Horned Frogs Suffer 20-17 Season-Ending Loss to West Virginia

A TCU football season that had been tinkering on the brink since the third game of the season finally went over the edge, appropriately, on Black Friday, and on what was the final day of the 2019 season. 

On a dreary, frosty, rainy day after Thanksgiving in a lavish Amon G. Carter Stadium that will be even more luxurious next year, the West Virginia Mountaineers pushed the Horned Frogs below mediocrity with an improbable 20-17 win in both teams’ season finale.

The announced attendance was 40,126, but only 20,000 or less were in the stadium to brave the elements and witness the upset. 

Tom C. "Midnite" Burke

The loss dropped the frustrated Frogs into the lower echelon of the Big 12 with an overall record of 5-7 and a Big 12 record of 3-6.

In what was a mediocre season for the Big 12, with only four teams winning at least eight games, TCU tied for seventh place in the conference and is one of four Big 12 teams that will be home for the holidays and not bowling. 

Baylor and Oklahoma led the conference with 11-1 records. They meet in the Big 12 Conference Championship Game on Saturday, December 7, in AT&T Stadium, in Arlington, Texas. Both teams are in contention for inclusion in the four-team College Football Playoff to determine a national champion. 

Baylor head coach Matt Rhule and Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley have been named semifinalists for the 2019 George Munger Collegiate Coach of the Year Award. 

In addition to TCU, West Virginia (5-7, 3-6), Kansas (3-8, 1-7), and Texas Tech (4-8, 2-7) did not qualify for a bowl game. Those three teams were led by new coaches this season.

Not exactly the type of company with whom TCU head coach Gary Patterson and the Frogs want to celebrate the holidays. 

This will be the third time in Patterson’s 19-year TCU head-coaching career that the Horned Frogs will not be closing out a season by playing in a bowl game. The other two times were after the 2004 and 2013 seasons.

Since 1994, when head coach Pat Sullivan, who passed away on December 1, led TCU to the Independence Bowl, the Horned Frogs have played in 20 bowl games. 

This year, there are 79 bowl-eligible teams for 78 bowl spots. Qualifying teams include such powerhouses as Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Charlotte, Eastern Michigan, Flordia Atlantic, Florida International, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Liberty, Louisiana Tech, SMU, Toledo, Tulane, UAB, Utah State, Wake Forest, Western Michigan and Wyoming. 

After the West Virginia loss, an exasperated Patterson penned a song. Listen: here 

A more joyous West Virginia head coach Neal Brown, who became the second new Big 12 head coach this year to defeat Patterson and the Frogs (the first was Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman), also penned a song. Listen: here  

See highlights of the TCU-West Virginia game: here

See TCU-West Virginia game pictures: here

See TCU-West Virginia gameday experience pictures: here 

Losing at home to West Virginia and not qualifying for a bowl game was especially disappointing for TCU’s 18 senior football players, whose careers were honored prior to the game.

The seniors are: running back Darius Anderson; defensive end Shameik Blackshear; offensive guard David Bolisomi; long snapper Donovan Cahill; safety Innis Gaines; cornerback Jeff Gladney; offensive guard Nate Guyton; wide receiver Trevontae Hights; offensive guard Cordel Iwuagwu; cornerback Julius Lewis; wide receiver Ryan Martin; offensive tackle Anthony McKinney; running back Sewo Olonilua; offensive tackle Lucas Niang; safety Keenan Reed; wide receiver Carson Ringdahl; safety Vernon Scott; and kicker Jonathan Song. 

At least several other players also will not be on the roster next year.

Days after the loss to West Virginia, junior wide receiver/returner Jalen Reagor announced that he is foregoing his final year of eligibility and will be an early entrant in the 2020 National Football League Draft. He is expected to be selected in the first or second round. 

Reagor led TCU with 43 receptions and 611 yards this season. He tied for the team lead with five touchdown catches. He ranked second nationally with a 20.8 punt-return average and is one of only two players in the country with two punt returns for touchdowns this season.

Graduate transfer quarterback Alex Delton left the team during the season. 

Also during the season, quarterbacks Mike Collins and Justin Rogers, defensive tackle Karter Johnson and linebacker Jacoby Simpson entered their names into the NCAA transfer portal.

There was good news in the days following the West Virginia loss. 

TCU redshirt freshman safety Ar’Darius Washington was named the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year.

Defensive tackle Ross Blacklock, cornerback Jeff Gladney, safety Trevon Moehrig, linebacker Garret Wallow and kicker Jonathan Song were named All-Big 12 first team. 

Blacklock also was named honorable mention Defensive Lineman of the Year, Wallow also was named honorable mention Defensive Player of the Year, and Song was named honorable mention Special Teams Player of the Year.

Reagor and tight end Pro Wells were named All-Big 12 second team. 

Running back Darius Anderson, wide receiver Taye Barber, offensive lineman Cordel Iwuagwu and defensive tackle Corey Bethley were named All-Big 12 honorable mention.

Quarterback Max Duggan was recognized with honorable-mention Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year honors. 

In addition, Anderson and Gladney will represent TCU at the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile Alabama on January 25.

TCU has been represented at the Senior Bowl for the past six seasons. Ben Banogu and L.J. Collier were at last year’s game. 

All of those stocking-stuffers, however, did not ease the sting of the loss to the Mountaineers, who joined the Big 12 with TCU on July 1, 2012, and with whom the Frogs have a 4-4 record over the past eight years, including two consecutive losses.

The Frogs lost despite the Mountaineers gaining only 244 total yards; 86 rushing and 158 passing. 

It was the sixth time in 12 games that TCU limited an opponent to fewer than 300 yards.

It was the third time this season that the Frogs lost when they held an opponent to under 300 total yards. 

In the sixth game of the season, Kansas State was held to 266 total yards. The Wildcats beat the Frogs, 24-17.

In the ninth game of the season, Baylor managed only 294 total yards. The Bears beat the Frogs, 29-23, in triple overtime. 

TCU lost to the Mountaineers despite the Frogs leading, 17-13, with less than five minutes remaining in the game, and West Virginia on its own 39-yard line.

Four plays later, West Virginia had a first down at the TCU 48-yard line, because of a pass interference penalty called against Gladney, on a Mountaineers fourth-down pass play. 

Three plays later, with West Virginia facing a third-and-12 situation, Blacklock received a roughing-the-passer penalty on a play that was an incomplete pass and would have had West Virginia facing a fourth down. Blacklock also was cited for targeting, resulting in his ejection from the game.

The penalty gave West Virginia a first down at the TCU 35-yard line. Two plays later, with 2:42 remaining in the game, West Virginia scored the winning touchdown on a 35-yard pass play. 

TCU’s offense had two more possessions in the game but was unable to score the winning touchdown or get into field-goal range.

For TCU, it was the sixth loss in seven games this season that were decided by seven points or less. 

In addition to West Virginia, the Frogs lost to SMU, 41-38; Iowa State, 49-24; Kansas State, 24-17; Oklahoma State, 34-27; Baylor, 29-23 (3OT); and Oklahoma, 28-24.

TCU defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 39-7; Purdue, 34-13; Kansas, 51-14; Texas, 37-27; and Texas Tech, 33-31. 

Only two of those teams - Arkansas-Pine Bluff (6-5) and Texas (7-5) -- had winning records. The combined record of Purdue, Kansas and Texas Tech was 11-25.

Against West Virginia, TCU’s offense totaled only 297 yards. The Frogs were one of only two teams that failed to reach the 300-yard mark against the Mountaineers.

The West Virginia game was the second consecutive game the Frogs failed to reach the 300-mark. In the previous game, at Oklahoma, the Horned Frogs had just 204 total yards, including only 65 yards passing, the fewest yards passing in a game by a Big 12 team this season.

The Frogs finished the season as the second-worst passing offense in the Big 12, averaging 204 yards a game. Kansas State had the worst passing offense, averaging 186 yards a game. Texas Tech led the conference in passing, averaging 325 yards a game. 

Against West Virginia, true freshman quarterback Max Duggan struggled once again. He went 15-of-36 for 144 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. The Mountaineers sacked him twice and recorded six quarterback hurries. He carried the football only eight times, for 23 yards. 

For the season, Duggan completed 181 of 339 passes for 2,077 yards. He threw 15 touchdown passes and had 10 passes intercepted. He ran for 555 yards on 130 carries.

Wide receiver Taye Barber led TCU rushers in the West Virginia game. He had 69 yards on two carries, including a 64-yard run.

Senior running backs Darius Anderson and Sewo Olonilua had 31 and 30 yards rushing, respectively. 

For the season, Anderson rushed for a team-best 823 yards, with a 5.5 per carry average. He scored six touchdowns. 

Olonilua had a two-yard touchdown run against West Virginia. The touchdown was his team-best and career-high eighth rushing touchdown of the season. It was his 18th career rushing score, tying Anderson for most among current Horned Frogs. He finished the season with 537 rushing yards. 

For the season, TCU had the Big 12’s third-best rushing attack, averaging 204 yards a game. Oklahoma led the conference, averaging 260 yards a game. Oklahoma State was second in the Big 12, averaging 236 yards a game.

Reagor scored TCU’s final touchdown of the 2019 season on a 70-yard punt return in the third quarter. The score put TCU ahead, 17-10. 

This was Reagor's second punt return touchdown of the season. He is the first Horned Frog with two punt returns for touchdowns in the same season since Jeremy Kerley in 2009. He is one of two players nationally with two punt returns for touchdowns this season. Reagor had 312 punt return yards this season, the most by a Horned Frog since Cameron Echols-Luper had 349 in 2014.

TCU’s defense was led by junior linebacker Garret Wallow, redshirt freshman safety Ar’Darius Washington and senior cornerback Julius Lewis. 

Wallow had a team-best 12 tackles, including three tackles for a loss, to top TCU for the 10th time in 12 games this season.

Wallow recorded double-digit stops for the 10th time in his career and the seventh time this season, including four of the last five games. 

Wallow's 12 tackles give him 205 in his career, the most among active Horned Frogs. He finished the season with 125 tackles, the fourth-best total in Patterson’s 19-years as a head coach.

Washington had two of TCU’s three interceptions in the West Virginia game. He had a team-best five interceptions this year, the most by a freshman under head coach Gary Patterson. His five interceptions are the most by a Frog since Chris Hackett had seven in 2014. 

Lewis’ interception was his first of the season and third of his career.

The Frogs had the Big 12’s second-best passing defense, allowing an average of 200 yards a game. Oklahoma led the conference, allowing an average of 196 passing yards a game. 

TCU also had the Big 12’s second-best rushing defense, allowing an average of 137 yards a game. Iowa State led the conference, allowing an average of 134 yards a game.

And TCU had the Big 12’s second-best overall defense, allowing an average of 336.9 yards a game. Oklahoma led the conference, allowing an average of 336.1 yards a game. 

Kicker Jonathan Song again was perfect for the Frogs in the West Virginia game. He converted his final field goal as a Horned Frog in the second quarter. The 30-yard kick gave the Horned Frogs a 10-7 lead over the Mountaineers.

Song finished 23-of-24 on field goal attempts this season, and 40-of-44 in his career. He was 39-of-40 on attempts of 40 yards and less. 

Song's 23 field goals tie him for second-most in a season at TCU, matching Michael Reeder (1995) and Nick Browne (2002). The record is 28 by Browne in 2003. 

Song is the seventh player in TCU history with 40 field goals in a career. 

Despite the stellar individual performances and accolades, 2019 became the fourth losing season for Patterson as TCU’s head coach.

Patterson’s first losing season came in 2004, when the Frogs finished 5-6 as a member of Conference USA. 

In 2013, in the Big 12, the Frogs finished 4-8, 2-7 in the Big 12. 

In 2016, TCU finished the regular season 6-6. They lost, 31-23, to Georgia in the Liberty Bowl, to finish 6-7. 

After the 2004 losing season, the Frogs went 11-1 (8-0 MWC) in 2005, won the Houston Bowl, 27-24, over Iowa State, and finished ranked 11th in the country. 

After the 2013 losing season, the Horned Frogs went 12-1 (8-1 Big 12) in 2014. They were Big 12 co- champions with Baylor. Both teams were left out of the College Football Playoff for the national championship. TCU annihilated Mississippi, 42-3, in the Peach Bowl and finished ranked third in the country. 

After the losing 2016 season, TCU went 11-3 (7-2 Big 12) in 2017. The Frogs lost, 41-17, to third-ranked Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship Game, then beat 15th-ranked Stanford, 39-37, in the Alamo Bowl. The Frogs finished ranked ninth in the country.

Since going 11-2 (7-2 Big 12) in 2015 and being ranked seventh in the country after a 47-41 (3OT) victory over 15th-ranked Oregon in the Alamo Bowl, the Frogs have gone 29-23 over the last four seasons (6-7, 11-3, 7-6, and 5-7). 

After this season’s finale against West Virginia, only Patterson appeared at the TCU postgame press conference. No players were made available, reportedly for the first time in Patterson's tenure. 

“They’re not very happy with me right now, and I’m not very happy with them, to be honest with you,” Patterson explained. “I feel sorry for my seniors. I didn’t get them back to a bowl game. Simple as that.” 

Hopefully, turning things around in 2020 will be as simple.

Under Patterson, the Frogs have not suffered consecutive losing seasons, but the 2018 and 2019 seasons have turned up the heat, at least a notch or two, on Patterson, the coaching staff, and the program. 

Next year will be Patterson's 2oth season as head coach, 125 years of TCU football, and the opening of the luxurious Legends Club on the east side of Amon G. Carter Stadium.

So, there is a lot to look forward to. 

Happy holidays!