Cowboys Run Over Frogs; Bear Season Opens Saturday

TCU’s $100-million investment in luxury on the east side of historic and remade Amon G. Carter Stadium is promoted as a shining example of the school’s commitment to big-time college football.

Perhaps that $100-million could have been better spent elsewhere, considering the state of TCU football, with the latest episode being a humiliating 34-27 loss to Oklahoma State this past Saturday, November 2, in Boone Pickens Stadium, in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Tom C. "Midnite" Burke

There was good news, at least for the Horned Frogs, going into the Oklahoma State game. Cowboys wide receiver Tylan Wallace suffered a season-ending injury while practicing during the week.

Wallace arguably was the best receiver in college football and was making a case to repeat as a first team All-American and Biletnikoff Award finalist, if not more. Wallace led all Power Five conference players with 903 receiving yards, and he ranked No. 1 in the FBS in 60-plus, 70-plus and 90-plus yard catches.

Thus, from a defensive standpoint, with Wallace being sidelined, there basically were two Oklahoma State offensive players the Frogs had to contain to pull off a win in hostile territory.

But the Horned Frogs couldn’t execute that game plan.

Running only 56 plays in the game, Oklahoma State's offense racked up 457 total yards of offense, 301 of which were pounded out on 41 carries against the Frogs’ much-maligned defense.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Sanders of Ryan High School in Denton, Texas, and redshirt sophomore running back Chuba Hubbard accounted for all of the rushing yards.

All 301 yards!

Two players!

The only two Cowboys the Frogs had to worry about!

Who else, or what else, could the Horned Frogs instead have been worried about?

Hubbard had 223 of the rushing yards, much of the time running between the tackles. He became the first player to surpass 200 rushing yards against a (TCU head coach) Gary Patterson-coached defense. He accomplished the feat on only 20 rushes.

Two of Hubbard’s runs resulted in touchdowns, of 92 yards and 62 yards, basically untouched, before being swarmed by appreciative teammates in the end zone.

Hubbard’s 92-yarder tied for the fourth-longest rushing play in Oklahoma State history and is the longest run allowed by TCU since a 95-yard run during the 1993 season.

Hubbard's performance was the eighth time in Big 12 history that a player has rushed for 200 yards with 20 or fewer attempts in a Big 12 game. Naturally, he earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Sanders ran for 88 yards on 19 carries. He had five runs of 10 or more yards. As a quarterback!

After the game, Patterson, feeling like he had been run over by a Mack truck, penned a song. Listen: here 

With the loss, the Horned Frogs dropped to 4-4, 2-3 Big 12, and they fell to 18-17 on the road in their Big 12 history.

A jubilant Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy also penned a song after the game. Listen: here

With the win, Oklahoma State snapped a two-game losing streak to TCU and improved to 6-3, 3-3 Big 12. The Cowboys became bowl-eligible for the 14th straight season and they earned a No. 23 ranking in the first College Football Playoff ranking, which was released on Tuesday, November 5.

Sanders accounted for Oklahoma State’s 158 non-rushing yards by completing nine of his 15 passing attempts. Two of the completions went for touchdowns, of 22 yards and 57 yards, to wide receiver Dillon Stoner.

Thus, Sanders and Hubbard touched the football on 54 of Oklahoma State’s 56 offensive plays.

Two players!

The only two OSU players the Frogs had to be worried about!

Sanders’ 246-total-yards performance against the Frogs earned him Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors.

As if the lackluster defensive performance by the Frogs, Patterson and defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Chad Glasgow was not embarrassing enough, there were these Frog tidbits associated with the loss:

• Patterson blew up and confronted TCU co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Sonny Cumbie on the sideline after true freshman starting quarterback Max Duggan threw one of his three interceptions in the game. At least Patterson didn’t go as far as throwing Cumbie to the forefront of the postgame media conference as he did earlier in the season.
• Duggan injured his throwing hand late in the fourth quarter and removed himself from the game. The TCU sideline appeared unprepared for the situation. Graduate transfer quarterback Alex Delton, who was the starting quarterback for the first two games of the season, came onto the field to replace Duggan, but was called back to the sideline. The coaching staff instead inserted Mike Collins into the game. It obviously was an embarrassing and humiliating experience for Delton, who has been a captain for every game. It turned out to be the last straw for Delton. He has since left the team, joining heralded redshirt freshman quarterback Justin Rogers, who days earlier had announced he would be transferring from Froggie Land. Unfortunately for Collins, who only was in the game for five plays, he suffered what may be a serious injury, but it has not been disclosed. Duggan apparently suffered an injury to a finger on his throwing hand. The specifics and seriousness of the injury have not been disclosed.
• During the postgame media conference, while talking about the loss, Patterson said he needed to find a punter. Huh? What did punting have to do with the loss to the Cowboys? Was the punter calling defensive signals or playing defense on the touchdown plays? In fact, one of TCU’s punts penned the Cowboys on their eight-yard line. One play and 92 yards later, Hubbard had scored a touchdown for OSU.

Oh, there were some positives for the Horned Frogs in the loss, although as Patterson aptly states, “there is no value in losing.”

Although he threw his second, third and fourth interceptions of the year, Duggan completed 21 of 39 passes for 258 yards and a touchdown, despite continually having to evade heavy pressure applied by the Cowboys.

The 21 completions were a career high for Duggan. He has thrown a touchdown pass in seven of this season's eight games. He has thrown 12 touchdown passes this season.

Duggan was sacked four times, but he rushed for 86 net yards and one touchdown on 16 carries. The rushing touchdown was his fourth of the season, third on the team. He had a long run of 42 yards, the second-longest run in his collegiate football career.

Duggan led TCU in rushing for the third straight game. He became the first quarterback to do that since Trevone Boykin in 2015. TCU’s two pro running back prospects – Darius Anderson and Sewo Olonilua – had only 52 and 27 yards rushing, respectively.

TCU wide receiver Jalen Reagor was shaken up a couple of times during the game, but he always was able to return to action. He had season highs with seven receptions for 128 yards against the Cowboys. He has 2,091 career receiving yards.

Tight end Artayvious Lynn caught two passes for 30 yards, including a career long reception of 25 yards.

Wide receiver Taye Barber had a career-high seven receptions for 60 yards in the Frogs' 34-27 loss to Oklahoma State.

TCU tight end Pro Wells had career highs with four catches for 52 yards, including a long reception of 24 yards, which went for a touchdown in the second quarter. The touchdown gave him a team-leading five receiving touchdowns on 12 receptions. The 24-yarder equaled the longest catch of his career.

Kicker Jonathan Song has been named one of 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award, given each year to the country's top field goal kicker. Song kicked two field goals of 40 yards each against Oklahoma State. He is 15-of-16 on the season and 32-of-36 in his career. He is 31-of-32 on attempts of 40 yards or less.

Safety Trevon Moehrig had his team-best fourth interception of the season. It is the most interceptions by a Horned Frog since Nick Orr had four in 2016.

TCU linebacker Garret Wallow had a team-best 11 tackles. He reached double figures in tackles for the fourth time this season. Wallow has led TCU in tackles in all but one game this season.

Defensive tackle Ross Blacklock had a career-high seven tackles, include one for a loss. Defensive tackle Corey Bethley had a sack for the second straight game. He has two sacks on the season and eight in his career, the most among current Horned Frogs. Defensive end Shameik Blackshear also had a sack, his first whole sack of the season. 

The defensive player of the game, however, was wearing orange and black.

Oklahoma State safety Kolby Harvell-Peel had two interceptions, a fumble recovery, six tackles and two pass break-ups. His performance earned him Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.

The Frogs need to quickly regroup, with the Big 12-leading, undefeated and 12th-ranked Baylor Bears due at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas, this Saturday, November 9, for an 11 am kickoff.

Baylor head coach Matt Rhule has done a commendable job at Baylor, which is located in Waco, Texas, on the banks of the Brazos River and alongside Interstate 35, across the street from a Whataburger.

Three years ago, Rhule took over a Baylor football program rocked by Title 12 and rape scandals, under a cloud of possible NCAA sanctions, which may yet become a reality, and led by a new vice president/director of athletics, who was working under the direction of a new school president.

Today, Ruhle has the Bears, 8-0, 5-0 in the Big 12, in position to possibly play in the Big 12 Championship game in December and stake a claim for one of the four spots in the College Football Playoff, although that possibility is razor slim.

Baylor is led by junior quarterback Charlie Brewer, who has been named one of 20 semifinalists for the 2019 Maxwell Award, which is presented annually to the Collegiate Player of the Year.

Brewer has completed 150 of 222 passes for 2,143 yards. He is averaging 268 passing yards per game. He has thrown 14 touchdown passes and just three interceptions. He has run the ball 80 times for 170 yards and six touchdowns.

With Duggan and Collins dealing with injuries, and with Delton and Rogers having said their good-byes, it may be game time before TCU fans know who will be the Frogs’ starting quarterback against the rival Bears.

However, Patterson has said he is optimistic that Duggan will play against Baylor.

If Duggan and Collins are unable to play against the Bears, the options for Patterson and Cumbie would seem to be redshirt freshman quarterback Matthew Downing and Ohio State transfer quarterback Matthew Baldwin, who also is a redshirt freshman.

Downing, whose brother Michael played at TCU and is a graduate assistant on the coaching staff, joined the program as a transfer from Georgia.

Baldwin is eligible to play, but he only recently was cleared for full participation after recovering from knee surgery.

Neither Downing nor Baldwin has taken a snap in a TCU game.

TCU and Baylor, are former cross-town rivals. After being founded in 1873 in Thorp Spring, Texas, as AddRan Male and Female College, TCU’s campus moved to Waco in 1895. The name was changed to AddRan Christian University in 1889 and Texas Christian University in 1902.

TCU relocated to downtown Fort Worth in 1910 when the Waco facility burned. The University then opened three new buildings on its present campus in 1911.

The TCU-Baylor rivalry often is referred to as the “revivalry,” because the two schools are church-affiliated: TCU with the Disciples of Christ, and Baylor with the Baptist General Convention.

TCU leads the all-time series 55-52-7, with the 114 meetings making Baylor its most-played series. The first game between TCU and Baylor was a scoreless tie in 1899.

TCU is 27-28-4 in home games against the Bears and 28-24-1on the road versus Baylor. The Horned Frogs and Bears tied in both neutral-site meetings.

The Frogs have defeated the Bears in each of the last four seasons: 28-21 (2OT), in 2015, in Fort Worth; 62-22, in 2016, in Waco; 45-22, in 2017, in Fort Worth; and 16-9, in 2018, in Waco.

TCU is 8-3 against Baylor since the Southwest Conference dissolved after the 1995 season. TCU is 5-2 against Baylor since the Frogs joined the Big 12 in 2012.

Patterson is 8-3 as a head coach versus Baylor. He is 2-0 against Baylor head coach Matt Rhule.

It’s an 11 am kickoff in Cowtown for the Frogs and Bears, thanks in large part to TCU’s loss to Oklahoma State.

Too bad completion of the east side stadium expansion was delayed until 2020. A million-dollar suite probably is an ideal place from which to watch an early morning college football game in Fort Worth.