Texas Football: 5 Things the Longhorns Must Do to Upset TCU

Thanksgiving night, the Texas Longhorns will host the No. 6 TCU Horned Frogs looking to record their second big upset in three games, and it will take everything they have.

The Horned Frogs come into this game averaging 45.9 points per game and 541.6 yards per game, with their only loss coming on the road in a 61-58 shootout against Baylor.

Texas' defense will have its hands full but has held its own against explosive offenses for the better part of the season. For the Horns, it boils down to the offense playing a complete game and the special teams avoiding the big mistake.

And it wouldn't hurt if that defense could get Trevone Boykin on the ground a few times.

Get Pressure on Trevone Boykin

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The Longhorns will need to follow Kansas' lead and keep pressure on Trevone Boykin.

Trevone Boykin has grown by leaps and bounds in his transcendent junior year. As the probable Big 12 Player of the Year, he will set career highs in nearly every, if not every, passing category for the nation's No. 2 offense.

That said, this is still a converted wide receiver who will make mistakes under pressure. He just hasn't seen much of that this season. 

Through 10 games, the Horned Frogs have only allowed 17 sacks on Boykin, the fourth fewest in the Big 12. Kansas stands as the only team that's really gotten to him, taking him down four times in TCU's narrow 34-30 victory.

Texas' top-10 pass rush has to pick up where the Jayhawks left off. For as good as Boykin has been, he's still completing less than 60 percent of his passes, and this offense loses a lot of its luster when he doesn't have time to throw.

Place some pressure on him, especially up the middle with Malcom Brown and Hassan Ridgeway, and good things will happen for the Longhorn defense.

Establish the Run

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Johnathan Gray needs to stay hot to keep the Longhorn running game rolling.

The Longhorns have played three teams that, like TCU, run over 75 plays per game, going 2-1 in those matchups. The difference between the two wins and one loss was the run game.

Texas' defense held its own against Baylor and its absurd 89 plays per contest, but it wore down as the offense couldn't sustain drives. In that 28-7 loss, the Horns managed 190 rushing yards but went just 6-of-17 on third down.

The Horns have been much better at keeping the ball away from the comparable schemes of Texas Tech and West Virginia, outscoring them by a combined 67-29 margin. They weren't much better on third down, but the Horns went over 200 yards in both wins and finished drives with six rushing scores.

Johnathan Gray's return to form has been a major factor in the recent improvement on the ground. The junior has 43 carries for 259 yards and five touchdowns over his last three games, and he should play a big role in the offensive attack.

Clean Up the Special Teams

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LAWRENCE, KS - NOVEMBER 15: Cameron Echols-Luper #15 of the TCU Horned Frogs celebrates his 69-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter during a game against the Kansas Jayhawks at Memorial Stadium on November 15, 2014 in Lawrence, Kansas. T

It kept Tyreek Hill from doing anything ridiculous, but the Longhorn return defense is still terrible and faces one of the best return teams in the nation on Thursday.

Both kick returner B.J. Catalon and punt returner Cameron Echols-Luper have scored touchdowns this season, forming one of the most fearsome return duos in the country. 

These two should be salivating as they set up against a Longhorn team that ranks dead last in kick return defense and 77th in punt return defense. 

The Longhorns absolutely cannot let these two set up an offense as good as TCU's.

Feed Armanti Foreman

Seems a little wild to pump a freshman with eight touches on the year, doesn't it? Not when it's Armanti Foreman, who has some of the most dynamic talent on this team.

Now that the aforementioned Johnathan Gray has exploded, Foreman is the last unused difference-maker on this Longhorn offense. 

The freshman showed off some of his dynamic talent in the win over Oklahoma State, turning two catches into 74 yards and a game-sealing touchdown. That's only half the story for this kid, who also has two rushes for 41 yards this season.

Daje Johnson is the all-purpose player whom we've wanted more of from the moment he stepped on campus, but Foreman is the better player. Johnson can only dream of making catches like Foreman's 45-yarder, making his running just another headache for opposing defenses.

"

Armanti Foreman has a carry and makes a big play. Catches a pass and breaks a tackle. Can the dude get the football more, please?

— Wescott Eberts (@SBN_Wescott) September 27, 2014"

As a player with every-down receiving talent, Foreman adds a dynamic element to the Longhorn offense that it will need if TCU starts scoring a lot of points. It's time to take him off the leash.

Win the Third Quarter

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Strong's team must fix its third-quarter woes and deliver a complete performance to knock off the Horned Frogs.

For whatever reason, the Longhorns have been plain awful in the third quarter this season. They have to change that to upset a team like TCU.

Through 11 games, the Longhorns have scored just 23 points coming out of halftime. They've won two third quarters since the season opener with field goals against Oklahoma State and West Virginia.

To win this week, this offense has to move the ball for all four quarters and keep the defense from tiring out. 

Unless otherwise noted, all stats and information courtesy of TexasSports.com and Big12Sports.com.