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This is part of our Monday Morning Quarterback series, designed to give you a quick look at some things we learned from Saturday's college football action. Let's look at some brief items from Texas' victory over Rice:

As for Texas returning to more of a power rushing game, the results were mixed. For the first time since 2005, the Longhorns had three backs rush for more than 50 yards. All told, Texas ran for 197 yards on 46 carries, good for 4.3 yards a carry and they did not fumble.

However, they also couldn't pound it in from the 1-yard line and a blown assignment on fourth down of that series turned the ball over to Rice. And Texas coach Mack Brown knows Horns fans want to see perfection right off the bat.

"Overall, you rush for 200 yards and that's pretty good," Brown said. "We need to be perfect in every case. This is Texas, by the way. We had no turnovers, we had no sacks, no fumbles, no interceptions and think we've got to improve in our running game. If you ask me if the running game Saturday was better than it's been any time last year, I would say it was much better Saturday than at any time last year. So, we made some progress. We're sure not there yet."

Comparing any rushing attack to last year is futile. The Horns didn't have a ground game outside of quarterback Colt McCoy, so anything is going to be better.

While three running backs did surpass 50 yards, none had more than 61, which is what Tre' Newton finished with on 18 carries, three of which he took into the end zone. Fozzy Whittaker had 51 yards on nine carries and starter Cody Johnson finished with 59 yards on 15 carries. Johnson, however, tried to hide a sprained ankle that occurred on the second play. He is questionable for next week's game in Austin against Wyoming.

"[Johnson] tried to continue to play and wouldn't tell us and wouldn't come out, but he wasn't as efficient with his cuts after that," Brown said. "He'll be slowed a little bit this week. We'll hope he gets back in time for the game."

*First-year starting quarterback Garrett Gilbert was eased into things Saturday because Texas' game plan was to go heavy on the rush and instill that physical mindset into the offense (coach Mack Brown came away from the game saying the wide receivers must do a better job of run blocking downfield).

Garrett finished 14-of-23 for 172 yards. He did not throw an interception and did a good job ditching a couple of passes when he couldn't find a receiver.

Brown said Gilbert could easily have had two touchdown passes to his credit, but the receiver went out of bounds at the 1-yard line on a deep ball and a screen pass that went about 25 yards was called dead at the 2.

"We thought he did really well," Brown said. "There was probably a tremendous amount of pressure on him because the last time people saw him was in the national championship and the expectations got really high from that standpoint. But, there were no turnovers. He had no interceptions. We looked at his numbers as compared to Vince Young's in his first start and Colt McCoy's and they're very, very similar."

Brown said Gilbert will get more opportunities to get his talented crew of wide receivers going.

"We're going to throw more than we did Saturday. We want to be more balanced than that," Brown said. "That was a mindset we were putting into our team and our wide receivers. We want them to get that part down because we know how to throw it and we have to go back and continue to learn how to run it."

*Saturday's game at Reliant Stadium in Houston marked the first time Texas has opened the season on the road since 1995 (W, 38-17 at Hawaii).

*Texas improved to 4-0 all-time at Reliant Stadium, outscoring opponents 204-34 in the four games.

*Prized recruit Jackson Jeffcoat of Plano, the son of former Dallas Cowboy Jim Jeffcoat, recorded his first career sack with 8:43 remaining in the third quarter.

One reason No. 6 TCU continues to be successful is coach Gary Patterson isn't afraid to let his coaches coach. A prime example occurred on the opening drive of the third quarter Saturday in the Horned Frogs' 30-21 victory against No. 24 Oregon State.

With TCU leading 21-14 coming out of halftime, the Frogs were dominating the line of scrimmage and gaining chunks of yardage on the ground. Eleven plays into the drive, TCU rushed seven times to the Oregon State 14-yard line where it set up for a third-and-1. Running backs Ed Wesley and Matthew Tucker were both finding big holes, but Frogs co-offensive coordinators Jarrett Anderson and Justin Fuente sent down a play that called for quarterback Andy Dalton to roll right and lead tight end Evan Frosch.

Only Oregon State linebacker Dwight Roberson sniffed it out and and made a pretty interception to end a drive that threatened to give TCU a 14-point lead and all the momentum. The Beavers capitalized on the turnover with a touchdown to tie the game at 21-21.

Patterson said he wasn't surprised by the play call because he was listening on the head set. But, he didn't jump in to question the pass play in the short-yardage situation when the ground game was punishing the Beavers.

"Myself, I would not have chose it," Patterson said of the call. "But, I mean that's not my job. They probably wonder sometimes when I call the defenses that I call. Going into Friday, I know what's going to go on. They did a great job a year ago and I thought they did a great job [Saturday]."

Allowing assistants to coach without being second-guessed is critical to success. So, too, is accountability. Dalton said he wasn't surprised by the play call either because they practice it all the time. The senior quarterback, who passed Sammy Baugh to become TCU's all-time wins leader with 30, said not executing the first down came down to a poor decision on his part.

"I shouldn't have thrown it," Dalton said. "I should have run it for a first down."

ARLINGTON, Texas -- On ESPN's GameDay Saturday, analyst Lee Corso picked Oregon State not only to beat favored TCU, but to drum the Horned Frogs by three touchdowns.

The Frogs prevailed, 30-21, in the season opener for both clubs. TCU coach Gary Patterson afterward had a message for Corso.

"I hope Lee Corso and his three-touchdown underdog will change his mind," Patterson said.

Of course, Patterson also had a message for Corso earlier in the day, too.

"I did text him. You guys just thought that was just a bogus text in the middle of the day. That was me," Patterson said. "I asked Chris Fowler, I said: 'Lee, three touchdowns, question mark.'"

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Cowboys Stadium roof and giant sliding glass doors at each end were supposed to be closed for Saturday's game, but a beautiful fall day that still produced warm temperatures -- especially if you're in town from Corvallis, Ore. -- prompted stadium general manager Jack Hill to open the place up.

TCU coach Gary Patterson said he didn't know the roof was going to be open until it started to crank at 6:30 p.m., 15 minutes prior to kick off. But, since it was opened, Patterson said it helped his team, which was used to practicing in 100-degree heat throughout August. The temperature was in the mid-80s at kickoff and dropped to the mid-70s later in the night.

The Frogs dominated the line of scrimmage, particularly in the second half. TCU finished with 278 rushing yards on 54 carries, compared to just 73 yards on 25 carries for Oregon State.

"I thought the heat made a difference," Patterson said. "I thought our kids, the conditioning we do, made a difference in the third and fourth quarter. I thought we fought through it and then made the plays at the end that we had to."

TCU defensive end Wayne Daniels said the heat was a factor.

"Toward the end of the second half we were both breathing heavily," said Daniels, who had three tackles, all for losses, and two sacks. "You can tell that the heat helps on our part."

ARLINGTON, Texas -- A poorly executed shotgun snap slipped through the hands of Oregon State quarterback Ryan Katz's hands, leading to a safety and a 30-21 lead for TCU with 4:14 left in the game.

Oregon State had just forced a second consecutive TCU punt and took over at its own 18-yard line needing a touchdown to tie. That went awry on the first snap from scrimmage.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Andy Dalton again made up for an interception by coming back on the next drive and leading TCU to a touchdown. He finished the 12-play drive off with a 4-yard keeper. TCU leads Oregon State, 28-14 as the third quarter ticks down.

The Horned Frogs have dominated the line of scrimmage in the third quarter, putting together two long drives. The first died at the Oregon State 13 on Dalton's second pick of the game. TCU running back Ed Wesley has pushed passed the 100-yard mark, while Matthew Tucker has 58 yards and Dalton has 43.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- A questionable pass play on third-and-1 deep in Oregon State territory that ended in Andy Dalton's second interception came back to bite TCU. Instead of cashing in on a long drive that could have put the Frogs up by two touchdowns, Oregon State put together an eight-play, 87-yard touchdown drive to tie the game for a third time, 21-21.

A third-and-2 completion to James Rodgers followed by a horse-collar penalty called on TCU linebacker Tanner Brock led to a 37-yard gain to the TCU 42. Jacquizz Rodgers finally found some room and went to the 1-yard line and scored on the next play.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- TCU coach Gary Patterson never fretted about Saturday night's eventual attendance despite sluggish ticket sales leading up to the game. He was right. Tonight's attendance is 46,138.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- TCU appeared poised to take a double-digit lead early in the third quarter, but a 13-play drive that started at the TCU 14-yard line failed to produce any points when quarterback Andy Dalton was picked off on third-and-1 at the Oregon State 14.

Dalton rolled out right and tried to hit tight end Evan Frosch, but Oregon State linebacker Dwight Roberson made a terrific play, snaring the ball out of the air before it got to Frosch.

TCU coach Gary Patterson might like to have that play call back. The Frogs had been punishing OSU on the ground with the two-headed attack of Ed Wesley and Matthew Tucker.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- TCU leads Oregon State, 21-14, at the half and if the Horned Frogs hold onto this one, a sequence near the end of the first half will go down as the game-changer.

Oregon State forced a TCU punt with about 3 1/2 minutes to go. Frogs punter Anson Kelton boomed a 47-yard kick and Oregon State took over at its own 15. Three plays went seven yards to force the punt. Oregon State punter John Hekker, fresh off completing a pass on a fake punt that led to a touchdown earlier in the half, got off a low, line-drive kick that TCU returner Jeremy Kerley fielded and returned 34 yards to the Beavers' 23.

Four plays later, running back Ed Wesley spun his way in from 8 yards out to give TCU its first lead of the game with less than a minute to go in the half.

Wesley, who took an option pitch 11 yards on the prior play to set up his touchdown, rushed for 63 yards on eight carries in the first half. Quarterback Andy Dalton, who threw an interception on TCU's first possession, leading to Oregon State's first touchdown, completed 8-of-13 passes for 84 yards, including a 1-yard TD pass to Kerley.

The TCU defense has effectively limited Oregon State running back Jacquizz Rodgers. The diminutive, but powerful rusher finished the first half with 24 yards on 10 carries. His brother, wide receiver James Rodgers, has three catches for 52 yards with 30 coming on a deep ball down the middle of the field.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- TCU is 2-for-2 answering Oregon State touchdown drives.

After the Beavers made it 14-7, Andy Dalton led a seven-play, 74-yard touchdown drive, capped by Dalton's 1-yard pass to Jeremy Kerley with 8:39 left in the first half.

TCU has 165 total yards, 90 on the ground led by Ed Wesley's 40. His 12-yard run to the 2 set up the easy touchdown pass.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Shades of last season's Fiesta Bowl came to life at Cowboys Stadium as Oregon State successfully completed a 23-yard pass on a fake punt and one play later Beavers quarterback Ryan Katz lofted a beauty to Jordan Bishop for a 34-yard touchdown pass and a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.

In the Fiesta Bowl, Boise State used a fake punt to set up its only offensive touchdown in the 17-10 victory over the Frogs. This time, the Beavers, with fourth-and-1 on their 44, lined up in punt formation, but punter Johnny Hekker took the snap and immediately threw out wide to an open Cody Vaz for the easy first down at the Frogs' 34-yard line.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- After one quarter, No. 6 TCU and No. 24 Oregon State look to be two well-matched teams. TCU senior quarterback Andy Dalton and Beavers sophomore Ryan Katz have each played well as the first quarter ended, 7-7.

Dalton's 52-yard deep ball to Skye Dawson set up the Frogs' touchdown after Katz connected with James Rodgers for a 30-yard touchdown, capitalizing on a Dalton interception.

Dalton has diced the Beavers defense on the ground for 26 yards after taking a sack on the first quarter's final play.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Following an interception from TCU senior Andy Dalton, Oregon State took a 7-0 lead on a 30-yard strike from quarterback Ryan Katz to the heralded James Rodgers.

Rodgers, the most dangerous offensive threat next to his brother, running back Jacquizz Rodgers, was wide open down the middle of the field. TCU cornerback Greg McCoy had no choice. Oregon State must have seen something in the TCU defense that they exposed. On the Beavers' first possession, they went three-and-out.

The TCU defense on the TD was ugly, but perhaps not as ugly as the Nike Combat uniforms they are wearing.

Here's a remarkable stat provided by the top-notch TCU media relations department:

Tonight's game featuring the No. 6 TCU Horned Frogs against the No. 24 Oregon State Beavers at Cowboys Stadium (6:45 p.m., ESPN) marks just the second time in TCU's history that the Frogs and their opponent have both been ranked in the season opener.

The only other occasion was in 1952, when the ninth-ranked Frogs lost a 13-0 decision at No. 17 Kansas.

While tonight's game is important for both programs, the pressure is squarely on the Frogs. Oregon State can leave Arlington with a loss and know that it can still win the Pac-10 and earn a spot in the Rose Bowl, one of the four BCS games. However, a loss by the Frogs, by virtue of playing in a non-automatic qualifying conference, would practically eliminate them from a second consecutive trip to a BCS game.