The Texas Longhorns and TCU Horned Frogs meet at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth this Saturday for some Week 5 college football betting action.
With Texas set to be moving to the SEC, the future of this rivalry is surely in doubt. That should make this an emotional game for everybody involved.
Will the Longhorns roll into enemy territory and earn a victory? Find out in our Texas vs. TCU picks and predictions for October 2.
Texas vs TCU odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
Texas was a 4-point favorite when this line opened and the Longhorns are now laying anywhere between 4.5 and 5.5 points at the time of writing. And for what it’s worth, the public seems to be firmly in Texas’ corner in this game. The total opened up at 66.5 in this game and is heading down, as it can now be found as low as 65.0. Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full college football odds before placing your bets.
Texas vs TCU picks
Picks made on 9/30/2021 at 5:37 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Texas vs TCU game info
• Location: Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, TX
• Date: Saturday, October 2, 2021
• Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
• TV: ABC
Texas vs TCU betting preview
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.
Key injuries
Texas: Troy Omeire WR (Doubtful), Jahdae Barron DB (Questionable), Ishmael Ibraheem DB (Out), Brayden Liebrock TE (Out), Jaden Alexis WR (Out).
TCU: Mikel Barkley WR (Out).
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Horned Frogs are 5-1 against the spread in their last six games. Find more NCAA betting trends for Texas vs. TCU.
Texas vs TCU predictions
TCU +5.5 (-105)
Texas is coming off back-to-back blowout victories, beating Rice by 58 and then Texas Tech by 35. The Longhorns comfortably covered in both of those games but now face a serious step up in competition. While Steve Sarkisian’s program is definitely the bigger brand between these two schools, TCU has actually won in six of the last seven in the head-to-head series.
One of the reasons that the Horned Frogs have had success against the Longhorns in recent years is quarterback Max Duggan. Last year, Duggan was 20 for 30 for 231 passing yards against Texas, and ultimately finished the Longhorns off on the ground by rushing for 79 yards with two scores. That came after a freshman-year performance in 2019, where Duggan threw for 273 yards with two touchdowns and added another score and 72 yards rushing.
Overall, the Longhorns have just had no answer for his dual-threat ability, and their blowout loss against the Arkansas Razorbacks (and dual-threat QB K.J. Jefferson) a few weeks ago suggests they still have no answer to stop this type of offense.
While the Horned Frogs have had their own struggles defensively, the team has a knack for rebounding from poor defensive showings, are it is 7-1 SU and ATS coming off games in which it allows 575 or more total yards under head coach Gary Patterson.
The TCU legend is one of the brightest defensive minds in the game, so he should be able to come up with something of an answer here. The Horned Frogs might not be able to completely shut the Longhorns down, but they should get enough stops to make this a very close game.
TCU’s home crowd should also be fired up for this one, so it’s not a bad idea to sprinkle a little on the moneyline either.
Over 65 (-105)
Each of the last two meetings between these programs have gone Over the total — and there’s no reason to believe the streak will end here.
Texas is coming into this game after having gone Over the total in each of its last three games. Meanwhile, TCU has gone Over in its last two, and the styles of play suggest that this one will turn into a track meet.
In two games against Power Five competition this season, Texas has allowed an average of 37.5 points per game — and scored an average of 40.5 points per game on its own. TCU also happens to have allowed 37 ppg over the last two games.
The Over also happens to be 6-0 in Texas' last six road games overall.
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Use our college football parlay calculator to create your own parlays and see their potential payouts.
Where can I bet on college football odds?
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