What a difference a week makes.
What a difference an opponent makes.
What a difference a year makes.
What a difference winning makes.
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| Tom C. "Midnite" Burke |
The previous Saturday, the Frogs and their fans experienced
bitter disappointment when the SMU Mustangs galloped out of The Carter with a
38-35 victory and the Iron Skillet. SMU came into the game 3-0. The Mustangs
now are 5-0 and ranked 24th in the Associated Press Poll.
Last year, on October 27, the Rock Chalkers upset TCU, 27-26,
in Lawrence, Kansas. It was one of the worst losses in recent TCU football
history, as the victory was the Jayhawks’ lone Big 12 Conference win during a
3-9 season.
All was right with the world after last Saturday’s victory,
however, at least in Horned Frogs Nation.
With the win, TCU improved to 3-1 (1-0, Big 12).
Even TCU head coach Gary Patterson was smiling Saturday
afternoon. Not only had the Frogs avoided a second-consecutive loss, but he had
gotten his first win over new Kansas coach Les Miles.
Miles is one of four new coaches in the Big 12 this season.
The other three are Chris Klieman at Kansas State, Matt Wells at Texas Tech and
Neal Brown at West Virginia.
Coming into the game, Patterson was 0-1 against Miles. The
2013 TCU season-opener saw Miles' No. 12 LSU team defeat No. 20 TCU, 37-27, in
the Cowboys Classic at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Miles, who previously also had coached at Oklahoma State, was
named head coach at Kansas on November 18 of last year. Miles brought to
Lawrence 142 victories, a BCS national championship and two SEC titles in
15-plus seasons as a head coach.
But, hey, Les, in case you haven’t noticed all of the
basketball goals in your new neighborhood, you’re no longer in Stillwater or
Baton Rouge.
Following the second worst defeat in his career (Oklahoma
State lost to Oklahoma, 52-9, in 2003), Miles wrote a song expressing his
feelings. Listen here.
Patterson, in a much more jubilant mood following the
trouncing his Frogs laid on Miles and the Jayhwaks, also penned a song after
the game. Listen here.
The Frogs’ 2019 motto is “Earn the Chip,” but after Saturday’s
win it very well could be “Leave no Doubt.”
TCU scored on its first possession of the game, through a
26-yard pass from quarterback Max Duggan to wide receiver Dylan Thomas.
After a seven-yard touchdown pass from Duggan to tight end Pro
Wells during the Frogs' second possession, TCU had a 14-0 lead.
On the other side of the field, Kansas hadn't even had time enough to make a first down.
On the other side of the field, Kansas hadn't even had time enough to make a first down.
For the game, Duggan completed eight of 11 passes for 100
yards.
Thomas' touchdown catch was his first of the season and second
of his career.
Wells' scoring reception gave him three touchdown catches in
the last two games.
By the time the first quarter ended, the Frogs had a 21-0 lead,
thanks to Jalen Reagor, who picked up his fumble of a punt and returned its 73
yards for a touchdown.
The Frogs’ 21 points in the first quarter were their most in a
single period since a 21-point second quarter against Southern last season.
Reagor’s punt return for a score gave TCU six different
players with a punt return for a touchdown since 2012, a total that ranks third
nationally. TCU has at least one punt return for a touchdown in each of the
last seven seasons and eight of the past nine. Since 2014, TCU has four punt
returns for touchdowns against Kansas.
Reagor totaled 139 punt return
yards, the fourth best single-game total in TCU history.
Reagor leads the
nation in punt return yards with 232 this season. He is second in the country
in punt return average at 19.3 yards.
TCU added 17 points in the second quarter. Running backs
Darius Anderson and Sewo Olonilua had touchdown runs of 11 and six yards,
respectively, and kicker Jonathan Song nailed a 25-yard field goal with a
solitary second left on the first-half game clock.
For the game, Anderson had a team-best 115 yards rushing on 18
carries. He is the first TCU player with three consecutive 100-yard games since
Lonta Hobbs in 2002. Anderson has seven career 100-yard rushing efforts.
It was a “perfect” first half for TCU.
The Frogs scored every time they had the ball in the first
half and they held Kansas scoreless.
TCU went 10-for-10 on third-down attempts through the first
two quarters (for the game, TCU converted 14-of-19 third-down attempts).
TCU’s 38 first-half points tied its most points scored in a
first half against a Big 12 opponent since joining the conference in 2012. The
Horned Frogs had 38 points at the half at Baylor on November 5, 2016, in a
62-22 victory.
Meanwhile, Kansas had racked up three first downs, 28 net
rushing yards and 21 passing yards.
Essentially, the game was over, even though 30 minutes
remained to be played.
And the sweltering, blistered TCU fans knew it. At intermission, they left sun-drenched Amon G. Carter
Stadium in droves, in search of sun screen and/or ice-cold beverages.
The Jayhawks and the Frogs pitched shutouts in the third
quarter. Each team scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
For TCU in that final quarter, true freshman running back Daimarqua Foster, in his
collegiate debut, had an eight-yard scoring run. He was the Frogs’ second-leading
rusher in the game with 66 yards on eight carries.
TCU quarterback Mike Collins, who has been recovering from an
injury, saw his first game action of the season late in the fourth quarter. He scored the
Frogs’ final six points on an 11-yard touchdown run as time expired in the game. It
was his fourth career rushing touchdown.
Quarterback Alex Delton, who started earlier in the season,
also played in the game. He completed 10 of 15 passes for 186 yards. He added 21
rushing yards.
Running backs Darwin Barlow and Emari Demercado also saw action. Barlow, a true freshman, carried the ball 13 times for a net 51
yards. He was the Frogs’ third-leading rusher in the game. Demercado, a junior,
got 11 yards on three carries.
For the game, the Frogs’ offense amassed 625 total yards; 319
rushing, 306 passing. TCU's 625 yards were its most in a game since totaling
688 yards in a 62-22 win at Baylor in 2016.
TCU topped the 600-yard mark for the 15th time since 2014,
when co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Sonny Cumbie arrived on
campus.
The game marked the second time this season the Horned Frogs
have topped the 300-yard rushing mark this season. They ran for 346 yards in
their second game of the season, at Purdue.
Thomas was the leading receiver for the Frogs. He had three
receptions for 44 yards.
True freshman Blain Conwright was TCU’s second-leading
receiver. In his first collegiate game, Conwright caught three passes for 25
yards.
Wide receiver Te’Vailance Hunt made his first career start. He
had two catches for 52 yards, including a career-long 49-yarder. He also had
three carries for 12 yards.
The Frogs were as dominant defensively, as they were
offensively.
Kansas gained only 159 total yards; 75 rushing, 84
passing. The Jayhawks converted only one of 11 third-down attempts and had the
ball for only 20:25, compared to the Frogs’ 39:35. Kansas ran 47 offensive
plays, compared to the Frogs’ 88.
Kansas quarterback Carter Stanley completed only 12 of 29
passes. He had one touchdown throw, a 25-yarder to running back Pooka Williams in the fourth quarter. Stanley was sacked twice.
The Jayhawks’ leading rusher was Velton Gardner. He gained 61
yards on four carries, with 45 of the yards coming on a touchdown run for Kansas’ first
score of the game, in the fourth quarter.
TCU linebacker Garret Wallow had a team-best six tackles,
including one for a loss. He has topped the Horned Frogs in stops in each game
this season.
Defensive tackle Ross Blacklock had a half-sack to give him
2.5 on the season, tying him with Wallow for the TCU team lead.
The Frogs' Dee Winters, a true freshman linebacker, had his second sack of
the season.
Senior safety Vernon Scott had a career-best three pass
breakups for TCU.
Another morning game will greet the Horned Frogs this
Saturday, October 5, when they take on Iowa State in a Big 12 game in Ames,
Iowa. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 am Central.
Iowa State is in its fourth season under head coach Matt Campbell, who
was hired away from Toledo after the 2015 season.
In 2018, Campbell and Iowa State finished the regular season
with an 8-4 overall record, tying for the most wins in the modern era of the school's
football program. Iowa State tied the school record for most victories at Jack
Trice Stadium in a season with six.
This
season, the Cyclones are 2-2 (0-1, Big 12). Their losses have come by a combined three
points.
Iowa
State lost to Iowa, 18-17, in Ames, on September 14.
The
Cyclones lost to Baylor, 23-21, in Waco, on September 28, when the Bears
recovered from a blown 20-point lead to win on a field goal in the closing
seconds of the game.
This
will be the second time this season that the Horned Frogs will face a team that
had lost an earlier game by a last-second field goal. Prior to its game with TCU,
Purdue had lost its season-opener to Nevada, 34-31, when the Wolf Pack kicked a game-winning
field goal as regulation time expired.
Iowa
State’s two wins have come against the University of Northern Iowa, 29-26
(30T), in Ames, in the season-opener, and Louisiana-Monroe, 72-20, in Ames.
Iowa
State heads into the month of October at or below .500 for the third
consecutive season. After going 1-3 and 2-2 leading into October in each of the
last two seasons, Iowa State turned in 7-5 and 8-4 regular seasons.
The
past two months of October, the Cyclones have gone 7-0. Last season, TCU beat Iowa State, 17-14, on September 29, in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Iowa State game will present a
defensive challenge for the Frogs. Four games into the 2019 season, the
Cyclones haven’t had trouble moving the ball, amassing more than 400 yards of
offense in every game, crossing midfield on more than 50 percent of their
drives and averaging 7.1 yards per play.
Iowa State is tied for first
nationally with only two three-and-outs this season.
Bolstered by their 72-point outburst versus Louisiana-Monroe, Iowa State is averaging 34.75 points a game.
Offensively, the Cyclones have been relying on their passing attack. Iowa State has amassed 2000 total yards on offense (an average of 500 yards per game), with 1391 of those yards coming through the air, and 609 on the ground. The passing game has produced 10 touchdowns, the running game six touchdowns.
Leading Iowa State’s offense is sophomore quarterback Brock Purdy (#15), 6-1, 210 pounds. He has completed nearly 70 percent of his passes; 102-of 147. He has thrown for 1331 yards and eight touchdowns. Only two of his passes have been intercepted.
The Cyclones’ limited rushing attack has not produced a clear leader. Kene Nwangwu (#3), Johnnie Lang (#4), Sheldon Croney Jr. (#25) and Breece Hall (28) have handled the running duties by committee. All are averaging less than 30 yards rushing per game, and of the four, only Lang and Croney have scored a rushing touchdown.
The weather could play a significant role in this game. The forecast is for a high temperature in the low 60s and a 70 percent chance of rain.
What a difference a week can make, even in regard to the weather.
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