TCU Lowers the Boom on 18th-Ranked Oklahoma, 55-24

October 1, 2022
Amon G. Carter Stadium
Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, Texas
Attendance: 49,095 (sellout)
Midnite had foolishly predicted: Oklahoma 41, TCU 34

Box score: here
Game highlights: here
TCU head coach Sonny Dykes discusses TCU's win: here  
TCU offensive lineman Steve Avila discusses TCU's win: here
TCU linebacker Johnny Hodges discusses TCU's win: here
TCU quarterback Max Duggan discusses TCU's win: here
TCU running back Kendre Miller discusses TCU's win: here
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables discusses Oklahoma's loss: here
Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby discusses Oklahoma's loss: here
Oklahoma linebacker Danny Stutsman discusses Oklahoma's loss: here
Oklahoma tight end Brayden Willis discusses Oklahoma's loss: here 

Oklahoma and the Big 12: 'Welcome to the Sonny Dykes Era at TCU'

By Tom C. "Midnite" Burke

The University of Oklahoma and the Big 12 received a resounding “howdy” from Sonny Dykes on Saturday, October 1, as his TCU Horned Frogs upset the 18th-ranked Sooners 55-24, in Amon G. Carter Stadium on the TCU campus.

It was Dykes’ first Big 12 contest, his first game as a head coach against the Sooners, and just his second overall game in The Carter as head coach of the Frogs.

It was a raucous and packed Amon G. Carter Stadium. The announced attendance was a sellout of 49,094, the largest crowd since the rebuilt Amon G. Carter Stadium opened in 2012 and second-best in program history, trailing only the 50,307 for a game against Utah in 2009.

With their demolishing of Oklahoma (Midnite foolishly had predicted a 41-31 OU victory), the Horned Frogs improved to 4-0 (1-0, Big 12), with previous wins over Colorado, Tarleton State and SMU. 

The win propelled TCU to No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and No. 18 in the AFCA Coaches Top 25 Poll. Oklahoma dropped out of both polls.

The Horned Frogs are ranked for the first time since they appeared at No. 25 for one week in September 2019. TCU was ranked in the opening polls in 2018.

The Frogs are 4-0 for the first time since 2017, when Dykes was on the TCU staff as an offensive analyst. In 2017, TCU was ranked throughout the season and finished at No. 9. 

Dykes is the first TCU head football coach to win his opening four games since Francis Schmidt in 1929. Dykes is the 12th head coach since Schmidt.

TCU remains the only undefeated FBS team, out of 12, in Texas.

In their rout of the Okies, TCU’s offense rolled up 668 yards, including 479 yards in the first half, which was the most by a team nationally in a half against an FBS opponent this season.

TCU had four touchdowns of at least 62 yards. The Horned Frogs started fast with three touchdowns, including two of at least 67 yards, in the opening 7:43. The Horned Frogs had a 27-point first quarter and led 41-17 at the half.

TCU's 55 points were its most scored in its 23 games against Oklahoma. The Frogs scored 27 points in the first quarter, the most they have scored in a first quarter since they scored 30 in a 50-7 win over Texas in 2015, and it was their highest scoring quarter since 28 points in the second quarter in a 62-22 win at Baylor in 2016.

It was such an impressive win by the Frogs on ABC-TV on the first day in October and the 10th day of Fall that not even New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge’s pursuit of the American League baseball home run record could overshadow TCU’s performance.

During the Yankees’ 8-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles, which was telecast basically at the same time as the TCU-Oklahoma game, Judge remained stuck on 61 home runs for the season, tied with Roger Maris, who set the American League standard in 1961.

The win was TCU’s first over Oklahoma since 2014 and its second win over the Sooners since joining the Big 12 in 2012. 

The last time TCU had beaten Oklahoma was in 2014, when the Frogs were 3-0, playing their fourth game of the season and coming off a victory over SMU. The 2014 Horned Frogs went on to a 12-1 Big 12 Championship season.

In Big 12 play, the Frogs improved to 2-11 against the Sooners, including a 37-33 win in Fort Worth on October 4, 2014, and a 41-17 loss to the Okies in the Big 12 Championship game in AT&T Stadium, in Arlington, Texas, on December 2, 2017.

Overall, TCU is 6-17 against Oklahoma. The Horned Frogs are 3-8 versus the Sooners in Fort Worth, 3-7 in Norman, 0-1 in Oklahoma City and 0-1 in Arlington (2017 Big 12 Championship Game).

With their shocking loss to TCU, the Sooners, who opened the season ranked No. 9 in the country and are destined for the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 2025,  dropped their second straight game and fell to 3-2 (0-2, Big 12).

Previously, since 1999, Oklahoma had only lost back-to-back regular-season games once. During the Covid-19 pandemic season of 2020, the Sooners lost to Kansas State, 38-35, in Norman, and Iowa State, 37-30, in Ames, in the second and third games, respectively, of the season. Oklahoma rebounded and finished the season with a 9-2 record.

In addition to losing the game, Oklahoma lost to injuries its starting quarterback, Dillon Gabriel, and one of its defensive backs, Damond Harmon.

Gabriel, a redshirt junior who is a transfer from the University of Central Florida, left the game in the second quarter after he was hit in the head during a tackle by TCU linebacker Jamoi Hodge, who was ejected from the game for targeting. Gabriel walked off the field under his own power but was placed into concussion protocol.

Gabriel left the game with 126 passing yards on 7-for-16 passing. He was replaced by redshirt junior Davis Beville, a transfer from the University of Pittsburgh.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Harmon suffered an apparent neck and/or back injury. He was carted off the field and taken to a local hospital. After observation, he was released and he returned to Norman.

TCU’s victory was led by senior quarterback Max Duggan, who earlier in the week had been named to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award’s Top 25 Watch List (the award recognizes the country's top senior or upperclassman quarterback), and who started his third consecutive game of the season, in place of Redshirt freshman quarterback Chandler Morris, who started and was injured in TCU’s season-opening win over the University of Colorado.

Against the Sooners, Duggan, who came into the game as the nation’s leader in passing efficiency (216.0) and third in completion percentage (77.0), accumulated 418 total yards and accounted for five touchdowns. 

Duggan completed 23-of-33 passes for 302 yards. He threw three touchdown passes. He did not throw an interception. Duggan also was not sacked, after being sacked five times by SMU the previous Saturday.

On the ground, Dugan rushed five times for 116 yards, for his fourth career 100-yard rushing game. He scored two rushing touchdowns, including one on a 67-yard sprint, the second-longest of his career, trailing only his TCU quarterback record 81-yard scoring rush against Texas Tech in 2020. Duggan's two rushing touchdowns give him 21 in his career, tied for 10th in TCU history.

Against Oklahoma, Duggan became just the second player over the last 15 years with a 60-yard touchdown pass and a 60-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter of a game. The other is Lamar Jackson, who did so twice in 2016, when he won college football's Heisman Trophy while playing for the University of Louisville. Today, he is an NFL quarterback, with the Baltimore Ravens.

In addition, in the playoff era, the only other Big 12 quarterback with 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, three passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in the same game was Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts, in 2019. Duggan is the eighth player in the playoff era from any conference to hit those marks against a Power 5 foe.

For his performance against Oklahoma, the Walter Camp Football Foundation named Duggan as its National Offensive Player of the Week.

Is there any doubt who will be named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week?

Eight different receivers caught passes from Duggan against Oklahoma.

Senior wide receiver Taye Barber led the Frogs with 107 receiving yards on three catches. It is his third career 100-yard receiving. He had a 73-yard touchdown catch, the second-longest reception of his career, behind his 77-yard catch at Oklahoma State last season. Barber has 133 career receptions, the most among current Horned Frogs.

Junior wide receiver Savion Williams had a career-best three receptions for the second straight game and third time this season. He had a 19-yard first-quarter touchdown catch that marked his second straight game with a scoring grab. Also, for the second consecutive contest, his touchdown catch provided TCU's first points of the game.

Senior wide receiver Derius Davis had a career-high and team-best seven receptions, but only for 32 yards, and no touchdowns. Plus, he had only 19 return yards. 

Senior wide receiver Gunnar Henderson had a career-long 62-yard reception for a touchdown. 

Junior wide receiver Quentin Johnston had four catches for 41 yards, with a long reception of 17 yards. The Sooners' secondary often double-teamed Johnston, who drew two pass interference calls against Oklahoma's defensive backs.

The Horned Frogs rushed for 361 yards on on 41 carries, an average of 8.8 yards per rush.

Junior running back Kendre Miller posted his second straight 100-yard rushing game and sixth of his career with 136 yards on 13 carries. He had touchdown runs of 69 yards and 15 yards. He has a rushing score in all four games this season and a team-best five rushing touchdowns on the season. 

Fifth-year senior Emari Demercado’s one-yard touchdown run was his fourth rushing score of the season, equaling his career total entering the year. 

TCU’s defense took the boom out of "Boomer Sooner." Oklahoma’s usually potent offense only could muster 355 total yards and three touchdowns.

In addition to Gabriel’s 126 passing yards, Beville accounted for 50 yards passing. He completed seven-of-16 passes. Nether Gabriel or Beville threw a touchdown pass. Gabriel was sacked once, Beville three times. Neither threw an interception. 

The Sooners’ leading rusher was running back Jovantae Barnes. He rushed 18 times for 100 of Oklahoma’s 179 rushing yards. He had two rushing touchdowns.  

Oklahoma running back Eric Gray had a rushing touchdown and 60 rushing yards on 13 carries. 

TCU linebacker Johnny Hodges had a team-best and TCU career-high 10 tackles, including 0.5 for loss. His personal-best is 14 tackles, while playing for Navy last season against SMU.  

Fellow linebacker Dee Winers had two sacks as part of his eight tackles. He also had his second career fumble recovery. 

Safety Mark Perry had five tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss. 

Defensive lineman Tymon Mitchell had a sack for the second straight game.
 
TCU's next game is against the resurgent, undefeated Jayhawks of the University of Kansas, on Saturday, October 8, in David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, on the KU campus in Lawrence, Kansas. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 am (Central). FS1 will broadcast the game.

In his second year as head coach of Kansas, Lance Leipold has led the Jayhawks to a 5-0 start, 2-0 in the Big 12.

On Saturday, October 1, in Lawrence, KU beat Iowa State, 14-11.

The Jayhawks also have beaten: Tennessee Tech, 56-10, in Lawrence; West Virginia, 55-42, in overtime, in Morgantown; Houston, 48-30, in Houston; and Duke, 35-27, in Lawrence. 

Kansas is 5-0 for the first time since 2009, including its first 3-0 start at home since 2009. Kansas is 2-0 in Big 12 play for the first time since 2008.  

The Jayhawks are ranked 19th in the Associated Press Poll and 17th in the AFCA Coaches Poll. 

Leipold is 7-10 in his career at Kansas and 153-49 as a head coach all-time. 

With an attendance of 47,233 for its game against Iowa State, Kansas sold out David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in back-to-back weeks. The consecutive sellouts are the first consecutive sellouts at home since 2009, when Kansas played in front of sellout crowds in consecutive home games against Nebraska (November 14, 2009) and No. 25 Oklahoma (October 24, 2009). A third consecutive sellout is expected for the Jayhawks’ contest against TCU. 

The Horned Frogs, under then head coach Gary Patterson, began its Big 12 football campaign on September 15, 2012, with a 20-6 victory over Kansas in Lawrence. Since joining the Big 12, TCU is 9-1 against Kansas. The lone loss was in October of 2018, when the Jayhawks edged the Horned Frogs, 27-26, in Lawrence.

Last season, on November 20, TCU beat Kansas, 31-28, in Fort Worth.

The Frogs have won three straight over the Jayhawks.

Overall, TCU is 25-9-4 against Kansas, in a series that began in October of 1942.

ESPN's College Gameday will be in Lawrence Saturday for the first time ever, snubbing the Sooners and the University of Texas, who will be munching corn dogs and cotton candy in obscurity in the Cotton Bowl, while dreaming about their upcoming sentence in the SEC.

TCU and Kansas are two of 14 FBS teams that are unbeaten. The other 12 are: Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, Clemson, USC, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Ole Miss, Syracuse and UCLA.