Kansas State Upsets Frogs; Texas Invades The Carter

In his 19th season as TCU head football coach, Gary Patterson is the dean of Big 12 Conference football coaches.

Patterson is the nation's second-longest tenured head coach, trailing only Iowa's Kirk Ferentz, who is in his 21st year with the Hawkeyes.

Patterson’s 19 seasons as TCU's head coach are more than the combined tenures of the 11 other Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) head coaches in the state of Texas.

And going into the Saturday, October 19, game against Kansas State in Manhattan, Kansas, Patterson had coached in 65 Big 12 Conference games, 37 of which his Horned Frogs had won.

Tom C. "Midnite" Burke

On top of all of that, Patterson had led TCU to a Big 12 Conference Championship, in 2014, and into a Big 12 Conference Championship game, in 2017.

But when the Wildcats and Frogs met on the 19th, Patterson and his gaudy resume got little respect from Chris Klieman, who made the move up to the NCAA Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision from the NCAA Division 1 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) when he was named Kansas State’s head football coach prior to the 2019 season.

After all, 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.

So, it was only a matter of time before Klieman got his first Big 12 Conference win.

Unfortunately, that win came in only Klieman’s third Big 12 Conference game. A 24-17 upset victory. Against the 3.5-point favored Horned Frogs. Against Patterson. In his home state of Kansas.

“They beat us,” said Patterson. “They ran the ball well. They didn’t beat themselves. They did a good job on defense, especially on third down.”

After the disappointing loss to the Big 12 newbie and his alma mater, which dropped TCU to 3-3 (1-2 Big 12), Patterson penned an appropriate song. Listen: here

Klieman also penned a song, to commemorate the exciting win, which came in front of 48,298 fans in K-State’s cozy Billy Snyder Family Stadium. Listen: here   

This particular Saturday at the Stadium That Bill Built was Harley Day, when Kansas State fans drive loud Harley-Davidson motorcycles around the football field prior to the game.

The infamous “Hogs” didn’t excite the Horned Frogs. Just like in several other games this season, TCU's offense got off to a slow start against the Wildcats.

On the Frogs' second possession of the game, early in the first quarter, TCU punter Jordy Sandy had a punt blocked by Kansas State's Jonathan Alexander. K-State recovered the football at the TCU 20-yard line. Two plays later, the Wildcats had a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

TCU trailed at the half, 14-10. Entering the fourth quarter, the game was tied at 17, thanks to an exciting 46-yard touchdown run by TCU freshman quarterback Max Duggan midway through the third quarter.

Duggan rushed for 115 net yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. He became the first TCU quarterback to rush for 100 yards in a game since Trevone Boykin rushed for 124 yards at Kansas State in 2015. Duggan had the three longest carries -- 18, 24 yards and 46 yards -- of his career against the Wildcats.

The first seven minutes of the game’s fourth quarter were a defensive battle, but with 8:03 remaining in the game, field position flipped when a punt by Sandy penned the Wildcats at the Kansas State five-yard line.

TCU fans were optimistic. 

Kansas State fans were on edge.

A defensive hold by the Frogs, and then a first down or two by the offense, and then a field goal, or even a touchdown, probably would win the game for TCU.

Instead, Klieman and Kansas State junior quarterback Skylar Thompson gutted Patterson and his TCU defense. Ninety-five yards and less than six minutes later, K-State had what would prove to be the deciding touchdown.

The 11-play, game-winning drive by the Wildcats featured a back-breaking 61-yard run by Thompson on the second play of the drive, a fourth-down-and-one conversion on a two-yard run by Thompson, a third-down-and-nine conversion on a 10-yard pass from Thompson to redshirt freshman wide receiver Malik Knowles of Mansfield, Texas, and a three-yard touchdown run by Thompson.

"I knew we were going for it on fourth down on that drive," explained Klieman. "I didn't want to have just a three-point lead." 

In talking about Thompson’s 61-yard run, Patterson said, “It (the game) came down to one call. I called a zone blitz one too many times. They checked to a draw, and it was a good call. The zone blitz had been a good call for us all day.

“The bottom line is we had ‘em where we wanted them,” said Patterson. “We had them penned back. If we get a stop and kick a field goal we could win the ball game.”

Thompson was the difference-maker for the Wildcats. He amassed 240 total yards and accounted for all three of Kansas State’s touchdowns.

Thompson completed 11 of 23 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns. He did not throw an interception.

Thompson ran with the football 10 times for 90 yards, but 22 yards in losses lowered his net rushing total to 68 yards. He had the one rushing touchdown.

After Kansas State took the 24-17 lead, the Frogs had the football for a final time. There would be no heroics.

Duggan led TCU from its own 25-yard line to the Kansas State 37-yard line, but an incomplete pass on a fourth-down-and-11 play sealed the Frogs’ fate.

Klieman had his first Big 12 Conference win and Patterson suffered his 29th Big 12 Conference loss.

Kansas State improved to 4-2 (1-2 Big 12).

Suffering its second consecutive loss, TCU fell to 3-3 (1-2 Big 12).

Patterson is 4-4 as a head coach versus his alma mater. All eight meetings have come since TCU began Big 12 play in 2012.

The Horned Frogs now are 18-16 on the road in their Big 12 history.

TCU out-gained the Wildcats, 366 yards to 266 yards, but once again had trouble putting points on the scoreboard. 

Continuing to lack offensive playmakers, the Frogs scored only two touchdowns against Kansas State, both on running plays. Jonathan Song kicked a 36-yard field goal, after a 42-yard drive by the Frogs stalled at the K-State 19-yard line.

The Frogs had 228 yards rushing. In addition to Duggan’s 115 rushing yards, senior running backs Darius Anderson and Sewo Olonilua each had 56 yards rushing. Olonilua had an eight-yard touchdown run, his third of the season and 13th of his career.

Through the air, the Frogs gained only 138 yards, on 18 completions, by six different players, only four of whom were wide receivers.

Duggan did not throw an interception. He has 142 attempts on the season without an interception, the second-longest streak in TCU history. It trails only Jeff Ballard's 154 attempts without a pick in 2006. 

Wide receiver Jalen Reagor had season-highs in receptions (eight) and receiving yards (85).

Wide receiver Taye Barber, who had been limited by injury to brief appearances in two games this season, had four receptions for 37 yards.

TCU backup quarterback Alex Delton appeared in the game for one series, in the second quarter. He completed two-of-two passes for six yards.

Delton is a graduate transfer from Kansas State. Delton was a quarterback on the Kansas State football team from 2015-18. In last year's TCU-Kansas State game, as a Wildcat, Delton had a one-yard touchdown run against the Horned Frogs. If in this game he would have scored as a Horned Frog, he would have become the second player in TCU history to score for and against the Frogs. Josh Doctson was the first player to achieve that milestone.

Defensively, TCU limited K-State’s rushing attack to a season-low of 94 yards.

Linebacker Garrett Wallow, who recently was added to the watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award, presented to the nation's top defensive player, had a team-best eight tackles in the game. He has been TCU's leading tackler in all but one game this season.

True freshman linebacker Wyatt Harris made his first collegiate start. He had five tackles, including his first career sack, two tackles-for-loss and two quarterback hurries.

Defensive tackle Ross Blacklock also had a sack.

At the halfway point of the 2019 season, the Frogs find themselves with their backs against the wall, just like last year when they put together an unlikely late-season surge to become bowl-eligible.

TCU needs three more victories to again become bowl-eligible. Only two times in Patterson’s previous 18 seasons as the head coach have the Horned Frogs not made a bowl game.

Those two seasons were 2004 and 2013.

Patterson was in his fourth year as head coach in 2004. The Frogs, as a C-USA member, missed a bowl that year with a 5-6 record.

In 2013, the Frogs missed a bowl with a 4-8 season, including 2-7 in their second Big 12 Conference season. TCU had wins over Southeastern Louisiana, SMU, Kansas and Iowa State.

In 2016, the Frogs played in the Liberty Bowl with a 6-6 record. TCU fell to Georgia, 31-23, to finish with a 6-7 record.

Last year, after winning three of their final four games of the season, the Frogs made it to the Cheez-It Bowl in Arizona with a 6-6 record. TCU beat California, 10-7, to finish 7-6.

TCU will try to end its two-game losing streak this Saturday, October 26, against No. 15 Texas, in a homecoming game in Amon G. Carter Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 pm Central.

Texas will come into the game with a 5-2 record. The 'Horns have beaten Louisiana Tech, Rice, Oklahoma State, West Virginia and Kansas. Texas has lost to LSU and Oklahoma.

On Saturday, October 19, in Austin, the Longhorns beat Kansas, 50-48, when Texas kicker Cameron Dicker kicked a 33-yard field goal as time expired. He was named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week.

Texas possesses the Big 12’s worst overall defense.

The Longhorns' defense has allowed 30.71 points a game, which ranks eighth in the Big 12.

Texas has allowed 159.9 yards per game on the ground, which ranks fifth in the Big 12. They have given up eight rushing touchdowns and have allowed three 100-yard rushers the past two games. Kansas running back Pooka Williams rushed for 190 yards and two TDs. The Jayhawks had 259 yards rushing.

Texas' pass defense ranks last in the Big 12. Opposing quarterbacks have completed 171 of 270 passes for 2,170 yards and 18 touchdowns. Kansas had 310 passing yards.

Sophomore linebacker Joseph Ossai (#46), 6-4, 245 pounds, leads the Longhorns’ defense. He has 45 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and two interceptions.

Offensively, Texas is led by junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger (#11).

Ehlinger has completed 177 of 255 passes for 2,057 yards, for an average of 293.9 yards per game. He has thrown 21 touchdown passes and only three interceptions.

Against Kansas, Ehlinger totaled 490 yards of offense and matched his career high with four touchdown passes. He also rushed for a season-high 91 yards, the third-best rushing output of his career. His 29 completions were a career high, and his 399 passing yards were the second-best tally of his career (401 vs LSU, 2019).

His 29 completions made him the third Longhorn to complete 600 career passes (610 total), and the first to do so since Colt McCoy (2006-09). Ehlinger also became the seventh Longhorn to pass for at least 7,000 yards and the fifth player in Texas history to log at least 8,000 yards of total offense. He currently ranks sixth in school history with 7,264 passing yards and third in total offense, with 8,449 yards to his credit.

Ehlinger's 490 yards of total offense in the Kansas game set a career high and rank as the third-best output by a player in Texas history, trailing only a 527-yard mark by Jerrod Heard (vs California, 2015) and a 506-yard effort by Vince Young (at Oklahoma State, 2005).

After the Kansas game, Ehlinger was named one of eight honorees on the Davey O'Brien Award's Great 8 list. It was the third time Ehlinger has been named a Great 8 honoree in his career, and the first time this season. 

Ehlinger has thrown for four touchdowns on four occasions this season, the most in Texas history. For the season, he has run with the football 88 times for 318 net yards. He has scored five rushing touchdowns and has a long run of 29 yards.

For the Horned Frogs to delight the homecoming crowd on Saturday, they will have to limit the effectiveness of another difference-making quarterback.

That’s a task that has proven difficult for TCU and Patterson in losses to SMU, Iowa State and Kansas State.

However, in the game against Texas, the Frogs will have an additional not-so-secret ingredient -- new Nike Fierce Red uniforms.

Watch the uniform reveal video: here