#4 TCU 62, Iowa State 14
November 26, 2022
Amon G. Carter Stadium
Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, Texas
Attendance: 44,846
Final stats: here
Game highlights: here
TCU head coach Sonny Dykes discusses TCU's win: here
TCU quarterback Max Duggan discusses TCU's win: here
TCU safety Millard Bradford discusses TCU's win: here
TCU cornerback Tre'Vius Hodges-Tomlinson discusses TCU's win: here
TCU cornerback Josh Newton discusses TCU's win: here
Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell discusses Iowa State's loss: here
National Championship Playoff Spot Within Reach for Frogs
And another one bites the dust.
The 12th one, as a matter of fact.
TCU football wrapped up a 12-0 2022 regular
season with a 62-14 victory over Iowa State on Saturday, November
26, in Amon G. Carter Stadium, in Fort Worth, Texas (Midnite had predicted a
34-17 TCU victory).
TCU is one of three unbeaten FBS teams in
the country. The other two are Georgia and Michigan.
TCU is the nation’s third-ranked team in the College Football Playoff National
Championship rankings that were released on Tuesday, November 29. Georgia is
first. Michigan is second. The same three teams also are first through third,
respectively, in the latest Associated Press poll and the Coaches poll.
TCU finished the season 9-0 in Big 12 Conference
play. The Frogs claimed the regular-season conference championship by two games
over Kansas State. The Wildcats finished 7-2 in the Big 12, 9-3 overall.
K-State is ranked 10th in the College Football Playoff National Championship
rankings.
TCU will play Kansas State in the Dr. Pepper Big 12
Conference Championship Game on Saturday, December 3, in AT&T Stadium, in
Arlington, Texas. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 am (Central). ABC will broadcast
the game, which will be this season's only conference championship game featuring a top
10 matchup.
 |
Tom C. "Midnite" Burke
|
During regular-season Big 12 play, the then
eighth-ranked Horned Frogs defeated then 17th-ranked Kansas State, 38-28, on
October 22, in Fort Worth. ESPN
College GameDay will broadcast its Saturday morning football show from AT&T
Stadium, prior to Saturday's TCU-Kansas State game. TCU is
8-1 all-time, including 2-0 this season, when
ESPN’s College GameDay has been on site (in Lawrence when TCU played Kansas, and in Austin when TCU played Texas).
With its loss to the Frogs, Iowa State finished
the regular season 4-8 overall. With an 1-8 Big 12 record, the Cyclones
finished in last place in the conference, behind ninth-place West Virginia (3-6 Big 12),
whom Iowa State defeated, 31-14.
The
Horned Frogs scored more points than any other team did against the
Cyclones this season.
The
48-point loss to TCU was the most lopsided loss for Iowa State in coach Matt Campbell’s seven-year tenure
with the Cyclones. It also is Iowa State's worst since losing 71-7 to Baylor in 2013.
TCU
is 12-0 for the third time in program history and for the first time since 2010, when the Horned Frogs won the
Rose Bowl (21-19 over Wisconsin) and finished the season at 13-0 and as the nation's second-ranked team.
TCU
is the first Big 12 team to be 12-0 since Texas in 2009.
The
Horned Frogs are the first Big 12 member to go 9-0 in conference play since
Oklahoma in 2016.
TCU
head coach Sonny Dykes, who was hired on November 29, 2021,
is the first head football coach in TCU and Big 12 history to go 12-0
in his first season. He's the fourth head coach nationally since 1996 to
accomplish the feat.
In recognition of his outstanding first season
with the Frogs, Dykes unanimously has been named the Big 12 Coach of the
Year. Additionally, he is a candidate for the 2022 Paul "Bear" Bryant
National Coach of the Year Award.
With Dykes' father, Spike Dykes, being the Big 12 Coach of the Year for
Texas Tech in 1996, the Dykes become just the third father-son duo in
college football history, and first in the Big 12, to both be a
conference coach of the year. The Dykes join Bobby Bowden (Florida
State; 1993, 1997) and Tommy Bowden (Clemson, 2003) in the ACC and
Kim Helton (Houston, 1996) and Tyson Helton (Western Kentucky, 2019) in
Conference USA. TCU, picked to finish seventh in the preseason Big 12
poll, is 12-0 and ranked third nationally.
TCU's
undefeated regular season included five wins over then-ranked opponents (Oklahoma, Kansas, Oklahoma State,
Kansas State and Texas). Those wins
surpass the combined wins over ranked opponents of the other two undefeated teams (Georgia, 2;
Michigan, 2).
The Frogs' five victories over ranked opponents during the regular season is tied with Tennessee for
the most nationally.
Four
of TCU's wins over ranked teams (Oklahoma, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Kansas
State) came on consecutive Saturdays in October. The Horned Frogs are the third
team since 1960 (Stanford, 2012; Iowa, 1960) to win four consecutive games over
ranked opponents in a calendar month.
TCU's
four consecutive games with a win over a ranked opponent ties for first
nationally since 1996.
During
the regular season, the Horned Frogs recorded eight wins over bowl teams (SMU,
Oklahoma, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Texas and Baylor).
That’s more than any other team in the country.
TCU's strength of schedule ranks first in the nation among FBS teams.
The
Frogs’ runaway victory over Iowa State on Senior Day came as a relief to TCU
fans. None of TCU’s previous seven wins had been
by more than 10 points, including the previous Saturday’s 29-28 comeback win over
Baylor, on Griffin Kell's 40-yard field goal as time expired.
TCU this regular reason became the first FBS team since 1975 to win seven
straight games by 10 points or less ... taking years off the lives of TCU fans.
Cardiac
Frogs had become as common as hypnotoad.
The
game with Iowa State figured to be another nail-biter.
The Cyclones came into the game boasting the Big
12’s best defense and allowing just 16.5 points a game (ranking eighth
nationally) and only 277.3 yards per game (ranking sixth nationally). Only two opponents had scored more than 24
points against Iowa State, the most being 31, and the Cyclones’ seven losses
had been by a combined 38 points, or less than 5 1/2 points per game.
Furthermore,
TCU had dropped its last three games and four of the past five games against
Iowa State, including last season’s regular-season finale, 48-14, in Ames,
which kept the Frogs from becoming bowl eligible.
Those
statistics quickly became meaningless.
Despite
gray, cold, gloomy, misty weather, TCU had 17 points on its first three drives
and led 24-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Horned
Frogs fans still stuffed from their Thanksgiving Day feasts were dancing in the
aisles.
The
Frogs led 34-7 at halftime and 55-7 entering the fourth quarter, when TCU’s
starters were replaced by their backups.
The 62
points are the most points TCU has scored against an FBS opponent since 2016,
when the Frogs defeated Baylor, 62-22.
TCU’s
offense scored 48 of the Frogs’ 62 points, behind another quality performance by
quarterback Max Duggan, who continues to add to his Heisman Trophy resume.
Duggan, who made his 40th career start, completed
17-of-24 passes for 212 yards and three touchdowns. He did not throw an
interception.
Duggan, who did not start until the second
game of the regular season, has passed for 3,070 yards. He has thrown 29
touchdowns and rushed for five more. He has thrown just three interceptions.
Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty, in 2013, is the only Big 12 quarterback in
history with more passing touchdowns (32) and fewer than five interceptions.
Duggan’s 29 touchdown passes are third-most at
TCU, behind only Trevone Boykin (33, 2014; and 31, 2015).
Duggan leads the Big 12 in passing efficiency, touchdown passes,
completion percentage (66.6), passing yards, yards per attempt (9.3) and yards
per completion (13.9).
Duggan is fourth in the nation in passing efficiency with a 171.3
rating. He is tied for second among Power 5 quarterbacks, one off the
lead, with 16 touchdown passes of at least 20 yards and has accounted for three
or more touchdowns in eight of his 11 starts this season.
This week, Duggan was named the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Year and he earned All-Big 12 recognition as the quarterback on the conference's first-team offensive unit.
He also was named this week as the 2022 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner. The award is given annually to the nation's top
upperclassmen quarterback in college football. Candidates are judged on
accomplishments on the field as well as on their character, scholastic
achievement, and leadership qualities. Duggan is the first Horned Frog to win the award.
Additionally, this week Duggan was named as one of five finalists for the Walter Camp Football Foundation Player of the Year Award.
Plus, Duggan has been named one of three finalists for the 2022 Davey O’Brien National
Quarterback Award, presented to the nation's top quarterback. Joining Duggan as finalists are Ohio
State's C.J. Stroud and USC's Caleb Williams.
The Davey O'Brien Award is
named after TCU's 1938 Heisman Trophy winner who guided the Horned Frogs to an undefeated record and a
national championship that season.
Duggan is TCU's first Davey
O'Brien Award finalist since Trevone Boykin in the 2014 and 2015
seasons.
Duggan opened TCU’s scoring
against Iowa State with a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Geor’Quarius Spivey. The reception,
on a fourth-and-two play on the game’s opening series, was Spivey’s first
collegiate touchdown and part of a TCU career-high three receptions for 43
yards.
Duggan’s other two touchdown
passes were a two-yarder to wide receiver Savion Williams and a 13-yarder to
wide receiver Jordan Hudson. Williams had a
career-high five receptions for 48 yards.
TCU running
back Kendre Miller had a team-best 72 yards on 15 carries against Iowa State.
He had a 25-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and a one-yard touchdown
run in the second quarter.
Miller’s
touchdown runs gave him a rushing score in all 12 games this year, tying the
longest streak to begin a season in TCU history. Pro Football Hall of Famer and
TCU Board of Trustees member LaDainian Tomlinson ran for a touchdown in all 12
games in 2000.
Miller has a
rushing touchdown in 13 consecutive games. It is the longest active streak in
the nation and ranks second all-time at TCU, behind only Tomlinson (15,
1999-00).
Miller has a
team-best 16 rushing touchdowns, fourth-most in a season at TCU.
Miller’s 25
career rushing touchdowns move him past Duggan into sole possession of eighth place in
TCU history.
Miller has earned All-Big 12 recognition as a member of the conference's first-team offensive unit.
Receiver/returner Derius Davis, who returned from injury and caught one pass for 14 yards against Iowa State, but did not return punts or kickoffs, has been named the Big 12's Special Teams Player of the Year.
Kell, last week's hero of the Baylor win, was two-of-two on field goals, including a career long 54-yarder. He also kicked a
36-yard field goal.
Kell is 14-of-15 on field goals for the season and 43-of-54 in his career. He is in sixth place on TCU's career field goals list.
Kell has earned All-Big 12 recognition as a member of the conference's first-team offensive unit.
Playing the
fourth quarter, TCU quarterback Chandler Morris got his most extensive playing time
since he started the season-opener at the University of Colorado. Morris, off course, injured a knee during that game and was replaced by Duggan, who ever since has been
the Frogs’ starting quarterback.
Against Iowa
State, Morris completed 5-of-6 passes for 34 yards. He threw a two-yard
touchdown pass to Hudson, accounting for the Frogs’ last touchdown of the game.
TCU’s defense
also got in on the scoring action. The Frogs returned two interceptions for
touchdowns.
In the first
quarter, TCU safety Millard Bradford intercepted a pass from Iowa State
starting quarterback Hunter Dekkers and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown.
It was TCU’s first defensive score of the season and the first Pick 6 since TCU
cornerback Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson intercepted a pass and returned it for a
touchdown against Texas Tech last season.
The
interception was Bradford’s first of the season and second of his career.
In the third quarter, cornerback Josh Newton intercepted
a pass from Iowa State backup quarterback Rocco Becht and returned it 57 yards
for a touchdown. The interception was Newton’s third of the season and sixth of
his career. Newton also broke up two passes and made four tackles in the game.
Newton, Bradford and Hodges-Tomlinson were
instrumental in shutting down Iowa State wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson, who
came into the game leading the country in number of receptions and was fifth in
receiving yards. The Frogs held Hutchinson to two catches for 11 yards.
Hodges-Tomlinson has earned Big 12 Honorable Mention Defensive Player of the Year honors and he and Newton have earned All-Big 12 recognition as members of the conference's first-team defensive unit. Bradford has earned Honorable Mention All-Big 12 recognition.
Hodges-Tomlinson, who is a nephew of LaDanian Tomlinson, recently was
named as one of three finalists for the 2022 Paycom Jim Thorpe Award,
presented to the nation's top defensive back.
Joining Hodges-Tomlinson as finalists are Utah's Clark Phillips III and
Illinois' Devon Witherspoon. Former TCU safety and now Las Vegas Raider Tre’von
Moehrig won the 2020 Paycom Jim Thorpe Award.
Hodges-Tomlinson recently had a stretch of four consecutive games with a
takeaway. He has 40 tackles on the season, including two for loss, with
three interceptions, 10 pass breakups and a forced fumble.
Hodges-Tomlinson is a three-time First-Team All-Big 12 selection and a 2020
All-American. His five career interceptions top all current Horned Frogs.
Linebacker Johnny Hodges, who had three tackles in the Iowa State game, has been named the Big 12's Defensive Newcomer of the Year.
Defensive
lineman Damonic Williams, who had one tackle in the Iowa State game,
has been named Honorable mention Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year. For the
year, he has 24 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Linebacker Jamoi Hodge, who had five tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss against the Cyclones, has been named Honorable Mention All-Big 12.
TCU’s undefeated regular season
is a credit and tribute to the team’s seniors.
Prior to this year, the seniors had not won
more than seven games in a season. COVID-19 disrupted the 2020 season. Wins
over ranked teams, including Texas and Baylor, highlighted the sub-.500
seasons. There was the coaching change within the 2021 season, when
Gary Patterson resigned, and another coaching change when Sonny Dykes was hired
as the head coach shortly after the 2021 season ended.
Now, the seniors are leading what
could be an unprecedented season for the Horned Frogs' football program.
TCU is one win away from its first College
Football Championship Playoff appearance, and three wins away from its first
football national championship since 1938.
This Saturday's game against Kansas State will be TCU’s second appearance in a
Big 12 Conference Championship Game. The Horned Frogs were beaten by Oklahoma,
41-17, in the 2017 championship game, which was played in AT&T Stadium and was the first year of the return of the game after a six-year absence.
The Sooners, who ended up in the College Football Playoff National
Championship, were led by quarterback Baker Mayfield, who won that season's Heisman Trophy.
Dykes was an offensive analyst for the
Horned Frogs in the 2017 Big 12 Championship Game. Five sixth-year seniors
(defensive linemen Terrell Cooper and George Ellis, cornerback Noah Daniels,
offensive guard Wes Harris and tight end Carter Ware) were on the 2017 TCU team.
TCU will be playing at AT&T Stadium for
the sixth time and first time since a 40-28 loss to Ohio State in the 2018 AdvoCare
Showdown.
The Horned Frogs are 2-3 at AT&T
Stadium. TCU defeated No. 24 Oregon State, 30-21, in the 2010 Cowboys Classic,
and beat BYU, 38-28, in 2011. Besides the losses to Oklahoma and Ohio State,
TCU dropped a 37-27 decision to No. 12 LSU in the 2013 Cowboys Classic.
Kansas State is no stranger to conference
championships.
The
Wildcats won a share of the Big 12 championship in 2012, in between the
conference playing championship games. K-State won 11 games and earned a Fiesta
Bowl bid. The Wildcats lost to Oregon, 35-17.
Kansas
State last played in a Big 12 Championship Game in 2003. They upended No. 1
Oklahoma, 35-7, to win their 11th game of the season. They lost to Ohio State,
35-28, in the Fiesta Bowl.
K-State
also appeared in the 2000 and 1998 Big 12 Championship games, falling to No. 1
Oklahoma and No. 10 Texas A&M, respectively. Kansas State had climbed to
second in the country in 1998.
TCU and
Kansas State will be playing each other for the 17th time. The
series is tied at 8-8.
Since
beginning Big 12 play in 2012, TCU is 5-6 versus Kansas State. This year's
38-28 victory by the Frogs in Fort Worth snapped a three-game losing streak to
the Wildcats.
Overall,
TCU is 5-3 against Kansas State in Fort Worth and 3-5 in Manhattan. This is the
first neutral site meeting between the teams.
K-State's offense
has been led by junior quarterback Will Howard (#22), who has replaced injured senior starting
quarterback Adrian Martinez (#9), who played in the loss to TCU but quickly left the
game because of an injury. Still, Martinez was named Big 12 Honorable Mention Offensive Newcomer of the Year.
In the 38-28
loss to the Frogs in October, Howard threw for 225 yards and a pair of
touchdowns. In five games this season, Howard has thrown 13 touchdown passes
and rushed for two additional scores. He has thrown just two interceptions.
Deuce Vaughn (#22), the Wildcats’
five-foot-six-inch running back, rambled for 83 yards on
12 carries in the loss to TCU. Vaughn had a 47-yard touchdown run, but
was held to 36 yards on his 11 other carries. His 121 all-purpose yards in
the game is among the fewest he’s produced all season.
Since
facing TCU, Vaughn has rushed for 100 or more yards in three of Kansas State’s
last five games. He’s had at least 80 receiving yards in two of them. In all
three of Kansas State’s losses, Vaughn has been held under 100 yards.
Vaughn was named All-Big 12 running back on the conference's second-team offensive unit.
Kansas State offensive lineman Cooper Beebe (#50) was named the Big 12's Offensive Lineman of the year and All-Big 12 on the conference's first-team offensive unit.
Kansas State running back/tight end Ben Sinnott (#34) was named All-Big 12 fullback on the conference's first-team offensive unit.
The Wildcats’ leading
receiver against TCU was senior wide receiver Malik Knowles (#4). He had four receptions
for 69 yards. Senior wide receiver Kade Warner (#85) and senior tight end Sammy Wheeler (#19) caught
touchdown passes for K-State.
The Horned Frogs were down 28-10 to Kansas
State midway through the second quarter before scoring the game's final 28
points and holding the Wildcats to 87 yards of offense in the second half.
TCU compiled 495 total yards of offense against the Wildcats’
defense; 215 yards rushing, 280 yards passing.
Duggan threw three touchdown passes and Miller rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns on
29 carries.
One of
Duggan’s touchdown passes was a 55-yarder to wide receiver Quentin Johnston in the third
quarter that gave the Frogs a 31-28 lead.
Johnston, a
likely first-rounder in the 2023 National Football League Draft, did not play
in TCU's win over Iowa State. He rested an injured ankle that has bothered him the last
several games.
Reportedly,
Johnston will be nearly 100 percent healthy for Saturday’s game against the
Wildcats.
Since
TCU rang up 62 points against Iowa State, Kansas State now has the Big 12’s
number one scoring defense. The Wildcats are allowing an average of 19.4 points
per game.
Kansas
State is second in overall defense in the conference, allowing an average of 357.3 total yards
per game; 143.2 rushing yards per game, 214.1 passing yards per game.
Kansas State junior defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah (#91) has been named the 2022 Big 12 Defensive Player and Defensive Lineman of the Year.
Kansas State cornerback Julius Brents (#23) was named All-Big 12 as a defensive back on the conference's first-team defensive unit.
TCU’s
offense is first in scoring in the Big 12, averaging 41.3 points per game.
The
Frogs are first in total offense in the conference, averaging 473.3 yards per
game; 198.5 rushing yards per game, and 274.8 passing yards per game.
TCU's win over Kansas State in October kept the Horned Frogs' undefeated winning streak going at seven games.
Another
win over Wildcats on Saturday will be even more significant for the Horned
Frogs.
It will
mean TCU will become the first Big 12 team other than Oklahoma to make the
four-team College Football National Championship Playoff.
The
betting line:
TCU opened as a 2.5-point favorite. The over/under opened at 60.5 points.
Midnite’s
prediction:
TCU 34, Kansas State 27
