With "Boomer Sooner" still ringing in my ears from last Saturday's loss to Oklahoma, I'm headed north to watch the Frogs battle Kansas this Saturday ...
It hasn't been announced, but expect the official announcement any day: Gary Patterson to the University of Oklahoma as defensive coordinator.
After all, as the saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
In fact, after Patterson and his Horned Frogs had just lost in Amon G. Carter Stadium to the then ninth-ranked Sooners this past Saturday, October 20, for the third time in the past year, the fourth straight time and the seventh time in the last eight games between the two teams, the 18-year TCU head coach penned a song that expressed his thoughts. Listen here.
As the final score of 52-27 (Midnite had predicted a 31-17 OU victory) vividly indicates, it was a total beat-down of the Frogs by the Sooners. And it took place in front of many TCU alumni, who had come to Fort Worth from across the country, and even the world, to celebrate the school's annual Homecoming.
At least the fajitas and margaritas at Joe T's didn't disappoint!
Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley certainly wasn't disappointed. During his less than two years as a head coach, in three games between the two teams, Riley has never lost to Patterson and the Frogs. His Sooners have been, to say the least, dominating, winning by scores of 38-20, 41-17 and 52-27.
In other words, the offensive genius of Riley has prevailed over the defensive genius of Patterson.
After the Sooners' win, which amounted to little more than a scrimmage for Oklahoma, Riley penned a celebratory song. Listen here.
The staggering loss dropped the Horned Frogs to 3-4, 1-3 in the Big 12. Not only are the Frogs out of title contention, they have a small margin of error if they want to quality for a bowl game.
On the other hand, Oklahoma (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) rebounded from its first loss of the season, 48-45 to Texas on Saturday, October 6. The Sooners, who after the win moved up to eighth in the rankings, haven't lost consecutive regular-season games since 1999.
Mere hours after the loss to Oklahoma, a season in disarray became a troubled season.
Patterson announced that starting quarterback Shawn Robinson would undergo season-ending shoulder surgery. The new starting quarterback will be Michael Collins, who has never started a game during his short TCU career.
In addition, Patterson announced that receiver/returner KaVontae Turpin, arguably TCU's best offensive player, had been dismissed from the team because he had been arrested on Sunday morning (October 21) on a misdemeanor charge of assault with bodily injury of a family member. He was booked and subsequently released from the Tarrant County jail in Fort Worth.
It was the second charge filed against Turpin this year. A criminal complaint from New Mexico revealed that Turpin was charged March 15 while there during spring break to visit a girlfriend. Court records show he entered pleas of not guilty to charges of battery of a household member and criminal damage to property of a household member valued under $1,000. When Turpin failed to appear for a pretrial hearing in July, a bench warrant was issued by a Las Cruces (New Mexico) magistrate judge.
The disheartening news about Turpin came hours after he was one of two Frogs to provide some excitement during the loss to Oklahoma.
Against the Sooners, Turpin had a 99-yard kickoff return for his school-record sixth career special teams touchdown and a 41-yard touchdown catch. In TCU's second game of the year, he returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown against SMU. Turpin was averaging 26 yards per kickoff return and 19.4 yards per punt return. He was second on the team with 29 catches for 410 yards and three touchdowns. He was second in the Big 12 in all-purpose yards with 132.7 yards per game.
But, alas, "Turpin Time" has expired at TCU.
Collins was the other bright spot for TCU in the loss.
Robinson started at quarterback against the Sooners, but with less than nine minutes left to play in the first half, the Frogs trailed 28-7. An ineffective Robinson had completed only three of eight passes for 21 yards, the Horned Frogs had only 25 total yards, and their only score was Turpin's electrifying kickoff return for a touchdown. So, co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie called upon Collins, to see if he could provide an offensive spark for the Frogs.
Collins, a sophomore from New Canaan, Connecticut, who transferred to TCU from Penn, provided the spark.
Collins started by completing four of five passes for 89 yards. Two of his first four passing attempts went for touchdowns, including the 41-yard connection with Turpin. The second was a 33-yard strike to Jalen Reagor, who has a team-best 38 receptions. His touchdown reception was the 12th of his career, tying him with Jeremy Kerley (2007-10) and Phillip Epps (1978-81) for 10th on TCU's all-time list. Twenty-five of Reagor's team-best 38 receptions have been for a first down or touchdown.
Just before half-time, kicker Cole Bunce added a 41-yard field goal and the Frogs went to the locker room trailing 28-24, but riding a wave of momentum and with TCU fans thinking Collins was headed for a Heisman campaign in 2019.
Then came the second half, and reality.
After the break, Collins completed only three of 12 passes for 53 yards, and he threw an interception. The Frogs' only points in the second-half came on a second Bunce 41-yard field goal. Meanwhile, the Sooners' added another 24 points, and the rout by Riley's Red River Renegades was complete.
Collins finished 7-of-17 for 142 yards, with the two touchdowns and an interception. He led the Horned Frogs with 36 yards rushing on seven carries. TCU running backs Sewo Olonilua and Darius Anderson had 34 and 32 yards rushing, respectively.
The Frogs could only muster 275 total yards and 12 first downs against a maligned Oklahoma defense, which was run for the first time by Ruffin McNeill, as Oklahoma's interim defensive coordinator, after Mike Stoops was fired following the Sooners' loss to Texas. TCU ran only 55 plays and held the ball for less than 23 minutes of the game. Turpin had 212 all-purpose yards.
Coming into the game, TCU's defense was No. 1 in the Big 12 in total defense, scoring defense, third-down defense, passing defense, passing efficiency defense and red-zone defense. The Sooners' offense, despite the fact 2017 Heisman Trophy-winner Baker Mayfield was not under center for the first time in two years, was not impressed.
OU quarterback Kyler Murray, a redshirt junior from Allen, Texas, which is just north of Dallas, is making his own run at the Heisman, and not a single Horned Frog got in his way.
Murray, a 2018 Major League Baseball first-round selection of the Oakland Athletics, showed that he also is a gifted football player. He directed the Sooners' offense to 536 total yards. He accounted for 264 of those yards. He completed 19 of 24 passes for 213 yards and four touchdowns, with no interceptions. He ran the ball nine times for 51 yards.
Wide receiver Lee Morris, who was a teammate of Murray's at Allen High School, was the recipient of two of Murray's touchdown passes. CeeDee Lamb, a sophomore from Richmond, Texas, who had 91 receiving yards, caught one touchdown pass, as did fullback Carson Meier, a redshirt senior.
Running backs Kennedy Brooks and Trey Sermon led Oklahoma's punishing ground game. They ran through, around and over TCU's defense for a combined 278 rushing yards. Brooks, a redshirt freshman from Mansfield, Texas, which is a neighboring city of Fort Worth, had 168 yards on 18 carries, with one rushing touchdown. Sermon, a sophomore from Georgia, had 110 yards on 17 carries, with two rushing touchdowns. On the ground, the Sooners averaged 6.9 yards per carry.
Based on their performances against the Horned Frogs, Murray earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors and Brooks earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors.
Just about the only negative for the Sooners was that they were just 3-of-12 on third downs against the Frogs. TCU tops the Big 12 and is 12th nationally in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert on just 29.9 percent (29-of-97) of its opportunities.
TCU senior defensive end/linebacker Ty Summers posted a team-best and season-high 10 tackles. Senior safety Markell Simmons had a career-high nine tackles. Freshman safety Trevon Moehrig-Woodard had a career-best seven tackles. Graduate transfer (Northern Illinois) senior linebacker Jawuan Johnson has his best game as a Horned Frog with five tackles.
This Saturday, October 27, Patterson and the Frogs begin trying to salvage their season, in Lawrence, Kansas, with a 2 pm (CT) game against the Big 12 cellar-dwelling Kansas Jayhawks.
Collins will make his first TCU start and he and the team will board an airplane and leave the state of Texas for the first time this season. The Horned Frogs played their opening seven games in Texas. In addition to four home dates in Cowtown, TCU had contests in Dallas (against SMU), Arlington (against Ohio State) and Austin (against Texas).
KU is 2-5, 0-4 Big 12. The Birds are 1-2 at home. Kansas has wins over Central Michigan (31-17) and Rutgers (50-14). The Jayhawks have lost to Nicholls State (26-23, in overtime), Baylor (26-7), Oklahoma State (48-28), West Virginia (38-22) and Texas Tech (48-16).
After the loss to Oklahoma State, six games into the season, Beaty decided the problem was with the Kansas offense, so he fired offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Doug Meacham. When Beaty lured Meacham from TCU to Kansas last year, he hailed it as a game-changing hire. Evidently the way the game changed was not to Beaty's liking. Beaty now is handing the play-calling, with help from the rest of his staff.
Offensively, Kansas is averaging 26 points per game. The Birds are averaging only 343.4 yards of offense per game, 186.6 through the air and 156.8 on the ground. Kansas' biggest offensive threat is freshman running back Pooka Williams, Jr (#1), 5-10, 170 pounds. He has run the ball 88 times for 620 yards, for an average of 103.3 yards per each of the six games in which he has played. He has four rushing touchdowns and a long run of 72 yards.
Defensively, the Jayhawks lead the Big 12 in five categories and have the best turnover margin (+14) in the FBS. They are the conference leader in turnover margin, turnovers gained, interceptions, fumbles recovered, and defensive touchdowns. Kansas has intercepted 12 passes and recovered nine of 15 fumbles. Senior linebacker Joe Dineen, Jr (#29), 6-2, 235 pounds, has 83 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and one interception. Senior defensive tackle Daniel Wise (#96) has three sacks. Junior cornerback Hasan Defense (#13) has an appropriate last name, as he leads the Jayhawks with three interceptions.
The last time the Frogs played the Jayhawks in Lawrence, on October 8, 2016, they won 24-23. Senior Kansas placekicker Matthew Wyman missed three field goals, including a 54-yarder in the game's final seconds.
Last year in Fort Worth, TCU dominated Kansas, 43-0. Turpin returned a punt 90 yards for a score and had two receptions in the game.
If Turpin has any effect on the outcome of this year's game, it won't be because of anything he does on the football field.
After all, as the saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
In fact, after Patterson and his Horned Frogs had just lost in Amon G. Carter Stadium to the then ninth-ranked Sooners this past Saturday, October 20, for the third time in the past year, the fourth straight time and the seventh time in the last eight games between the two teams, the 18-year TCU head coach penned a song that expressed his thoughts. Listen here.
As the final score of 52-27 (Midnite had predicted a 31-17 OU victory) vividly indicates, it was a total beat-down of the Frogs by the Sooners. And it took place in front of many TCU alumni, who had come to Fort Worth from across the country, and even the world, to celebrate the school's annual Homecoming.
At least the fajitas and margaritas at Joe T's didn't disappoint!
Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley certainly wasn't disappointed. During his less than two years as a head coach, in three games between the two teams, Riley has never lost to Patterson and the Frogs. His Sooners have been, to say the least, dominating, winning by scores of 38-20, 41-17 and 52-27.
In other words, the offensive genius of Riley has prevailed over the defensive genius of Patterson.
After the Sooners' win, which amounted to little more than a scrimmage for Oklahoma, Riley penned a celebratory song. Listen here.
The staggering loss dropped the Horned Frogs to 3-4, 1-3 in the Big 12. Not only are the Frogs out of title contention, they have a small margin of error if they want to quality for a bowl game.
On the other hand, Oklahoma (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) rebounded from its first loss of the season, 48-45 to Texas on Saturday, October 6. The Sooners, who after the win moved up to eighth in the rankings, haven't lost consecutive regular-season games since 1999.
Mere hours after the loss to Oklahoma, a season in disarray became a troubled season.
Patterson announced that starting quarterback Shawn Robinson would undergo season-ending shoulder surgery. The new starting quarterback will be Michael Collins, who has never started a game during his short TCU career.
In addition, Patterson announced that receiver/returner KaVontae Turpin, arguably TCU's best offensive player, had been dismissed from the team because he had been arrested on Sunday morning (October 21) on a misdemeanor charge of assault with bodily injury of a family member. He was booked and subsequently released from the Tarrant County jail in Fort Worth.
It was the second charge filed against Turpin this year. A criminal complaint from New Mexico revealed that Turpin was charged March 15 while there during spring break to visit a girlfriend. Court records show he entered pleas of not guilty to charges of battery of a household member and criminal damage to property of a household member valued under $1,000. When Turpin failed to appear for a pretrial hearing in July, a bench warrant was issued by a Las Cruces (New Mexico) magistrate judge.
The disheartening news about Turpin came hours after he was one of two Frogs to provide some excitement during the loss to Oklahoma.
Against the Sooners, Turpin had a 99-yard kickoff return for his school-record sixth career special teams touchdown and a 41-yard touchdown catch. In TCU's second game of the year, he returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown against SMU. Turpin was averaging 26 yards per kickoff return and 19.4 yards per punt return. He was second on the team with 29 catches for 410 yards and three touchdowns. He was second in the Big 12 in all-purpose yards with 132.7 yards per game.
But, alas, "Turpin Time" has expired at TCU.
Collins was the other bright spot for TCU in the loss.
Robinson started at quarterback against the Sooners, but with less than nine minutes left to play in the first half, the Frogs trailed 28-7. An ineffective Robinson had completed only three of eight passes for 21 yards, the Horned Frogs had only 25 total yards, and their only score was Turpin's electrifying kickoff return for a touchdown. So, co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie called upon Collins, to see if he could provide an offensive spark for the Frogs.
Collins, a sophomore from New Canaan, Connecticut, who transferred to TCU from Penn, provided the spark.
Collins started by completing four of five passes for 89 yards. Two of his first four passing attempts went for touchdowns, including the 41-yard connection with Turpin. The second was a 33-yard strike to Jalen Reagor, who has a team-best 38 receptions. His touchdown reception was the 12th of his career, tying him with Jeremy Kerley (2007-10) and Phillip Epps (1978-81) for 10th on TCU's all-time list. Twenty-five of Reagor's team-best 38 receptions have been for a first down or touchdown.
Just before half-time, kicker Cole Bunce added a 41-yard field goal and the Frogs went to the locker room trailing 28-24, but riding a wave of momentum and with TCU fans thinking Collins was headed for a Heisman campaign in 2019.
Then came the second half, and reality.
After the break, Collins completed only three of 12 passes for 53 yards, and he threw an interception. The Frogs' only points in the second-half came on a second Bunce 41-yard field goal. Meanwhile, the Sooners' added another 24 points, and the rout by Riley's Red River Renegades was complete.
Collins finished 7-of-17 for 142 yards, with the two touchdowns and an interception. He led the Horned Frogs with 36 yards rushing on seven carries. TCU running backs Sewo Olonilua and Darius Anderson had 34 and 32 yards rushing, respectively.
The Frogs could only muster 275 total yards and 12 first downs against a maligned Oklahoma defense, which was run for the first time by Ruffin McNeill, as Oklahoma's interim defensive coordinator, after Mike Stoops was fired following the Sooners' loss to Texas. TCU ran only 55 plays and held the ball for less than 23 minutes of the game. Turpin had 212 all-purpose yards.
Coming into the game, TCU's defense was No. 1 in the Big 12 in total defense, scoring defense, third-down defense, passing defense, passing efficiency defense and red-zone defense. The Sooners' offense, despite the fact 2017 Heisman Trophy-winner Baker Mayfield was not under center for the first time in two years, was not impressed.
OU quarterback Kyler Murray, a redshirt junior from Allen, Texas, which is just north of Dallas, is making his own run at the Heisman, and not a single Horned Frog got in his way.
Murray, a 2018 Major League Baseball first-round selection of the Oakland Athletics, showed that he also is a gifted football player. He directed the Sooners' offense to 536 total yards. He accounted for 264 of those yards. He completed 19 of 24 passes for 213 yards and four touchdowns, with no interceptions. He ran the ball nine times for 51 yards.
Wide receiver Lee Morris, who was a teammate of Murray's at Allen High School, was the recipient of two of Murray's touchdown passes. CeeDee Lamb, a sophomore from Richmond, Texas, who had 91 receiving yards, caught one touchdown pass, as did fullback Carson Meier, a redshirt senior.
Running backs Kennedy Brooks and Trey Sermon led Oklahoma's punishing ground game. They ran through, around and over TCU's defense for a combined 278 rushing yards. Brooks, a redshirt freshman from Mansfield, Texas, which is a neighboring city of Fort Worth, had 168 yards on 18 carries, with one rushing touchdown. Sermon, a sophomore from Georgia, had 110 yards on 17 carries, with two rushing touchdowns. On the ground, the Sooners averaged 6.9 yards per carry.
Based on their performances against the Horned Frogs, Murray earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors and Brooks earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors.
Just about the only negative for the Sooners was that they were just 3-of-12 on third downs against the Frogs. TCU tops the Big 12 and is 12th nationally in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert on just 29.9 percent (29-of-97) of its opportunities.
TCU senior defensive end/linebacker Ty Summers posted a team-best and season-high 10 tackles. Senior safety Markell Simmons had a career-high nine tackles. Freshman safety Trevon Moehrig-Woodard had a career-best seven tackles. Graduate transfer (Northern Illinois) senior linebacker Jawuan Johnson has his best game as a Horned Frog with five tackles.
This Saturday, October 27, Patterson and the Frogs begin trying to salvage their season, in Lawrence, Kansas, with a 2 pm (CT) game against the Big 12 cellar-dwelling Kansas Jayhawks.
Collins will make his first TCU start and he and the team will board an airplane and leave the state of Texas for the first time this season. The Horned Frogs played their opening seven games in Texas. In addition to four home dates in Cowtown, TCU had contests in Dallas (against SMU), Arlington (against Ohio State) and Austin (against Texas).
KU is 2-5, 0-4 Big 12. The Birds are 1-2 at home. Kansas has wins over Central Michigan (31-17) and Rutgers (50-14). The Jayhawks have lost to Nicholls State (26-23, in overtime), Baylor (26-7), Oklahoma State (48-28), West Virginia (38-22) and Texas Tech (48-16).
After the loss to Oklahoma State, six games into the season, Beaty decided the problem was with the Kansas offense, so he fired offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Doug Meacham. When Beaty lured Meacham from TCU to Kansas last year, he hailed it as a game-changing hire. Evidently the way the game changed was not to Beaty's liking. Beaty now is handing the play-calling, with help from the rest of his staff.
Offensively, Kansas is averaging 26 points per game. The Birds are averaging only 343.4 yards of offense per game, 186.6 through the air and 156.8 on the ground. Kansas' biggest offensive threat is freshman running back Pooka Williams, Jr (#1), 5-10, 170 pounds. He has run the ball 88 times for 620 yards, for an average of 103.3 yards per each of the six games in which he has played. He has four rushing touchdowns and a long run of 72 yards.
Defensively, the Jayhawks lead the Big 12 in five categories and have the best turnover margin (+14) in the FBS. They are the conference leader in turnover margin, turnovers gained, interceptions, fumbles recovered, and defensive touchdowns. Kansas has intercepted 12 passes and recovered nine of 15 fumbles. Senior linebacker Joe Dineen, Jr (#29), 6-2, 235 pounds, has 83 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and one interception. Senior defensive tackle Daniel Wise (#96) has three sacks. Junior cornerback Hasan Defense (#13) has an appropriate last name, as he leads the Jayhawks with three interceptions.
The last time the Frogs played the Jayhawks in Lawrence, on October 8, 2016, they won 24-23. Senior Kansas placekicker Matthew Wyman missed three field goals, including a 54-yarder in the game's final seconds.
Last year in Fort Worth, TCU dominated Kansas, 43-0. Turpin returned a punt 90 yards for a score and had two receptions in the game.
If Turpin has any effect on the outcome of this year's game, it won't be because of anything he does on the football field.
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