Here's a recap of everything that happened in Week Nine of Texas FBS ball so you can be prepared for the Sunday dinner and Monday water cooler conversations. 

1. The Texas and Texas A&M teams of yesteryear don't win on Saturday

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko said after the LSU win that this is a real program and not some politician talking fast and BSing, a not-so-thinly veiled shot at his former boss, Jimbo Fisher. Elko earned the right to cut a WWE promo on Saturday night. The Aggies are the SEC’s sole undefeated team in conference play after winning a prime-time conference battle they’ve repeatedly lost in years past. Last season, it was a 42-30 loss to No.14 LSU. In 2021, Texas A&M was 7–2 before a 29-19 loss to No. 12 Ole Miss and eventually fell to 8–4. It was 7–2 in 2019 before back-to-back losses to Georgia and LSU.

Similarly, the Texas Longhorns in the early Steve Sarkisian years would’ve let last week’s Georgia loss beat them again against Vanderbilt, like when they started 4–1 in 2021 and fell to 5–7 after blowing a 28–7 lead to Oklahoma. 

Keeping with the theme of winning games you’re not supposed to.

2. Literally any team but SMU loses that Duke game

SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee told television cameras after a 28-27 overtime victory to Duke that SMU didn’t deserve to win. The Mustangs became the second all-time team to win a game after losing the turnover battle 0-6. Quarterback Kevin Jennings, who came into the night with just two interceptions all season, coughed up five turnovers himself, one of which gave Duke a game-winning field goal attempt that was blocked by Jahfari Harvey.

SMU’s defense didn’t allow a single point off six turnovers.

3. Texas A&M's opponents need to prepare for both quarterbacks

Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said that Marcel Reed had become the focal point of Texas A&M’s offense, then got gashed by Conner Weigman in a 41-10 blowout, unprepared for the aerial assault. 

LSU linebacker Greg Penn III summed up Texas A&M’s 31 second-half points after Reed was inserted for a struggling Weigman.

“Honestly, we didn’t think he was going to come into the game,” Penn III said.

Texas A&M offensive coordinator Collin Klein changes the scheme for whichever quarterback is in the game, and the Aggies’ opponents best prepare for either.

4. Michael Taaffe is playing himself into a Burlsworth Trophy nomination

Texas safety Michael Taaffe has been making highlight plays going on three seasons now. But he became even more important in 2024 with Derek Williams Jr. 's season-ending injury and Andrew Mukuba missing the Vanderbilt game.

Taaffe had an interception and forced a fumble in the second quarter, which was part of Texas’s three turnovers forced on the day. The Texas defense gave up 24 points, the second-most they’ve surrendered this year, but was put in multiple short-field situations after Ewers’ interceptions. Taaffe could be a finalist for the Burlsworth Trophy, awarded to the nation’s best player who began their career as a walk-on.

On another note: Jahdae Barron is a front runner for the Thorpe Award. He has made himself a lot of money for the NFL by excelling at outside cornerback this year. 

5. TCU is 3–1 since Andy Avalos moved down from the booth

TCU defensive coordinator Andy Avalos got off to a bumpy start, allowing 42.67 points per game in the first three games minus Long Island (Granted, the 66 points against SMU ballooned from three non-offensive scores.) Since he moved from the booth to the field before the Kansas game, TCU is 3–1. The Horned Frogs still surrendered 34 points to Texas Tech. But here’s the secret - TCU’s national championship defense wasn’t great by the numbers, but they were opportunistic. Avalos’s unit showed that Saturday with a game-winning forced fumble on Texas Tech quarterback Will Hammond by defensive tackle Hakeem Ajijolaiya.

6. Texas Tech isn't finishing games

Texas Tech had a 95.6% win probability, per ESPN, up 31-14 on TCU with 5:58 left in the 3rd quarter. The Red Raiders haven’t finished games strong all season; TCU was just the first team to make them pay for it.

Texas Tech had a 22-7 lead over Abilene Christian and won 52-51, a 24-10 lead on Arizona State and won 30-22, a 41-27 lead over Cincinnati and won 44-41, and an 18-3 lead over Arizona and won 28-22.

7. The Bears are back (on the ground)

A big part of Baylor’s fall from the Big 12 Championship to Aranda’s hot seat was the regression of the “Wide Zone” run scheme. In 2021, the Bears had a 100-yard rusher in nine of 14 games. They had two in the 14 games from October 7, 2023, to October 5, 2024.

But Saturday’s 38-28 win over Oklahoma State marked the most team rushing yards since the Texas Southern game in 2021. The Bears had 343 yards on nine yards per carry, headlined by Dawson Pendergrass’s six carries for 142 yards and a score.

8. UTSA is missing Frank Harris the leader more than Frank Harris the player

Subtracting a generational quarterback like Frank Harris from UTSA’s roster surely explains the 3–5 record, right? Not quite. Owen McCown entered Saturday as the second-leading passer in the American Athletic Conference and then threw for a school-record 434 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. UTSA has underperformed as a whole. They haven’t had a 100-yard rusher all season, and they’re surrendering 32.25 points per game in this most recent 1–3 skid.

Where UTSA misses Frank Harris, and safety Rashad Wisdom, the most is in the locker room and on the sidelines. A blown 35-7 halftime lead indicates an undisciplined football team. The Roadrunners have averaged 11.25 penalties per game in the last four.

9. The Orange is Swarming in El Paso

UTEP fell to 1–7 on Tuesday night, but defensive coordinator JJ Clark has his unit flying around these last two weeks. They intercepted three different FIU quarterbacks for the first win of the season, and followed that performance by holding Louisiana Tech to 14 points and just 12 first downs.

10. Sam Houston is slumping in the kicking game

The Bearkats escaped FIU with a 10-7 win, but it was another night to forget in the kicking game. Sam Houston has sailed 11 kickoffs out of bounds this year, and Christian Pavon missed his first two field goal attempts after Sam Houston was gifted possessions inside opponent territory. Pavon did, however, break his four-kicks-missed streak with the go-ahead 20-yard field goal, and safety Jaylon Jimmerson blocked a punt to give Sam Houston a short field and its first touchdown.