Texas vs. No. 17 TCU game thread

After a strong second half paved the way for Texas to cruise past No. 22 USC last Saturday night, Tom Herman’s program has yet another tall test on its hands with No. 17 TCU in town.

Last season, the Longhorns fell to the Horned Frogs, 24-7, but the margin of victory throughout the past four seasons has been far more lopsided and favors TCU. Dating back to 2014, TCU owns a 4-0 record over Texas and has outscored the Horns, 153-33.

Beating USC may have been the sign of a team learning how to get over the hump against a notable opponent on a big stage, but for the Horns to continue working their way back to relevance, TCU is the type of team Texas quite simply needs to beat. ESPN’s FPI favors the Longhorns, and aside from Kirk Herbstreit, the entire College GameDay crew picked Texas to top TCU to improve to 3-1 (1-0). But actually doing so is far easier said than done.

What happens on Saturday afternoon at Darrell K Royal—Texas Memorial Stadium could prove to be a sign that Texas has taken that next step forward in Herman’s second season on the Forty Acres, or yet another realization that Texas still isn’t ready to topple the Big 12’s top teams.

Texas and TCU will square off at 3:30 p.m. Central on FOX.

This is your game thread.