSU transfer has been a rotational wideout for TCU. He’s got 10 catches on 15 targets this season, which is good for 110 receiving yards and no touchdowns.

The former Minnesota transfer Wright has also missed multiple games for the Frogs this season. He’s TCU’s fifth-most-targeted wide receiver. What TCU will primarily be missing in Wright is a bigger wideout who is a capable deep threat on the boundary.

But TCU had trouble finding Wright downfield this season. Despite ranking second on the team with eight deep targets in the passing game, TCU’s quarterbacks haven’t connected with Wright once.

At tight end, TCU is also dealing with an injury to a contributor on the two-deep. Senior tight end Chase Curtis has dealt with an undisclosed injury that caused him to miss the last two weeks for the Frogs. The 6-foot-5 and 235-pound Curtis is TCU’s second-most targeted tight end in the passing game this season (19 targets) behind redshirt senior Jared Wiley.

Last but not least for TCU, redshirt sophomore quarterback Chandler Morris is dealing with an MCL sprain that knocked him out of the game in Week 6 on the road against the Iowa State Cyclones in Ames. Redshirt freshman quarterback Josh Hoover has started the last four games for the Frogs.

Dykes announced this week that Hoover will get the start over Morris at quarterback against Texas. TCU is 1-2 with Hoover as the starting quarterback this season. He had a solid debut in a convincing 44-11 win over BYU in Week 7, with over 400 passing yards and four passing touchdowns.

But he’s struggled to manage turnovers in losses to Kansas State and Texas Tech in the last two weeks, tossing one touchdown and three interceptions in those games.