Frogs Saddle Texas Tech With Loss; Prepare To Storm Norman

If you see Texas Tech head football coach Matt Wells looking under rocks for an elusive extra point, please tell him to quit searching. 

TCU head coach Gary Patterson and his Horned Frogs have departed Lubbock with a 33-31 victory and that fancy saddle, although I’m not sure Gary or any of his players has a horse.

There were several big plays in the Big 12 showdown between the Frogs and Red Raiders last Saturday morning (November 16) before 50,459 in Lubbock’s AT&T Jones Stadium. But the biggest play was a missed extra point by Texas Tech redshirt freshman kicker Trey Wolff. 

Tom C. "Midnite"Burke

That missed point-after-touchdown, which came after Tech’s second touchdown of the game, in the second quarter, caused Wells to panic. And the first-year Red Raiders coach chased that lost point the remainder of the game, as if he was chasing an elusive pheasant on a hunting trip in Utah.  

The chase resulted in two failed two-point conversions by the Red Raiders, after their final two touchdowns of the game. If Tech had successfully kicked the extra points after those third-quarter touchdowns, the final score in regulation could have been 33-33, which would have forced overtime between TCU and Tech. 

If that missed extra point in the second quarter had been converted, as well as those after the ensuing touchdowns, the Red Raiders could have won the game, 34-33, instead of the Frogs escaping Lubbock with a 33-31 victory.

Wells evidently has not read Patterson’s New York Times best-seller, “Just Win By One Point.” Perhaps Patterson, who once upon a time was a coach at Utah State when Wells was a quarterback at Utah State, will send him an autographed copy for Christmas. 

Not that any of us Horned Frogs, or Patterson, minded Wells’ Power 5 rookie head-coaching mistake. 

After the game, a jubilant Patterson, whose Frogs finally won a one-score game this season, penned a song. Listen: here  

After the game, Wells reflected on his decision to chase the failed extra point, and he penned a song. Listen: here  

Despite Wells’ coaching blunder, TCU needed a big defensive play toward the end of the game to seal the victory, since the Frogs’ defense had coughed up a 24-3 lead that true freshman quarterback Max Duggan and the TCU offense had fairly easily carved out through the game’s first quarter, and into the second quarter. 

In fact, the Frogs led, 27-16, at halftime. 

But by early in the fourth quarter, the Frogs were surprisingly and nervously trailing, 31-30.

And even though TCU took the lead, 33-31, on savior Jonathan Song’s fourth field goal of the game, Texas Tech had the ball with 2:23 left in the game, needing only a field goal to steal a win and send the tortillas, water bottles and curse words flying from Red Raiders fans. 

On Tech’s first play of a potential game-winning drive, TCU senior safety Vernon Scott, who had a team-best five tackles in the game, forced Red Raiders wide receiver McLane Mannix to fumble after a nine-yard reception. Frogs sophomore safety Trevon Moehrig made the fumble recovery, the first of his career, and the TCU offense ran out the clock to secure the much-needed victory.  

The 33-31 victory was the Frogs’ third consecutive win in Lubbock and it climaxed a big day by TCU true freshman quarterback Max Duggan and the offense, who opened the game with four straight scoring drives to build a 24-3 lead early in the second quarter. 

TCU’s offense accumulated 549 yards; 323 yards passing, 226 yards rushing.  

The Frogs ran 95 plays; 42 passing plays, 53 running plays. 

TCU picked up 169 yards on third-down plays and converted 15 of 24 third downs.  

TCU’s proficiency on third down enabled the Frogs to possess the football for 43:26 of the game’s 60 minutes. It was the highest time of possession by TCU since 2008 and the most by any Big 12 team since 2011. The second quarter was the only quarter in which the Frogs’ time of possession was not at least 10 minutes. 

By comparison, Texas Tech ran only 51 plays; 33 passing plays for 333 yards, and 18 running plays for 69 yards. The Red Raiders held the football for only 16:34. 

Duggan had the best day of his short career. He completed a career-best 25-of-42 passes for a career-high 323 yards. He threw two touchdown passes and no interceptions. Duggan's two scoring tosses give him at least one touchdown pass in nine of 10 games this season. He has five games with at least two touchdowns through the air. 

The gutsy, relentless quarterback carried the football 18 times for 75 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown run for the Frogs’ first score of the game. It was his fifth rushing touchdown of the season. He has run for a score in four of the last five games. 

Duggan received support from the Frogs’ two senior running backs. 

Darius Anderson, who will play in the East West Shrine Bowl on January 18, rushed 19 times for 87 yards. He caught three passes for seven yards.  

Sewo Olonilua had 63 yards rushing, on 11 carries. He caught three passes for 15 yards. 

Sophomore wide receiver Taye Barber had his first career 100-yard receiving game with career-best totals of eight receptions and 137 yards. 

Junior receiver Jalen Reagor had three catches for 83 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter that gave TCU its 24-3 lead over Tech. 

The 55-yard scoring strike to Reagor marked a career-long completion for Duggan. The touchdown catch was Reagor’s 22nd of his career, tying him with Josh Boyce (2010-12) for second place on TCU's career list. Josh Doctson, who is in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings, is the leader with 29 (2013-15). The completion also was TCU's longest pass play since a Grayson Muehlstein 65-yard scoring toss to Reagor at Baylor last season.  

Junior tight end Artayvious Lynn’s four-yard, first quarter scoring grab was his first career touchdown. 

Sophomore wide receiver John Stephens, Jr., tied a career-high with three receptions for 40 yards. 

TCU’s final, and deciding, three points came on a 20-yard field goal by Song with 5:38 left in the game. The field goal was Song’s fourth of the game. He also kicked field goals of 36, 28 and 25 yards. 

The Lou Groza Award semifinalist is 21-of-22 on the season and 38-of-42 in his career. He is 37-of-38 on attempts of 40 yards or less. 

On defense, freshman linebacker Wyatt Harris had his first career interception, freshman defensive end Colt Ellison had a career-high four tackles, and sophomore defensive tackle Terrell Cooper had a sack for the second consecutive game. 

The win over Tech was a crucial one in the Frogs’ journey to another bowl game. To become bowl eligible for the 17th time in Patterson’s 19 years as head coach, TCU (5-5, 3-4) must win one of its final two games. The Frogs play Oklahoma, in Norman, Oklahoma, on Saturday, November 23, and West Virginia, in Fort Worth, on November 29 (Black Friday). 

Kickoff for the game against the Sooners is scheduled for 7 pm in Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. 

On Saturday, November 16, in Waco, Texas, Oklahoma (9-1, 6-1) escaped an ambush and derailed Baylor’s perfect season by coming back from being down 28-3 at one point in the game, and being behind at halftime, 31-10. The 25-point comeback against the shell-shocked  Bears was the biggest comeback victory in Oklahoma football history. 

Lincoln Riley is in his third year as head coach of the Sooners. As usual, he has them on the cusp of another Big 12 championship and in the national championship conversation. Thus, it is no surprise that he is a semifinalist for the George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year Award. 

The Sooners, who earlier this season became the sixth NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision team to win 900 games, are seeking their fifth consecutive Big 12 championship. 

Leading Oklahoma’s offense is one-and-done quarterback Jalen Hurts, a graduate transfer from the University of Alabama. 

Against Baylor, Hurts accounted for 411 yards of offense; 297 yards through the air, 114 on the ground. His performance earned him the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors, and he was named the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week.

For the season, Hurts is first in the Big 12 in total offense and second in the conference in passing and rushing.  

Hurts is averaging 402 yards of total offense per game; 304 yards per game passing, and 98 yards per game rushing. 

He has completed 181 of 248 passes, with 28 touchdowns and only five interceptions. He has 15 rushing touchdowns. 

Hurts is a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award for the Collegiate Player of the Year, a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, and a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. 

Offensively, Oklahoma is first in the Big 12 in scoring (47 points a game), total offense (581 yards per game) and passing (334 yards per game), and second in the conference in rushing (247 yards per game). 

Junior receiver CeeDee Lamb (#2), 6-2, 189 pounds, who did not play against Baylor for undisclosed medical issues and is questionable for the game against TCU, is second in the Big 12 in receiving. He has caught 44 passes for 983 yards, an average of 109 receiving yards per game. He is averaging 22.3 yards per catch. He has scored 13 touchdowns and has a long reception of 71 yards.

Lamb, who was a consensus first-team midseason All-American, is a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award for the Collegiate Player of the Year, and also a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the country's best collegiate receiver.  

Defensively, Oklahoma is fourth in the Big 12 in scoring defense, second in total defense, fourth in rushing defense and second in passing defense. The Sooners are allowing 25.6 points per game, and 350 total yards per game (142 rushing yards per game and 208 passing yards per game). 

Junior linebacker Kenneth Murray (#9), 6-2, 234 pounds, leads Oklahoma's defense with 70 tackles. He has 9.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Murray is a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, which honors the nation's best collegiate linebacker. He also is a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award, which honors the nation's best defensive player. 

Oklahoma defensive coordinator Alex Grinch has been nominated for the Broyles Award, which annually is awarded to college football's top coordinator. 

Oklahoma holds a 14-5 series lead over TCU. The Sooners have won five in a row (2015-2018) over the Frogs, including the 2017 Big 12 Championship Game. 

The Horned Frogs haven’t won in Norman since 2005. TCU's 17-10 win at No. 5 Oklahoma in the 2005 season-opener was the Frogs' first victory over an opponent ranked that high since a 6-0 decision at No. 1 Texas in 1961.

The Frogs won’t be playing in this year’s Big 12 Championship Game, but with the game against Oklahoma being played during prime time and with nearly 90,000 fans expected, there may well be a championship-game atmosphere in Norman Saturday night. 

And, it’s doubtful that Riley and his ninth-ranked and Big 12 first-place Sooners will leave any points off the scoreboard, unlike Wells and the lower-tier Red Raiders.  

So, the Frogs’ offense will need to be at least as good as it was against Texas Tech, and TCU’s defense will need to be at least as good as it was against Baylor two weeks ago, when the Bears only scored nine points in regulation. 

Otherwise, bowl-eligibility will be on the line for Patterson and the Frogs in the Black Friday showdown against West Virginia in The Carter on the 29th (3:15 pm Central).