TCU 34, Texas Tech 24
November 5, 2022
Amon G. Carter Stadium
Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, Texas
Attendance: 44,760
Final stats: here
Game highlights: here
TCU head coach Sonny Dykes discusses TCU's win: here
TCU wide receiver Derius Davis discusses TCU's win: here
TCU quarterback Max Duggan discusses TCU's win: here
TCU offensive lineman Wes Harris discusses TCU's win: here
TCU linebacker Johnny Hodges discusses TCU's win: here
Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire discusses Texas Tech's loss: here
TCU Weathers Unexpected Red Raiders Storm; Epic Battle With Texas Looms in Austin
It was a crisp, fall day in Fort Worth, Texas, last Saturday, November 5, but seventh-ranked TCU still had to weather a storm in Amon G. Carter Stadium to emerge as one of only four remaining unbeaten FBS teams in the country.
This unsettled weather pattern wasn’t a prelude to the red storm that was being predicted to arrive a few days later, on Election Tuesday.
This was a surprising Red Raiders storm. Straight out of the desolate, dusty West Texas settlement of Lubbock, the home of Texas Tech University.
After a couple of hours of menacing rumblings, calmer weather thankfully took hold and the Horned Frogs had weathered the storm with a 34-24 victory (Midnite had predicted a 45-28 TCU win).
So, the fun again continues for the Horned Frogs and their fans.
At least for another week.
 |
| Tom C. "Midnite" Burke |
The Frogs joined Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan as the remaining unbeaten FBS teams in the country.
That’s pretty elite company for a Horned Frogs football program that finished the 2021 season with a 5-7 record (3-6 Big 12) and without its most successful football coach ever in charge of the program after a 21-year reign.
TCU on Saturday won its debut as part of the featured college football game for the Fox Big Noon kickoff Show (11 am Central), which set up on the TCU campus in Fort Worth for the first time.
TCU is 9-0 for the first time since the 2010 season, when the Frogs went 13-0 en route to winning the Rose Bowl.
TCU head
football coach Sonny Dykes is the first head coach in
Big 12 history to start 9-0 in his first season in the conference. He is the second head coach in TCU
history, joining Francis Schmidt in 1929, to win his opening nine games. The
1929 Horned Frogs finished the season 9-0-1.
The Horned
Frogs entered its home game against Texas Tech ranked seventh in the Associated
Press poll, the Coaches poll and the College Football Playoff National Championship
poll. After their victory, and after losses by Alabama and Clemson, the Frogs jumped
to fourth in all three polls, although across the country there are many who doubt the validity of this TCU football team.
The College Football Playoff National Championship Poll now is the only poll that matters. That's because it will be used to determine the four College Football Playoff teams, which will play, respectively, on December 31, in the Playoff Semifinal games, to be held at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, in Glendale, Arizona.
The two winners of those bowl games will play in this season's College Football Playoff National Championship game, which will be played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Monday, January 9, 2023.
The College Football Playoff National Championship selection committee also will announce the pairings for the Capital One Orange Bowl (to be played on December 30), Allstate Sugar Bowl (to be played on December 31), Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (to be played on January 2, 2023) and Rose Bowl Game (to be played on January 2, 2023).
Future selection committee top 25 rankings will be released on November 15, November 22, November 29, and December 4, which is known as Selection Sunday.
Additional information about the College Football Playoff National Championship and the selection committee: here
The Horned Frogs’ next game is a huge one, against the University of Texas (6-3, 4-2 Big 12), in Austin. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 pm (Central). ABC will broadcast the game. ESPN's GameDay will broadcast its morning show (8 to 11 am Central) from Austin.
The contest has the added intrigue of former TCU head football coach Gary Patterson, who is the Frogs’ all-time winningest head football coach, now wearing burnt orange as a defensive analyst on UT head football coach Steve Sarkisian’s staff.
Patterson was lured to Austin not only by Sarkisian, but also by Chris Del Conte, who in 2017 was mesmerized by UT’s glitz, glamour and free-flow of cash and resigned as TCU’s Athletics Director to be the Longhorns’ Athletics Director.
TCU kept alive its dream of being the Big 12 champion and one of the four teams included in the College Football Playoff National Championship by its stagnant offense coming alive against the Red Raiders in the fourth quarter and its defense playing strong throughout the game.
Entering the fourth quarter on Saturday, TCU found itself in a familiar position, trailing an opponent. Texas Tech led 17-13.
TCU’s offense only had scored two field goals, of 29 and 30 yards, by Griffin Kell. He is 10-of-10 on the season and 39-of-49 in his career.
The Frogs’ lone touchdown had been scored less than two minutes into the game, on a dazzling 82-yard punt return for a touchdown by wide receiver/returner Derius Davis. The return was the seventh-longest in TCU history and gave the Frogs a 7-0 lead.
The punt return gave Davis five career punt returns for touchdowns and solo possession of the top spot in TCU history. He broke a tie with KaVontae Turpin (4, 2015-18), who is starring as a wide receiver/returner with the Dallas Cowboys.
Davis also tied Turpin’s TCU record of six career special teams touchdowns. Davis has five punt returns and one kickoff return for scores.
His performance on special teams against the Red Raiders earned him Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
Davis added later in the game a 23-yard touchdown catch as part of his three receptions in the game.
Through three quarters, TCU’s offense, with its premier receiver, Quentin Johnston, on the Frogs’ sideline because of a high ankle sprain, was out of sorts.
In particular, Horned Frogs quarterback Max Duggan, whose play through the first eight games of the season had elevated him to a Heisman Trophy candidate, was being flustered by Texas Tech’s hard-rushing, swarming defense and looking like previous-season versions of himself.
In fact, as the fourth quarter began, TCU quarterback Chandler Morris was seen warming up on the Horned Frogs' sideline. Morris began the season as TCU’s starting quarterback. He was injured in the season-opener against Colorado and replaced by Duggan, who has led the Horned Frogs’ resurgence to glory.
Suddenly, the TCU offensive storm struck.
Three consecutive fourth-quarter touchdowns by the Frogs turned the four-point deficit into an insurmountable 34-17 lead.
TCU running back Kendre Miller started the onslaught with a two-yard touchdown run.
Miller has a rushing score in all nine games this year, the second-longest streak to begin a season in TCU history. TCU Board of Trustees member LaDainian Tomlinson ran for a touchdown in all 12 games in 2000. Miller's 10 consecutive games with a rushing touchdown rank second all-time at TCU, behind only Tomlinson (15, 1999-00). Miller has a team-best 12 touchdowns on the season.
Against the Red Raiders, Miller ran for a team-high 158 yards on 21 carries. It was his sixth 100-yard game in the last seven contests and 10th of his career.
Miller has 1,009 yards on the season, making him TCU’s first 1,000-yard rusher since 2016 when Kyle Hicks had 1,042.
The next TCU touchdown came via a 23-yard touchdown pass from Duggan to Davis. The Frogs had a 27-17 lead.
The touchdown catch was Davis’ team-best fifth of the season. Davis has eight touchdowns this season via three different ways; five receiving, two punt returns, one rushing.
TCU running back Emari Demercado scored TCU's third fourth-quarter touchdown on a 16-yard pass from Duggan. The touchdown reception was Demercado's lone catch of the game. He also rushed 11 times for 43 yards.
Duggan completed 12-of-23 pass attempts for 195 yards. He did not throw an interception. He was sacked four times and netted only four rushing yards.
TCU wide receiver Taye Barber caught three passes for 62 yards. Barber has 145 receptions in his career, the most by a current Horned Frog.
Defensively, the Frogs held Tech to 352 total yards; 157 passing yards, 195 rushing yards.
The Red Raiders only converted five-of-15 third-down attempts and failed to convert on their three fourth-down plays.
TCU sacked Tech quarterbacks four times.
TCU’s defensive superlatives were led by junior linebacker Johnny Hodges’ eight tackles. Hodges' play earned him Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Week honors.
Senior linebacker Dee Winters had two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. He has team-best totals of 9.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks on the season.
Unfortunately, in the second half of the game, Winters was ejected for targeting. He will miss the first half of TCU’s game against Texas.
Junior safety Namdi Obiazor tied a career-high with seven tackles.
Senior defensive linemen Terrell Cooper and Dylan Horton combined on a sack.
Sophomore linebacker Shadrach Banks had a career-high five tackles, with his first career sack, and a tackle for loss.
Senior cornerback Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson had his second interception of the season and fourth of his career, the most among current Horned Frogs.
Senior safety Millard Bradford returned to the starting lineup after missing the previous three games due to injury. He had five tackles, including one for loss.
Junior cornerback Josh Newton tied a career-high with three pass breakups to go with four tackles.
TCU has
defeated Texas Tech four seasons in a row and seven of the last nine.
The Horned Frogs' four-game winning streak over the Red Raiders is their
longest since winning five straight from 1926-30, the first five games in the
series.
TCU’s victory means the coveted Saddle Trophy remains in Fort Worth for at least another year.
The battle for the Saddle Trophy is a longtime tradition that was renewed in 2017.
The teams used to compete annually in the West Texas Championship for the Saddle Trophy, before it went away in the early 1970s.
Thanks to M.L. Leddy's Boots & Saddlery of Fort Worth, the Saddle Trophy returned and headed to Fort Worth after TCU's 27-3 victory in Lubbock five years ago.
The Saddle Trophy sits on a stand and includes the logos for TCU and Texas Tech. Scores for 60-plus years of the rivalry are represented on the stand.
TCU will have to put together a complete game offensively and defensively, and probably be at its best thus far this season, to beat the University of Texas on Saturday.
Evidently, many folks don’t think that’s possible, including unabashed, self-proclaimed Southeastern Conference (SEC) preacher Paul Finnebaum, who when recently asked about TCU’s climb up the national rankings, said, “This TCU charade is about to come to an end.”
Some college football analysts say the brutal fact may be that TCU is the best of a bad group of Big 12 football teams, and that despite their 6-3 records, Texas and Baylor may be the Big 12’s two best teams.
Despite TCU’s number four national ranking and Texas being ranked 18th, the Longhorns are a seven-point favorite.
Can you spell disrespect?
D-I-S-R-E-S-P-E-C-T!
This will be the second time this season TCU has entered a contest as the underdog. The first time was on October 1, when TCU hosted the University of Oklahoma. The six-point underdog Frogs defeated the Sooners, 55-24, beginning a string of four consecutive wins over ranked teams.
The TCU-Texas game will have huge Big 12 Conference title implications and, of course, implications for the Frogs’ quest for inclusion in the National Championship Playoff.
The Horned Frogs (6-0 Big 12) have a two-game lead over Texas (4-2), Kansas State (4-2) and Baylor (4-2) in the Big 12. Since the Bears and the Longhorns still have to play each other, a TCU win over Texas would lock up a spot for the Horned Frogs in the Big 12 championship game, which is scheduled to be played on December 3, in AT&T Stadium, in Arlington, Texas.
With a win over TCU, Texas would inch closer to a conference title spot. A win would preserve their tiebreaker over Kansas State.
Texas has beaten: Louisiana-Monroe, 52-10; Texas-San Antonio, 41-20; West Virginia, 38-20; Oklahoma, 49-0; Iowa State, 24-21; and Kansas State, 34-27.
Texas has lost to: Alabama, 20-19; Texas Tech, 37-34 (OT); Oklahoma State, 41-34;
After its game against Texas, the Frogs will play Baylor in Waco on Saturday, November 19, and Iowa State in Fort Worth on November 26.
In December 2014, after completing the first season with the College Football Playoff, Baylor and TCU finished the season with 8–1 conference records and were declared co-champions by the Big 12 Conference.
In December 2017, second-seeded TCU (7-2 Big 12) played number-one seeded Oklahoma (8-1) in the Big 12 Conference Championship game in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Sooners prevailed, 41-17. The Horned Frogs defeated Stanford, 39-37, in the Aamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas, and with an 11-2 record finish as the country’s ninth-ranked team.
On Saturday, ESPN’s GameDay will broadcast live from Austin. It will be the third time this season the Horned Frogs have been showcased in national pregame college football shows.
GameDay was in Lawrence, Kansas, when then 17th-ranked TCU played then 19th-ranked Kansas. The Jayhawks had won their first five games of the season and were the toast of the college football world. TCU left Lawrence with a 38-31 victory and its fifth consecutive win.
Last Saturday, Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff show broadcast live from TCU’s campus and the Frogs’ game against Texas Tech was Fox’s Big Noon (11 am Central) showcase game.
The Horned Frogs are 7-1 all-time when GameDay has been present for its game, including a 6-0 record when the game has been played on a campus.
Saturday will be the 93rd meeting between TCU and Texas. The Longhorns hold a 64-27-1 advantage in a series that began with an 18-10 Texas win in 1897.
TCU is 15-35-1 against Texas in Austin and 12-29 in Fort Worth.
Texas is tied with Texas A&M for TCU's third-most played series. The Frogs' 92 games with the Longhorns trail only Baylor (117) and SMU (101).
Since beginning Big 12 play in 2012, TCU is 7-3 against Texas, with a 4-1 mark in Austin.
Last year in Fort Worth, the Longhorns defeated the Frogs 35-27.
Despite being offensively sluggish in its 10-point win over Texas Tech, TCU still has one of the best offenses in the country, averaging 43.11 points per game on the season.
TCU is one of only three FBS teams ranked in the top 25 nationally in both
passing offense (289 yards per game) and rushing offense (219 yards per game).
The Horned Frogs lead the nation with 14 touchdowns of at least 50 yards.
Duggan has completed 161-of-244 passes. He has thrown 24 touchdown passes and only two interceptions. He also has accounted for 282 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
TCU’s ground game continues to be ranked as one of the best in the nation, averaging nearly 220 rushing yards per game.
Miller has gained 1,009 yards on 153 carries, for an average of
over 6.6 yards per carry. He has scored 12 rushing touchdowns. He is the Big 12's second-leading rusher and 13th in the country.
Johnston, a potential 2023 National Football League (NFL) Draft first-rounder, leads Horned Frogs receivers. He has 42 receptions for 650 yards and four touchdowns. He is the Big 12's third-leading receiver.
Johnston is questionable for the game against Texas. He still is limited by a high ankle sprain.
Davis has five receiving touchdowns. Tight end Jared Wiley, a transfer from the University of Texas, has four touchdown receptions.
The Longhorns have offensive stars who can dominate and win games.
Texas junior running back Bijan Robinson (#5) leads the Big 12 Conference and is sixth in the country with 1,129 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns. He also has over 300 receiving yards and two touchdowns through the air.
In Texas’ 34-27 win last Saturday over Kansas State in Manhattan,
Kansas, Robinson ran for 209 yards against a Wildcats defense that usually is
tough against the run.
Robinson has been held under 100 yards just twice this season. Against Alabama and Louisiana-Monroe.
TCU’s defense specializes in stopping the run. The Horned Frogs only have allowed two rushers to top 100 yards.
Senior running back Roschon Johnson (#2) has nearly 600 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns
The Longhorns’ quarterback is former Southlake Carroll (Texas) star Quinn Ewers (#3), the NIL poster boy who was the No. 1 prospect in the country in the Class of 2021 and spent a year at Ohio State before transferring to Texas after the season.
Ewers, a redshirt freshman, is completing 58 percent of his passes and has thrown 13 touchdowns. He also has thrown five interceptions in the six games in which he has played.
Sophomore Hudson Card (#1), who has played in the Longhorns’ nine games, has completed 74 passes for 923 yards and six touchdowns. He has thrown one interception.
Texas’ receivers are led by sophomore speedster Xavier Worthy (#8). Worthy has 40 receptions for 552 yards and nine touchdowns.
Sophomore tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders (#0) has 39 receptions for 450 yards and five touchdowns.
Junior wide receiver Jordan Whittington (#4) has 31 catches for 426 yards.
With Patterson on the Longhorns’ staff, Texas’s defense has improved substantially over past seasons. The Longhorns only have allowed 30 points or more twice, in losses at Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.
Linebackers Jaylan Ford (41), a junior, and DeMarvion Overshown (0), a senior, are two defensive leaders.
Ford has 82 tackles, including 7.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. He also has intercepted two passes and forced three fumbles.
Overshown has 67 tackles, including 7.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
As a team, the Longhorns have registered 19 sacks.
Texas’ secondary has intercepted seven passes, led by Ford’s two thefts and two steals each by junior defensive back Jahdee Barron (#23) and senior defensive back D’Shawn Jamison (#5). Junior defensive back Ryan Watts (#6) has one interception.
The table is set for an epic Battle of the ‘Horns between TCU and Texas, and Duggan recently publicly reflected on how far he and his Horned Frogs teammates have come.
The betting line: Texas is a seven-point favorite. The over/under is 64.5 points.
Midnite’s Prediction: TCU wins, 38-37
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