TCU Earns 45-3 Shortened-Game Win Over Duquesne

 

Duquesne, like any FCS team would be, was eager this past Saturday, September 4, against TCU, to see how it stacked up against not only an FBS team, but a member of the Big 12 Conference it was playing for the first time in its history.

So, naturally, after the Dukes waltzed into Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas, and promptly won the coin toss, they elected to defer their option to the second half, and let the game begin with the Frogs on the offensive.

So much for that strategy. 

Tom "Midnite" Burke

Less than six minutes into the contest, TCU led 7-0 and the rout was on.

By the time the second half started, the Horned Frogs led 35-3 and   the Dukes had seen enough.

TCU head coach Gary Patterson agreed with Duquesne head coach Jerry Schmitt’s request to reduce the third and fourth quarters in length from the normal 15 minutes, to 12 minutes, thereby shortening the game to 54 minutes, instead of the normal 60 minutes.

NCAA rules allow shortened halves if there is mutual agreement between the opposing head coaches and the referee.

A running clock is not allowed by the NCAA Football Rules Committee.

The Dukes obviously were missing the comforts of their hometown of Pittsburgh and FCS football.

The Frogs probably were eager to turn their attention to the University of California (Cal), who is their September 11 opponent.

The Frogs emptied their bench in the second half and limited themselves to a field goal and a touchdown in the final 24 minutes to romp to a 45-3 victory over the overwhelmed, but impressed, Dukes (Midnite had predicted a 48-10 TCU win).

TCU improved to 119-5 under Patterson when allowing 17 points or less, and to 93-27 under Patterson at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

“We’re really, really thin in our depth,” Schmitt said about his request for the game to be shortened in the second half. “I was personally concerned because at our level, our backup guys are walk-on Division III-type players. To put some of them in to protect some of the skill guys... I appreciate Gary doing that.”

“They asked to go down to 12 minutes and I agreed,” Patterson said. “They had like five or six guys who had gone out. I think the heat had taken its toll on them, plus other things. It was a good thing.”

The Frogs also had to battle an intense afternoon heat that sizzled in the high 90s, with a heat index of 100 degrees or more.

So, even though it was only a 54-minute win, Patterson was happy to open the 2021 season with a victory and improve to 16-5 in season-openers and 19-2 in home-openers as TCU’s head coach. He celebrated with a song. Listen: here

For the overmatched Dukes, the game couldn’t end soon enough and they couldn’t get out of Fort Worth quick enough. Schmitt summed up his feelings with a song. Listen: here

Dating back to last season, TCU has won its last four games to tie for the eighth-longest streak in the nation. The Horned Frogs also have won six of their last seven games, as they won five of their last six games in 2020.

Elsewhere in college football during the first full weekend of the 2021 season:

• Ryan Greenhagen, Fordham, matched a Division I record with 30 tackles in a 52-7 loss to Nebraska.
• Presbyterian quarterback Ren Hefley tossed an FCS record 10 touchdown passes in an 84-43 victory over NAIA-member St. Andrews
• SMU quarterback Tanner Mordecai threw five of his school-record seven touchdowns in the first half to help the Mustangs beat Abilene Christian 56-9. 
• Montana became the first FCS team to upset a ranked FBS team in five years, stunning No. 20 Washington 13-7.

TCU’s game against Duquesne was the Frogs’ second non-conference game since 2019. 

COVID-19 issues scrapped TCU’s nonconference games last season, except for a season-ending 52-10 win over Louisiana Tech on December 12, in Fort Worth. 

TCU’s scheduled Texas Bowl appearance against Arkansas last year had to be canceled because of COVID-19 issues.

The game against the Dukes was never in doubt, except that Duquesne was doubting its reasoning for scheduling the game. 

TCU had touchdown drives on its opening three possessions and on five of six drives in the opening half, and its defense was dominant.

The Frogs took the opening kickoff and went 90 yards in 13 plays. Quarterback Max Duggan scored TCU’s first touchdown of the 2021 season on an eight-yard run. It was his 17th-career rushing touchdown. His 10 rushing scores last season led TCU.
 
Duggan’s touchdown run was followed by touchdown runs of two yards by running back Emari Demercado, two yards by running back Zach Evans, who missed TCU’s first two offensive series because of a team-rule violation, and five yards by running back Kendre Miller.

Demercado’s touchdown run was the first of his career.

Evans’ touchdown run gave him a rushing score in his last three games.

Miller’s touchdown run was his third career rushing score. He led the Frogs in rushing, with 54 yards of eight carries.

The Frogs’ fifth and final touchdown of the first half came on a 16-yard pass from Duggan to receiver JD Spielman.

Duggan played just the first half. He completed 14-of-19 passes for 207 yards and the touchdown to Spielman. He had one pass intercepted.
 
Duggan's 207 yards in the air put him over the 4,000-yard career mark. He's now at 4,079 yards, which ranks ninth in TCU history. He passed former TCU quarterback Leon Clay in the school’s all-time yardage list in the first quarter.

Spielman’s touchdown reception was his first touchdown as a Horned Frog, and it was his first touchdown since November 29, 2019, while playing for Nebraska against Iowa.

Spielman, who is the son of Minnesota Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman, transferred to TCU from Nebraska after the 2019 season.  Spielman obtained an immediate eligibility waiver to play at TCU in 2020, but his season was cut short by a season-ending injury. He played in just three games, finishing with five catches for 56 yards. Spielman caught a pass in all three games, though, and is third nationally with his streak of at least one catch in 37 consecutive games. That represents every game he’s played in his college career.

The Frogs’ defense shut out Duquesne in the opening half and didn’t allow the Dukes to complete a pass.

In building its 35-0 halftime lead, TCU had 335 yards of total offense, compared to Duquesne’s 20 yards. The Frogs had 20 first downs, compared to the Dukes’ two.

TCU now is 142-19 under Patterson when holding a halftime lead.

In the shortened second half, TCU backup quarterbacks Matthew Downing, Chandler Morris and Sam Jackson saw action.

An 18-yard field goal by Griffin Kell late in the third quarter made the score 38-3. Kell is now 16-of-22 in his career.

The Frogs’ lone touchdown of the second half and final score of the game was a 20-yard touchdown pass from Morris, a transfer prior to this season from the University of Oklahoma, to Blake Nowell late in the fourth quarter.

Chandler’s touchdown toss was one of few bright moments of the weekend for the Morris family.

Chandler’s father is former SMU and Arkansas head coach Chad Morris, who now is the coach of powerhouse Allen High School, in Allen, Texas.

Allen High School has a state-of-the art, $60 million football stadium, and it hadn’t lost at home since 2010 (an 84-game home winning streak), until Friday night, September 3, when Chad Morris’ Eagles got rocked, 41-20, by the Houston area’s Atascocita High School.

In the third quarter against Duquesne, the Frogs lost their shutout when the Dukes’ Brian Bruzdewicz kicked a 26-yard field goal to climax a 57-yard, eight-play drive.

Otherwise, TCU’s defense was impermeable.

Duquesne's 137 yards of total offense (76 yards passing, 61 yards rushing) were the fewest by a TCU opponent since September 28, 2019, when Kansas was held to 159.

Under Patterson, the Horned Frogs improved to 46-0 when holding opponents to 200 yards or less.

The Dukes achieved just six first downs.

Quarterbacks Joe Mischler and Darius Perrantes completed only 3-of-12 passes.

Before being forced out of the game by injury, Mischler had a pass intercepted by TCU cornerback Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson. It was Hodges-Tomlinson’s first career interception.

TCU linebacker Dee Winters had a team-best seven tackles, giving him 100 in his career.

TCU defensive end Ochaun Mathis recorded the Frogs’ lone sack in the game. Mathis had a team-best nine sacks last season.

Duquesne dropped to 7-8-1 all-time against current members of the Big 12. This was the first time the Dukes have played one of those schools in 79 years.

Considering how things went for Duquesne against the Frogs, it may be another 79 years before the Dukes schedule another game against a Big 12 school.

The Frogs next will play Cal, at 2:30 pm (Central) on Saturday, September 11, in Amon G. Carter Stadium, in Fort Worth. The game will be broadcast by ESPNU.

Cal opened its season at home, in Berkeley, California, on September 4, and lost to Nevada, 22-17, after blowing a 14-point lead.

This will be the second-ever meeting between TCU and Cal, which is a member of the Pac-12.

TCU entered the 2018 season ranked No. 16 in the AP preseason poll. The Frogs went 7-6, securing a winning season by beating Cal, 10-7, in overtime, on December 26, 2018, in the Cheez-It Bowl, at Chase Field (home of the Major League Baseball Arizona Diamondbacks), in Phoenix, Arizona.

The bowl game featured nine interceptions (six in the first half). Jonathan Song’s 27-yard field goal in overtime provided TCU with its winning points.

TCU was scheduled to open its 2020 season on September 5 by playing Cal in Berkeley, California. The game was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pac-12 teams played only conference games in 2020.

TCU has a 7-0 record against the Pac-12 under Patterson, including a 31-14 home victory over Stanford in 2008.

The Horned Frogs have had bowl wins over Oregon (47-41, 3 OT, 2016 Alamo Bowl), Stanford (39-37, 2017 Alamo Bowl) and Cal (10-7, OT, 2018 Cheez-It Bowl), in addition to a 30-21 neutral site (AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas) victory over Oregon State in 2010, and road wins at Stanford (38-36, 2007) and Arizona (13-10, OT, 2003).

Cal opened its season on September 4 with a 22-17 loss at home to the University of Nevada, which is a member of the Mountain West Conference.

Against Cal, TCU will be looking to open its season with a 2-0 record for the 13th time during Patterson’s 21 seasons as head coach of the Horned Frogs.