TCU’s worst offensive game of the 2019 season nearly turned out to be the Horned Frogs’ most noteworthy game of the year.
On Saturday, November 23, in Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, in Norman, Oklahoma, before an announced crowd of 82,241, TCU only scraped together 204 yards of total offense, but the Frogs nearly snuffed the College Playoff dreams of then-No. 9 and Big 12 first-place Oklahoma.
Thanks to a defensive stand late in the fourth quarter, the not-so-Boomer Sooners eked out a 28-24 win over the Horned Frogs on OU’s Senior Night and on prime-time television. It is the fifth of TCU's six losses this season that have been by seven points or less.
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| Tom "Midnite" Burke |
The now No. 7 Sooners (10-1, 7-1 Big 12) are headed to their annual Bedlam game with No. 21 Oklahoma State, on November 30, and then to Arlington, Texas, where on Saturday, December 7, they will play Baylor, which is currently ranked ninth, in the Big 12 Championship Game.
Oklahoma will be seeking its fifth consecutive Big 12 Championship. Baylor will be seeking its first Big 12 Championship Game victory.
Baylor and TCU were Big 12 co-champions in 2014, prior to the Big 12 re-launching in 2017 its championship game, which previously had been held from the conference’s formation in 1996 to 2010.
Meanwhile, the Horned Frogs (5-6, 3-5 Big 12), for the second consecutive season, are facing a do-or-die situation in their final regular-season game. On Friday, November 29, TCU must defeat West Virginia to qualify for a bowl game for the 17th time in Gary Patterson’s 19 years as head coach of the team.
Kickoff in Amon G. Carter Stadium between the Frogs and Mountaineers is scheduled for 3:15 pm Central. Its a "Black-Out" game, and pregame ceremonies will include TCU’s senior football players being honored.
Last year, in its regular-season finale, on November 24, TCU defeated Oklahoma State, 31-24, to improve to 6-6 and qualify for a bowl. The Frogs beat California, 10-7 (OT), in a memorable Cheez-It Bowl the day after Christmas.
Barely into the second quarter, TCU’s game with Oklahoma certainly seemed destined to be a nightmarish blowout of the Frogs by the Sooners.
With TCU’s offense and defense failing to show up, Oklahoma easily and quickly built a 21-0 lead.
But just as quickly, behind a stellar effort by its defense and some gritty play by its true freshman quarterback, Max Duggan, TCU threw a scare into the Okies by outplaying and outscoring them 24-7 the remainder of the game.
In fact, a Boomer-Sooner victory was in doubt when TCU was driving for a go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
Unfortunately for the purple-and-white, Oklahoma defensive back Brendan Radley-Hiles intercepted a fourth-down pass from Duggan that was intended for tight end Pro Wells.
After the interception, the Oklahoma offense was able to run out the clock, particularly when the Sooners received a generous spot on a third-and-one play that gave them a first down with about a minute-and-a-half left in the game.
The heroic defensive play by Radley-Hiles brought back bad memories for TCU fans of the 2015 game between No. 7 Oklahoma and No. 18 TCU in Norman.
In that game, TCU quarterback Bram Kohlhausen had rallied the Frogs from 17 points down in the fourth quarter to within 30-29 after a TCU touchdown with less than a minute to play in the game.
TCU went for the lead by attempting a two-point conversion. Kohlhausen had his pass to Emanual Parker batted down by Oklahoma defensive back Steven Parker. The Sooners' offense then ran out the clock for the victory.
Radley-Hiles’ play was a heart-breaker for the Frogs, especially for Patterson and his defensive unit, and for Duggan.
After the game, Patterson penned a song. Listen: here
Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley, who improved his record against Patterson to 4-0, also penned a song after the game. Listen: here
TCU’s defense limited Oklahoma's high-octane offense, led by quarterback Jalen Hurts, an Alabama graduate transfer, running back Kennedy Brooks and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to four touchdowns. The 28 points is the least points the Sooners have scored in 11 games this season.
Hurts, who is a finalist for the Maxwell Award and a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, completed only 11 of 21 passes against the Horned Frogs. He passed for 145 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once and sacked once.
Hurts did hurt the Frogs with his running. He ran 28 times for 173 yards and two touchdowns. He had a long run of 32 yards. He also lost one fumble. Combined with his 145 yards passing, Hurts accounted for 318 total yards against TCU.
Brooks ran 25 times for 149 yards against TCU. He had a long run of 31 yards.
Lamb, a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation’s top receiver, was held to two catches for 16 yards, and only one touchdown, a five-yard reception in the second quarter.
TCU’s big-play defense was led by junior linebacker Garret Wallow. He had 16 tackles, including two for a loss and one sack, to lead TCU in tackles for the ninth time in 11 games this season. Wallow reached double figures in tackles for the sixth time this season and the ninth time in his career.
Sophomore safety Trevon Moehrig forced a fumble by Oklahoma wide receiver Jadon Haselwood. The fumble was recovered by TCU senior safety Vernon Scott. In last week's TCU-Texas Tech game, Scott forced a fumble and Moehrig made the recovery.
Early in the fourth quarter, Scott intercepted a Hurts pass at the TCU two-yard line. Scott thwarted an Oklahoma drive and he returned the interception 98 yards for a TCU touchdown.
As it would turn out, that touchdown was the final score of the game.
The interception was the second of Scott's career.
The return was one yard short of a school record. Quincy Butler holds the TCU record with a 99-yard interception for a touchdown against Southern Mississippi in 2004.
The defensive score was the first of the season for the Frogs. Their last previous defensive touchdown came when Jawuan Johnson returned a fumble 15 yards for a touchdown in the 2018 regular-season finale against Oklahoma State.
The interception for a touchdown was the first pick-six for TCU since Jeff Gladney's 94-yard interception for a touchdown at Texas Tech in 2017.
Another big defensive play was made by TCU freshman safety Nook Bradford. While tackling Hurts at the TCU seven-yard line, with 7:51 left in the game, he took the football away from Hurts.
In addition to the strip-fumble, which was his first career takeaway, Bradford had a career-best 13 tackles, including two tackles for loss.
TCU’s offense could not overcome its slow start and the slow start by the Frogs’ defense.
The Sooners’ defense frustrated Duggan, to say the least. He completed only seven of 21 passes for 65 yards. He threw no touchdown passes. Duggan was sacked twice and suffered 11 yards in losses.
The Frogs' 65 passing yards is the Frogs' fewest and the fewest by a Big 12 team this season. TCU's previous low this season was 75 passing yards against Purdue, in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Frogs won that game, 34-13.
Duggan had another strong game on the ground. He ran for 92 yards on 12 carries. He had one rushing touchdown, of 11 yards, in the third quarter. Duggan led the Frogs in rushing for the fourth time this season.
TCU senior running back Sewo Olonilua had a one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to cut Oklahoma's lead to 21-7. But, he ran with the football only five times, for 19 yards. He caught only one pass, for minus-three yards. Olonilua's touchdown was his team-best seventh of the season and 17th of his career.
TCU senior running back Darius Anderson ran the ball only five times, for seven yards. He caught one pass for 15 yards.
TCU senior receiver Jalen Reagor had only 25 total yards against Oklahoma. He caught a nine-yard pass and had a 16-yard run.
TCU senior kicker Jonathan Song kicked a 24-yard field goal in the second quarter. The Lou Groza Award semifinalist and three-time Academic All-Big 12 recipient, is 22-of-23 on the season and 39-of-43 in his career. He is 38-of-39 on attempts of 40 yards and less.
On Black Friday, November 29, TCU will face a West Virginia team that will have nothing to lose, except for some extra pounds gained from their Thanksgiving feast.
Under first-year head coach Neal Brown (he replaced Dana Holgerson, who left for the head coaching job at the University of Houston prior to the 2019 season), the Mountaineers will be playing for pride. At 4-7 (2-6 Big 12), West Virginia will not be bowling this season.
The Mountaineers have beaten James Madison, North Carolina State, Kansas and Kansas State. They have lost to Missouri, Texas, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.
Offensively, the Mountaineers are averaging 21 points a game, 72 yards rushing per game and 257 yards passing per game.
Through the first nine games, Oklahoma transfer Austin Kendall started at quarterback for the Mountaineers. In the ninth game, against Texas Tech, Kendall gave way to Jarret Doege, a junior transfer from Bowling Green.
Doege, who is from Lubbock, Texas, was the Mountaineers' starting quarterback in the team’s 10th and 11th games, against Kansas State and Oklahoma State, respectively. He is expected to start at quarterback against the Frogs.
Kendall has completed 187 of 304 passes for 1,989 yards. He has thrown 12 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Doege, who purposely was limited to playing in four games, so he would have two years of eligibility at West Virginia, has completed 59 of 85 passes for 660 yards. He has thrown five touchdowns and no interceptions.
In his first start as a Mountaineer, against Kansas State, Doege completed 20 of 30 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns in West Virginia's 24-20 upset of the Wildcats in Manhattan. Doege's performance earned him Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors.
In his latest start, on November 23, against Oklahoma State (a 20-13 loss in Morgantown), Doege completed 28 of 38 passes for a season-high 307 yards and a touchdown.
Against the West Virginia defense, opponents are averaging 30 points a game, 160 yards rushing a game and 249 yards passing a game.
The Mountaineers' defense is known for its ability to sack quarterbacks. WVU has recorded 31 sacks, which is second in the Big 12 and 24th nationally. West Virginia is averaging 2.8 sacks per game. In a 17-14 loss to Baylor, in Waco, on October 31, the West Virginia defense had eight sacks.
In addition to the sacks, the Mountaineers have 72 tackles for loss, which ranks fifth in the Big 12.
Safety Sean Mahone is the leading tackler for West Virginia. He has 74 tackles, five tackles for loss and two sacks.
Junior defensive lineman Darius Stills has 42 tackles, seven sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss.
Darius' younger brother, sophomore defensive lineman Dante Stills, has seven sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss.
While Darius, Dante, Austin, Jarret and the other Mountaineers will be at home this holiday season, this Friday Max, Sewo, Darius, Jalen, Garret, Vernon and the other Frogs will be looking to continue a TCU holiday tradition of going bowling.
Cheez-Its, once again, may be the perfect holiday snack!
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