A day or so before the kickoff of the TCU-Cal game this past Saturday at Amon G. Carter Stadium, it was reported that prior to the Big 12 Conference announcing its expansion plans, TCU and the University of Houston were extremely close to being extended an invitation to join the Pac-12 Conference.
The Pac-12 ultimately decided to delay any expansion plans it may be holding in secrecy.
Thus, TCU remained in the Big 12, and Houston and three other schools, the University of Cincinnati, Brigham Young University and the University of Central Florida, accepted invitations to become members of the Big 12 Conference, by at least July of 2024.
No doubt TCU remaining in the Big 12 was of comfort to Cal and the other Pac-12 schools. In recent years, teams in the country's less-potent Power 5 conference have been dominated by the Horned Frogs.
The Golden Bears left
Cowtown the evening of September 11 with their second loss, 34-32, in four
years to the Horned Frogs (Midnite had predicted TCU 38, Cal 17).
Tom C. "Midnite" Burke
Cal’s first loss to TCU came in the infamous 2018 Cheez-It Bowl, when the Frogs escaped Arizona with a 10-7 overtime victory.
Under Gary Patterson as its head coach, TCU is 8-0 against Pac-12 teams; 9-0 if you count the Frogs’ 28-19 victory over USC in the 1998 Sun Bowl in El Paso, when Patterson was the team’s defensive coordinator.
TCU’s planned 2020 season-opener against California in Berkeley was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pac-12 teams played only conference games last season.
Dating back to last season, TCU has won its last five games for the seventh-longest active winning streak in the nation. The Horned Frogs have also won seven of their last eight games.
TCU is 2-0 for the 13th time in Patterson’s 21 seasons as head coach, and is 94-27 in home games under Patterson. On September 4, the Frogs won their season- and home-opener over Duquesne, 45-3.
TCU is ranked 27th in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll. The Frogs are 31st in the latest Coaches Top 25 Poll.
Saturday afternoon in The Carter began with a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.
The September 11 attacks, often referred to as 9/11, were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the militant Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States of America on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Almost 3,000 people were killed.
An oversized American flag was presented on Moncrief Field by TCU’s Air Force ROTC.
The stadium’s video scoreboards displayed a “Never Forget” message.
The 20-yard lines and midfield were painted red, white and blue.
Flags were at half-mast.
TCU players wore a 9/11 decal on the back of their helmets.
A CV-22 Osprey flew over the stadium at the conclusion of the national anthem.
The Osprey’s crew was from Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Air Force describes the $90-million CV-22 Osprey as a tiltrotor aircraft that combines the vertical takeoff, hover and vertical landing qualities of a helicopter with the long-range, fuel efficiency and speed characteristics of a turboprop aircraft.
The rousing, patriotic celebration culminated moments after spine-tingling chants of “U-S-A,” “U-S-A” faded into the crooks and nannies of Amon G. Carter Stadium and TCU sophomore tight end Dominic Dinunzio, carrying an American flag, led the Frogs out of the tunnel from their locker room.
The festivities prompted Patterson and Cal head coach Justin Wilcox to honor the special day with inspirational songs.
Listen to Patterson’s song: here
Listen to Wilcox’s song: here
The Golden Bears were the more inspired team for most of the game’s first half. Cal led the Frogs 19-14 at halftime.
Of much importance, as would be played out later in the game, TCU’s halftime deficit would have been greater if the Golden Bears had not muffed the extra-point try after their first touchdown and if they had not failed to convert a two-point conversion after their second touchdown.
Cal’s lead also would have been greater if not for TCU sophomore running back Zach Evans, who quickly is establishing himself as one of the premier collegiate running backs in the country.
With 11 seconds remaining in the first half, Evans dazzled TCU fans with a tantalizing 51-yard touchdown run.
Evans, who signed with the Frogs in 2020 as the highest-rated recruit in TCU football history and their only five-star recruit, set a career high with 190 yards rushing on 22 carries against Cal. He had 99 of his total yards in the first half.
Evans’ performance earned him Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors.
TCU hasn’t had a player rush for at least 190 yards since Sewo Olonilua had 194 yards against Cal in the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl.
Dating back to last season, the Houston native has topped 100 yards rushing three times in the last four games, and he is the first Horned Frog since Olonilua in 2019 with a rushing touchdown in four consecutive contests.
Evans’ last-second touchdown of the first half no doubt inspired the Horned Frogs going into the second half. It also helped set the stage for the emergence of TCU’s version of the infamous Dallas Cowboys Triplets.
The Dallas Cowboys teams of the 90s created the idea of "triplets" around the NFL. Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin led the Cowboys to three Super Bowls in four years (1992, 1993, 1995). All three are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
A great quarterback. A great running back. A great wide receiver.
For the Cowboys, the quarterback was Aikman.
For the Frogs, the quarterback is sophomore Max Duggan.
For the Cowboys, the running back was Smith.
For the Frogs, the running back is Evans.
For the Cowboys, the wide receiver was Irvin.
For the Frogs, the wide receiver is Quentin Johnston.
TCU opened the second half against Cal with a 15-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with Duggan and Johnston connecting on an 18-yard touchdown pass that gave the Frogs their first lead of the game, 21-19.
In the fourth quarter, Duggan and Johnston again connected, this time on a 45-yard touchdown reception, with the Frogs taking a 27-26 lead after a two-point conversion attempt failed.
With 5:47 remaining in the game, Duggan scored what proved to be the game’s winning points, on a nine-yard run. Griffin Kell’s extra-point kick increased TCU’s lead to 34-26.
The Horned Frogs’ Triplets.
A great quarterback. A great running back. A great wide receiver.
Evans complemented his first-half exploits with 91 rushing yards in the second half.
For the game, Duggan completed 17 of 31 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns. The three touchdown passes tied a career high.
In addition to his two touchdown passes to Johnston, Duggan threw a 30-yard touchdown reception to Blair Conwright in the second quarter. It was the Frogs’ first score of the game. It also was Conwright’s first touchdown of the season and second of his career.
Duggan's 17 completions were spread among nine receivers.
Receiver/returner JD Spielman had a nine-yard reception to extend his streak with a catch to 38 consecutive games, third-longest in the nation. It also represents every game in his collegiate career.
Duggan also hurt the Golden Bears with his running ability. He rushed for 71 yards, and the one touchdown, on 13 carries.
Despite another gutsy performance that resulted in another win, Duggan was far from perfect against Cal.
In the second quarter, with the Frogs at their five-yard line, Duggan telegraphed a pass that was intercepted at the TCU eight-yard line and returned for a touchdown by Cal safety Daniel Scott.
On several occasions, Duggan misfired on passes to open receivers, especially on deep routes.
“I’ve got to be better on the downfield throws,” Duggan said. “I missed a lot of them.”
Duggan connected with Johnston on a team-best five receptions for 95 yards. Johnston's two touchdown catches equaled his career total entering the game. He became the first Horned Frog with two scoring grabs in a contest since Pro Wells last season at Kansas.
Despite The Triplets and despite the Horned Frogs’ offense rolling up 505 yards of offense, which is their most in a game since totaling 549 yards in a 2019 win at Texas Tech, it took a defensive stand late in the game to help seal the victory for the Frogs.
After Cal scored a touchdown to cut the TCU lead to 34-32 with just over four minutes left in the game, defensive end Ochaun Mathis and defensive tackle Patrick Jenkins denied Cal running back Damien Moore the end zone on a two-point conversion attempt.
The TCU offense then was able to grind out three first downs and end the game in the victory formation.
Albeit the stakes were much higher and the atmosphere much more tense, it was reminiscent of the TCU defense, led by linebacker Tank Carder, stopping Wisconsin on a two-point conversion attempt in the 2011 Rose Bowl, after which the TCU offense, behind quarterback Andy Dalton and running back Wayman James, ran out the clock for a 21-19 victory.
Remember the extra-point muff by Cal earlier in the game?
The Golden Bears chased that point the remainder of game. They never caught it. And it cost them a possible victory.
Speaking of extra-point conversions, four successful extra-point conversions by Kell were crucial in TCU's victory.
Unfortunately, Kell missed a key 39-yard field-goal attempt in the third quarter. For his TCU career, Kell now is 16-of-23 on field-goals.
Defensively, the Frogs gave up 442 total yards to Cal; 309 yards through the air and 133 yards on the ground.
Golden Bears redshirt senior quarterback Chase Garbers completed 16-of-27 passes for 309 yards. He threw two touchdown passes and no interceptions. He also ran seven times for 43 yards.
Garbers started for the Bears against TCU in the 218 Cheez-It Bowl. In that loss, he completed 12-of-19 passes for 93 yards. He also threw three interceptions.
Against TCU this past Saturday, Cal senior wide receivers Nikko Remigio and Trevon Clark had touchdown receptions of seven yards and 54 yards, respectively.
Clark was Cal’s leading receiver against the Frogs. He had two receptions for 122 yards.
Against the TCU defense, Cal had five pass plays that gained at least 28 yards, including two that went 50-plus yards on touchdown drives.
California sophomore running back Damien Moore rushed for 71 yards on 14 carries against the Frogs. He scored two rushing touchdowns.
TCU junior linebacker Dee Winters had a team-best eight tackles, including 1.5 with a loss and one sack.
TCU senior safety La'Kendrick Van Zandt had his first sack of the season and second of his career.
The Horned Frogs’ two sacks against Cal gave them at least one sack in 88 of their last 93 games.
Junior cornerback Tre-Vius Hodges-Tomlinson tied a career-high with six tackles. He also had a pass breakup.
Punter Jordy Sandy had a career long 64-yard punt, the longest by a Horned Frog since Ethan Perry's 67-yard punt against Minnesota in 2014.
“We’ll take it,” Patterson said about the win. “It’s hard to be 2-0. We found a way to make a couple of plays. It was a good ballgame by both sides. We’ve got work to do. I’m not going to panic. This group has earned the right because of their chemistry and the way they work. We need to come back tomorrow and we need to get better.”
After enjoying a bye on Saturday, September 18, Patterson and TCU will look to improve to 3-0 on Saturday, September 25, when they face bitter cross-town rival SMU at 11 am (Central) in Amon G. Carter Stadium.
It will be the third of four consecutive home games to open the 2021 season for the Frogs.
It also will be the 100th meeting between TCU and SMU, who used to compete against one another in the Southwest Conference. SMU is in the American Athletic Conference (AAC).
The Frogs hold a 51-41-7 edge in the series with SMU. TCU has won 11 of the last 13 games and 17 of the last 20 games.
TCU and SMU did not play each other last year. The teams were scheduled to play in Fort Worth on September 11. COVID-19 protocols resulted in the game being canceled.
TCU and SMU last met on September 21, 2019, in Fort Worth. The Mustangs prevailed, 41-38. It was SMU’s first win over the Frogs since 2011.
The win meant that the Mustangs seized control of the coveted Iron Skillet trophy. After the game, SMU players and their fans partied hearty with the skillet, in the north end zone area of The Carter.
It was not an enjoyable sight.
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