Iowa State Belittles Frogs; TCU Invades Wildcat Territory on Saturday, October 19

What if they threw a Homecoming party and the guest of honor didn’t show up? 

Well, this past Saturday, October 5, at MidAmerican Energy Field at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa, TCU starting quarterback Max Duggan did show up for his homecoming, hosted by Iowa State. It’s just that Max was a bit tardy, even though stormy weather delayed the start time of the festivities from 11 am to 1 pm.

And, most glaring of all, instead of accepting presents from his hosts, Max provided an early gift to the Iowa State Cyclones and their adoring fans. 

Early in the second quarter, with Iowa State leading the Frogs, 7-3, Max, from the TCU 13-yard line, dropped back on an ill-advised pass play. 

Pressured by a heavy Cyclone rush, Max scrambled, but he suffered a blindside hit and fumbled the ball at the five-yard line. Iowa State defensive end Eyioma Uwazurike scooped up the loose football at the one-yard line and stepped into the end zone for an easy touchdown and a 14-3 Iowa State lead.

The party, and the eventual 49-24 rout of the Frogs by the Cyclones, was on. 

Max, a true freshman from Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa, about three hours southwest of Ames, was playing his first collegiate game in Iowa since being named Iowa’s 2018 High School Gatorade Football Player of the Year and headlining the Frogs’ 2019 recruiting class as a four-star recruit and the No. 3 dual-threat quarterback in the nation.

Family and friends were among the nearly 60,000 in attendance for Duggan’s third-straight start since the 41-38 loss to “Dallas” (SMU) on September 21, when he had become just the second true freshman and third non-Texan to start at quarterback in the 19-season TCU head-coaching era of Gary Patterson. He now is the first quarterback in the Patterson-era to start a game in his home state that's not Texas. 

Duggan’s posse, and about 300 other Horned Frogs fans who made the road trip and eventually saw gloomy clouds give way to bright sunshine, witnessed another slow start by Duggan and the Frogs, as well as another unsettling loss.

TCU dropped to 3-2, 1-1, after opening Big 12 play on Saturday, September 28, with a 51-14 rout of the University of Kansas in Fort Worth.

Iowa State improved to 3-2, 1-1 Big 12, after opening conference play the week before with a last-second 23-21 loss in Waco to the surprising Baylor Bears. 

Patterson, unsettled by the weather and the Frogs’ lackluster play, penned an appropriate song after the loss. Listen: here

"They (Iowa State) kicked our butts, every phase. Pretty simple. Not much more you can say than that," said Patterson.  

Ames is a real college football town. 

Iowa State fans are real college football fans.

Rain, thunder, lightning, howling winds and a cold temperature did not deter the Cyclone faithful.

They started tailgating early Saturday morning, joyfully “weathered” the two-hour weather delay, arrived in and packed the stadium early and, even though their beloved Cyclones had all but assured a win by the time the fourth quarter started, stayed until the last second had ticked off the game clock, loudly and proudly hailing their victors. 

After his team’s victory, Iowa State head football coach Matt Campbell penned a song. Listen: here  

Duggan, Patterson and the Frogs certainly saw the lightning and heard the thunder in Ames. On this particular college football Saturday, their names were Brock Purdy and Deshaunte Jones. 

Purdy, a sophomore quarterback, shredded the Frogs’ defense, with his passing arm, and his feet.

Purdy nearly was perfect through the air, as neither the TCU defensive line, linebackers nor secondary provided much resistance. 

Through the air, Purdy was 19-of-24 for 247 yards and two touchdowns. He hardly was pressured, and sacked only once. 

On the ground, Purdy stunned the dazed Frogs by galloping for 102 yards on 12 carries. He had two rushing touchdowns and a long run of 44 yards around and through the TCU defense.

Purdy accounted for four of the Cyclones’ seven touchdowns, which they scored while running only 61 plays. As a team, the Frogs only scored three touchdowns, while running 63 plays. 

“You give up 49 points on 61 plays, it means you did a lot of things you weren’t supposed to,” explained Patterson about his TCU defense.

Ten Iowa State receivers caught passes, but it was Jones, a senior wide receiver, who really shined. He caught 10 passes for 110 yards. 

Purdy’s other nine completions went to nine different receivers, as he spread the wealth and let numerous Cyclones take advantage of a porous TCU defense. Two of those nine receivers – tight ends Charlie Kolar and Chase Allen – turned their solo receptions into touchdowns, of 25 yards, and one yard, respectively.

Purdy and Jones accounted for 349 of Iowa State’s 436 yards of total offense against TCU. As a team, the Frogs only totaled 329 yards of offense.

For good measure, Iowa State redshirt sophomore running back Johnnie Lang Jr. contributed 72 net rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Lang outgained TCU’s dynamic senior running-back duo of Darius Anderson and Sewo Olonilua. 

Anderson’s streak of three-straight games with 100 or more yards rushing came to an end. He only netted 49 rushing yards on 11 carries. He had a five-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter. He had four catches for 22 yards.

Olonilua netted 13 rushing yards on nine carries. He had five receptions for 27 yards. 

Against Iowa State, the Frogs ran the ball 33 times for 108 net yards. That’s an average of 3.3 yards per carry. That's two yards per-carry less than in the first four games.

Duggan used a strong second half to finish the game with 17 completions, out of 25 attempts, for a career-high 219 yards. He threw two touchdown passes. He did not have a pass intercepted. He has not thrown an interception this season. 

Both of Duggan’s touchdown passes went to senior wide receiver Jalen Reagor, who had four catches for 69 yards, including a long reception of 42 yards.

In the third quarter, Reagor caught a seven-yard touchdown pass. With less than four minutes left in the third quarter, it was the Frogs’ first touchdown of the game, as they had trailed at the half, 21-3. 

In the fourth quarter, Reagor caught a 22-yard touchdown pass. That touchdown and successful extra-point kick narrowed Iowa State’s lead to 35-24.

With the two touchdown catches against Iowa State, Reagor had his first multi-score game since the Frogs’ season-finale against Oklahoma State in 2018. Also, he joined Josh Doctson and Josh Boyce as the only Horned Frogs with at least 20 receiving touchdowns in their TCU careers. 

The Frogs’ other points against the Cyclones came on a first-quarter, 37-yard field goal by Jonathan Song.

With 10 seconds left in the first half, TCU kicker Griffin Kell attempted a 57-yard field goal. It fell way short. 

Just as the Frogs, overall, fell way short against Iowa State.

As if the disappointing, lopsided loss was not bad enough, TCU junior wide receiver Dylan Thomas suffered a leg injury in the game. He was transported off of the field. The injury required surgery. He is expected to miss the remainder of the season. 

Through four games, Thomas had eight receptions for 121 yards and a score. In the loss to SMU, Thomas led the Frogs in receiving with four catches for 70 yards. He caught his lone touchdown of the season against Kansas.

TCU has a bye on Saturday, October 12. It is the Frogs' second bye of the season. They had their first bye on September 7, following their win over Arkanss-Pine Bluff on August 31.

On Saturday, October 19, TCU will face Kansas State in Manhattan, Kansas. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 pm Central.

Originally, the TCU-Kansas State game was scheduled to be played on Thursday, October 17. Before the season started, the Big 12 rescheduled the game to the 19th. 

The Wildcats are led by first-year head coach Coach Chris Klieman, who has taken over for legendary Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder, who retired after last season. 

Klieman has moved up to the NCAA Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) from the NCAA Division 1 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

Prior to taking over at Kansas State, Klieman won four FCS national championships at North Dakota State University (NDSU), where over five years (2014-18) as the head coach he compiled a record of 72-13. Prior to his years as head coach, he was on the NDSU staff for three years. 

Kansas State is 3-2, 0-2 Big 12. The Wildcats have beaten Nicholls (49-14), Bowling Green (52-0) and Mississippi State (31-24). K-State has lost to Oklahoma State (26-13) and Baylor (31-12).

Kansas State had a bye on October 12, following its loss to Baylor on October 5. 

Offensively, Kansas State is averaging nearly 400 yards per game; 218 rushing, 172 passing.

The Wildcats are averaging 31.4 points per game. 

Kansas State’s opponents are averaging 344 yards of total offense per game; 189 rushing, 155 passing. They are scoring 19 points a game.

Last year, TCU beat Kansas State, 14-13, in Fort Worth. The Frogs lead the all-time series, 7-5.

The last time TCU played Kansas State in Manhattan, on October 14, 2017, bad weather delayed the start of the game by three hours. 

The sixth-ranked and undefeated Horned Frogs won that game, 26-6. 

A near-perfect autumn day is forecast for Saturday, the 19th, in Manhattan.

Let's just hope the Horned Frogs show up in Manhattan, Kansas, instead of Manhattan in New York!