Texas blown out by TCU, likely ending Charlie Strong era – Yahoo Sports

If Texas’ decision to move on from head coach Charlie Strong wasn’t already set in stone entering Friday, it will be soon.

The writing was on the wall after the Longhorns lost to lowly Kansas last week, but the school did not pull the trigger on the decision, leaving a slight glimmer of hope that Strong could keep his job with a win over TCU on Friday in Austin.

That hope is gone now, as the Longhorns were blown out by TCU, 31-9.

Texas didn’t have much trouble moving the ball early on in the loss, but just could not put points on the board. The Longhorns marched inside the TCU 30 on five different drives in the first half, but came away with only six points.

UT added a field goal on its first drive of the third quarter, cutting the TCU lead to 10-9, but punted on five of its next six drives. The two other Texas second half drives ended in a turnover on downs and an interception.

While the Texas offense sputtered, the Horned Frogs were able to get things going in the second half — on the ground especially. After the Texas field goal, TCU quarterback Kenny Hill broke off a 41-yard touchdown run to increase the lead to 17-9.

And though the deficit was only eight, it might as well have been 80 for Texas. Behind D’Onta Foreman (who passed the 2,000-yard mark for the season in the loss), the Longhorns’ ground attack looked good early. But things dried up in the second half, and the Longhorns mustered only 158 yards in the second half.

The lead was still 17-9 entering the fourth, but became 24-9 on a Trevorris Johnson touchdown run. The deflated Longhorns followed with a quick three-and-out, and TCU quickly put the game out of reach with another score, this time a 70-yard burst from Darius Anderson. The win sealed a bowl berth for TCU, which improved to 6-5 with the win, heading into next weekend’s season finale against Kansas State.

For Texas, the loss was the seventh of its season, so the team will miss out on the postseason for the second year in a row. The Longhorns last missed a bowl game in consecutive seasons in 1992 and 1993.

The loss is the 21st of Strong’s three-year tenure. He drops to 16-21 overall at UT and 12-15 in Big 12 play. The Texas administration promised to evaluate Strong after the season. Friday’s performance won’t do a thing to improve his chances of returning.

Let the Tom Herman watch commence.

For more Texas news, visit Orangebloods.com.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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