Replay: No. 7 Texas holds off furious TCU rally, edges Horned Frogs for 29-26 win

Saturday started off good, as Quinn Ewers prepared to make his first start since the Houston game, and it continued in the afternoon as No. 15 Oklahoma State fell at Central Florida, solidifying the Longhorns' path to Arlington and perhaps beyond. And the good times continued tonight in Fort Worth.

This was our thread of live updates, scores and analysis out of the Texas-TCU game:

Horns win, but the eyes of Texas are on Jonathon Brooks

No. 7 Texas has beaten TCU 29-26, holding off a furious Horned Frogs rally in the fourth quarter and doing it without star running back Jonathon Brooks, who missed the final two drives with a leg or lower leg injury.

This ending had its moments. Texas, which was 0-for-4 on third-down conversions in the second half, saw Adonai Mitchell make a brilliant downfield adjustment to haul on a 35-yard pass from Quinn Ewers on the UT sideline. He made the catch as he was falling down.

That gave Texas a first down at the 48, and forced TCU into calling timeouts. The Horns ran out the clock.

Uh oh, Texas: TCU makes this a 3-point game

There's 3:28 left in the game, and just like last week, Texas has blown a second-half lead and is sweating things at the end.

Josh Hoover's 14-yard touchdown pass to Savion Williams has cut Texas' lead to 29-26.

TCU gets its chance

There's 4:00 left to play, Texas still leads 29-19, but TCU has the ball back.

Texas answered the TCU touchdown with a three-and-out. Having to go without Jonathon Brooks, Texas looked to CJ Baxter and tried to bleed some clock. But Baxter had runs of only 3 and 2 yards, and on third-and-5 at Texas' 30, Quinn Ewers' pass to Baxter off the left side was stopped short of the first down. TCU called timeout with 4:18 left, and the Longhorns punted away.

And on the punt, Texas' Savion Red was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for hitting a TCU player out of bounds. It set TCU up at Texas' 36-yard line.

TCU draws closer with touchdown pass

There's 5:51 left to play, and Texas has rallied its way back into this game. No. 7 Texas now leads 29-19.

The big play was a 48-yard wheel route by former Longhorn Jared Wiley down to Texas' 17; Jahdae Barron lost him on the route. The Horned frogs worked the ball inside the 5, but faced another fourth-and-goal like they did before. This time, though, Josh Hoover found JP Richardson for the 3-yard score. The 2-point try failed.

Toward the tail end of the drive, Jonathon Brooks was spotted heading toward the locker room with help, obviously favoring his right leg.

Texas adds field goal, leads by 16

There's 8:53 left in the game, and Texas leads TCU 29-13 on Bert Auburn's 49-yard field goal. But there wasn't much celebrating with running back Jonathon Brooks in the medical tent.

Jonathon Brooks has been injured

Texas running back Jonathon Brooks, at the tail end of a 7-yard run off the left side for a first down, was injured. He crawled off near the UT sideline.

For the game, Brooks has 178 total yards: 21 carries for 104 yards and 2 TDs on the ground, and 3 catches for 74 yards receiving.

There's 14:02 left in the game and Texas is driving. The Horns are at TCU's 38-yard line. Brooks was helped off the field and into the medical tent. It could be a right lower leg injury.

TCU opens fourth quarter with a touchdown

There's 14:02 left in the game, and TCU has cut into Texas' lead on a 17-yard touchdown run from Emani Bailey.

It was TCU's first points since the first quarter. Texas now leads 26-13.

The key play of the drive: a 42-yard pass play to Savion Williams, who made an initial good move on Terrance Brooks, outraced Kitan Crawford and then hurdled another defender at the end of the play. It moved the Horned Frogs to Texas' 33-yard line.

Goal-line stand gives Texas the ball back

There's 2:50 left in the third quarter, and TCU just turned the ball over on downs after a spirited Texas defensive stand.

Hoover's harried rollout to the right saw him launch a 25-yard floater that Jaylon Robinson somehow came down with with Malik Muhammad and Jerrin Thompson on coverage. That moved the ball to Texas' 32. The Horned Frogs converted a third-down pass to get into the red zone, and the Horned Frogs then converted another first down to Texas' 4.

But there, Texas stiffened. Emani Bailey was stuffed for a 1-yard loss on a first-down run up the middle. And T'Vondre Sweat stopped Bailey for a short gain on second, creating a third-and-goal from the 2-yard line. Hoover's pass into the end zone was too high for his target, and his fourth-down pass to Robinson at the back of the end zone was incomplete, too.

Texas will take over at its own 2-yard line. The Longhorns still lead 26-6.

Texas is cruising at halftime

Texas leads TCU 26-6 at halftime. The Horned Frogs will get the ball to start the third quarter.

Quinn Ewers showed some rust early and also threw an interception on a deep-shot underthrow, but has looked awfully sharp on some passes to Xavier Worthy, whose game has woken up after a couple of weeks of slumber, and his stat line was helped by a 73-yard catch-and-run from Jonathon Brooks, who did most of the work. The defense hasn't been stung, the defensive front is making an impact and Terrance Brooks has an interception.

Stats:

Texas leads in total yards (331-110), passing yards (244-91) and rushing yards (87-19). TCU is 0-for-5 on third-down conversions and has two turnovers. Texas has sacked Josh Hoover twice and has four tackles for loss. Ewers is 15-of-22 for 244 yards, 1 TD and 1 pick. Jonathon Brooks has 67 yards on 15 carries s well as 74 receiving yards on three catches. Worthy's already been targeted 10 times and has 8 grabs for 120 yards. And Adonai Michell caught his ninth touchdown of the season, and Ja'Tavion Sanders (32-44) has has two important catches.

Texas takes comfortable 26-6 lead

There's 12 seconds left in the first half, and No. 7 Texas has a 26-6 lead heading into the break.

Terrance Brooks picked off Josh Hoover on TCU's last drive, allowing Texas to take over at TCU's 43-yard line with less than a minute to play. Texas had short gains on passes to Xavier Worthy and Jonathon Brooks, and Quinn Ewers then found Worthy for an 11-yard gain inside the 25, and Brooks than rambled his way off the left side for a 22-yard touchdown.

Adonai Mitchell does it again

There's 1:01 left in the first half, and Texas leads TCU 19-6.

It was a second straight impressive drive for the Longhorns, who used a couple of nice passes to Ja'Tavion Sanders for 19 and 18 yards along with effective running from Jonathon Brooks and CJ Baxter as well as some heady plays from Xavier Worthy, who looks energized tonight. A 15-yard late hit on a TCU player after an 8-yard gain from Worthy advanced it to TCU's 6.

On the next play, Quinn Ewers found Adonai Mitchell for the short touchdown. It's Mitchell's ninth touchdown of the season. But the ensuing extra-point try was botched by a bad snap.

A defensive holding call on TCU gave Texas new life near midfield after a third-and-8 incompletion. Earlier in the drive, on a third-and-12 from Texas' 12, Quinn Ewers threaded a contested dart over the middle to Ja'Tavion Sanders, who rumbled for 19 yards.

Quinn Ewers' first 10 passes

So far, Quinn Ewers — making his first start since the Houston game after missing the last two games with a sprained shoulder — is 6-of-10 for 164 yards and one interception. He's looked rusty on a couple of throws but also has had gains of 73 and 45 yards, too.

Here were his first 10 passes:

∙ Third-and-2, Texas 33: Threw an awkward floater to Xavier Worthy that would have been behind the line of scrimmage had Worthy caught it. Led to a punt.

∙ First-and-10, Texas 25: A play-action pass to Worthy for 14 yards. First down.

∙ First-and-10, Texas 25: A short pass to Jonathon Brooks, who advanced it 74 yards to TCU's 1, setting up a TD run.

∙ Third-and-3, Texas 32: Converted the first down with a 7-yard pass to Ja'Tavion Sanders on a rollout.

∙ First-and-10, Texas 39: Ewers' first downfield shot was underthrown and Millard Bradford picked it off. He returned it to Texas' 37, but Jordan Whittington, trailing from behind, forced a fumble from behind as Bradford was going down. Xavier Worthy recovered, and Texas got new life at its own 36.

∙ Second-and-4, Texas 42: A big pass on play-action to Xavier Worthy, hit in stride down the left sideline for a 45-yard gain to TCU's 13

∙ Third-and-9, TCU 12: Missed an open Adonai Mitchell, who would have scored a touchdown. But the pass was overthrown, and Texas kicked a field goal.

∙ First-and-10, Texas 43: 19-yard pass to Xavier Worthy, who appeared to have scored from 57 yards out until replays showed he'd stepped out of bounds on the way in.

∙ First-and-10, TCU 38: An incomplete pass to Ja'Tavion Sanders.

∙ Second-and-7, TCU 8: An inside bubble screen to Xavier Worthy for 6 yards.

Texas settles for another field goal

There's 8:32 left in the first half. Texas leads TCU 13-6 after another short Bert Auburn field goal, this one from 32 yards out.

It capped a nine-play, 43-yard drive that took up 5:03 of clock. Early in the drive, it looked like Quinn Ewers and Xavier Worthy had hooked up for a 57-yard touchdown pass down the Texas sideline, but a review showed Worthy had stepped out of bounds on the way in. The play ended up as a 19-yard gain. But Jonathon Brooks, with back-to-back runs of 7, 6 and 3 yards, moved Texas inside the 20. On second-and-7 from the 15, Ewers found Worthy for a 6-yard bubble screen to TCU's 8.

Brooks was hit in the backfield on a cut-back run and came up inches short. Not surprisingly, Steve Sarkisian went for it on fourth-and-1 from the 8, but a false start penalty by right tackle Christian Jones moved the Horns back five yards and made Sarkisian rethink going for it.

Worthy has five targets (4 catches for 84 yards). That's more targets than all other Longhorns combined so far.

Texas took advantage of a TCU miscue when Jordy Sandy's punt was only a 22-yard effort. The Longhorns started their drive at their own 45.

Texas adds early second-quarter touchdown

There's 14:50 left in the second quarter and Texas is now leading 10-6 after a 30-yard field goal from Bert Auburn. But it easily could have been a touchdown drive; Quinn Ewers overthrew a wide-open Adonai Mitchell off the right side on third down from the 12.

Two big plays on this drive both went Texas' way near the end of the first quarter. On first down from Texas' own 39-yard line, Quinn Ewers' first downfield shot was high and underthrown, and Horned Frogs defensive back Millard Bradford picked it off and returned it back across midfield. But Jordan Whittington, trailing from behind, forced a fumble as Bradford was going down and Xavier Worthy recovered it, giving the ball back to Texas along with new life on the drive at its own 36.

Two plays later, from Texas' 42, Ewers went long again and this time hit Worthy in stride after he'd gotten a step on his defender. He raced down the sideline for a 45-yard gain to TCU's 13.

TCU adds a field goal, cuts into Texas lead

There's 4:40 left and this is a 7-6 game. Griffin Kell, who hit from 41 yards earlier, nailed a 56-yard field goal that just barely cleared the crossbar. Of note: TCU was flagged for holding on a failed third-and-17 play just before, and Steve Sarkisian declined it. That led to Sonny Dykes trying the long field goal.

Texas defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat was flagged 15 yards for a facemask on the drive, though replays looked like he'd just grabbed the TCU back's jersey. But he made up for it with a 9-yard sack of Josh Hoover two plays later, creating a third-and-17 incompletion that Jahdae Barron came close to making a play on.

Quick-strike Longhorns answer back

There's 6:53 left in the first quarter and Texas is leading TCU 7-3.

It didn't take the Longhorns long to answer TCU's field goal. On first down, Jonathon Brooks came thiiis close to giving Quinn Ewers a 75-yard touchdown pass, but came up one yard short on a perfectly-executed catch and run for 74 yards down to TCU's 1-yard line. Brooks ran it in on the next play.

TCU takes an early lead

There's 7:41 left in the first quarter. TCU is on the scoreboard first: 3-0 after a 41-yard field goal by Griffin Kell.

The Horned Frogs made Texas pay for that failed fourth-and-1 at the 50. Their drive started at Texas' 48.

Sark's first fourth-down gamble backfires

There's 10:23 left in the first quarter. It's a 0-0 game.

The Longhorns, though, were just stopped on downs. Texas wasted a third-and-3 situation at midfield, as Jonathon Brooks was stopped for a 1-yard gain on third down and then Savion Red, out of the wildcat, was stuffed short of the first down marker on fourth-and-1.

A game of punts

There's 12:48 left in the first quarter. No score. A couple of punts.

TCU just punted and Texas will open its second drive at its own 29-yard line.

On this previous Horned Frogs drive, Texas safety Michael Taaffe was shake up on an illegal crackback block that cost TCU 15 yards. He jogged off on his own power. Taaffe has picked off a pass in each of the last three games.

Jonathon Brooks got things started on Texas' opening drive with a pair of runs, but Quinn Ewers' third-and-2 short pass to Xavier Worthy was an awkward floater that fell incomplete.

And we're off

Texas will get the ball first, so we'll see Quinn Ewers in action early.

How we're calling the game

We've got our full crew in Fort Worth: beat writers Danny Davis and Thomas Jones and columnists Kirk Bohls and Cedric Golden. They're all picking Texas to win.

Kirk Bohls: Texas, 30-13. TCU's rush defense ranks 73rd in the country, and the Horned Frogs just surrendered 343 yards on the ground to Kansas State. Count on 200-plus rushing yards in a Longhorns win.

Danny Davis: Texas. It doesn't matter who is the quarterback; Texas is winning this game. It helps, though, that No. 3 will be the one taking the snaps.

Cedric Golden: Texas, 31-20. The stage is set for running back CJ Baxter to top 100 yards against a TCU defense that should be worn down if the Horns do the smart thing and lean on the run.

Another backup for Texas

We're about 30 minutes away from kickoff, and quarterbacks will be the big focus in this game. Quinn Ewers, who went down with a sprained shoulder late against Houston and then gave way to Maalik Murphy for wins over BYU and Kansas State, will start. But on the other side, TCU's rolling with Josh Hoover, a redshirt freshman backup who's making just his fourth career start. In his best showing, he was 37-of-58 for 439 yards and four touchdowns in an impressive 44-11 win over BYU.

The Longhorns, of course, feasted on a string of backup quarterbacks in the first half of the season.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Longhorns football vs. TCU: Live updates, scores, game analysis