TCU is Longhorns’ ‘Elephant in the Room’

Steve Sarkisian says the TCU Horned Frogs are the “elephant in the room,” and the Longhorns will have to deal with the elephant to remain undefeated in Big 12 play on Saturday.

Since TCU joined the Big 12 Conference in 2012, the Horned Frogs are 7-2 against Texas. In Fort Worth, TCU is 3-1 against Texas, with their most recent meeting in 2019 leading to a 37-27 win for the Horned Frogs.

The Longhorns’ only win over TCU in Fort Worth during that span came in 2013, as Texas won, 30-7, in one of the odder games in the history of the rivalry. The game crept into the wee hours of the next morning after a lightning delay of several hours.

TCU’s recent spate of domination doesn’t line up with the game’s history, dating back to the programs’ time together in the Southwest Conference. From 1968 to 1995, the Horned Frogs won the game just one time — in 1992, also in Fort Worth, with TCU winning, 23-14.

So, up until the Horned Frogs returned to the league, the Longhorns had the upper hand. Sark wasn’t in Austin for any of that, of course. But the point of reference can actually be helpful in motivating Texas on Saturday.

“We're not naive to the elephant in the room, that we're 2-7 against TCU the last nine years,” Sarkisian said. “We're also not going to buy the lie that we're going to play the same TCU team that just played SMU Saturday. We're going to get a little different animal, a little different opponent Saturday, so we got to buckle up and get ready to play.”

That opponent could be a bit wounded, and not because of injuries. The Horned Frogs lost to SMU, 42-34, in their annual ‘Iron Skillet’ game with their cross-metroplex rivals. But there was drama after the game, as SMU players planted a city of Dallas flag into the turf, a melee broke out, TCU assistant coach Jerry Kill suffered a concussion, and TCU head coach Gary Patterson accused the Mustangs of planning its calls. That’s something SMU athletic director Rick Hart denied.

But, there’s no denying the ‘Pony Up Fort Worth’ billboard with three SMU players that went up on westbound I-30 days after the game.

Two weeks after being embarrassed against Arkansas, the Longhorns now stand on the precipice of carrying an undefeated Big 12 slate into their Red River Rivalry game against Oklahoma next Saturday. Sark doesn’t want his players looking ahead, but it’s natural to think of a pair of undefeated Big 12 teams playing in the conference’s biggest rivalry game each season.

But, first things first. The Longhorns need to deal with the elephant.

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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