TCU defense ‘rises to the occasion’ in stopping SMU cold 33-3

Of touchdowns, field goals and sacks, TCU had more than enough for a 33-3 victory against SMU on Friday night at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

But there was one more thing ... interceptions.

Two of them.

Sophomore safety Niko Small got his hands under a ball on the turf in the fourth quarter, and junior safety Nick Orr followed a series later with another as the Horned Frogs ended a four-game streak without an interception.

They had gone 181 pass attempts without a pick, since the first quarter of last year’s game against Baylor, when Orr corralled one.

“We finally got a pick,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said with a bemused smile. “Didn’t know if that was going to happen. We kept dropping them. Jiminy Christmas.”

The takeaways cemented TCU’s most complete performance of the season on defense. Heck, on offense and special teams as well.

Quarterback Kenny Hill threw for 452 yards and two touchdowns, John Diarse had six catches for 139 yards and a touchdown, Desmon White averaged nearly 25 yards on three punt returns and caught a career-high six passes, and Ryan Graf and Brandon Hatfield each made two field goals without a miss.

And for the first time since the Peach Bowl in 2014, Patterson’s unit came off the field not having surrendered a touchdown.

He noticed.

“Defensively, we finally rose to the occasion,” he said.

It’s a good time for it. TCU, which collected four sacks to go with five last week, hosts Oklahoma next week in a game that will leave the winner at the top of the Big 12.

“We played better against the run. We’ve still got to defend third down better,” Patterson said. “I thought they communicated better. Did a lot of things. We played where we needed to.”

TCU (3-1) led at halftime only 6-3 behind two field goals from Graf, who is 5-for-6 on the season. Hatfield added two in the second half and is 3-for-3.

The Frogs started the second half quickly. Diarse, a graduate transfer from LSU, opened the third quarter with a 75-yard touchdown catch-and-run on the first play.

His first TCU score gave his new team a 13-3 lead and a jumpstart after a tight first half in which the teams exchanged nine punts (six forced by TCU, four on three-and-outs).

TCU pushed out to a 20-3 lead on its next possession, overcoming a first-and-20 start from the 19 to drive (and a first-and-15 later) for Hill’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Jaelan Austin.

Two more drives ended in field goals by Hatfield, the last a 30-yarder with 6:54 left, TCU’s most comfortable fourth-quarter breathing room of the season.

White caught a career-high six passes for 49 yards, including a 12-yard catch-and-run off a short pass on third-and-17 that set up TCU’s first points, Graf’s field goal that tied the game 3-3 in the first quarter.

He had punt returns of 14, 31 and 29 yards in taking over return duties for KaVontae Turpin, who is out with a knee injury.

Sophomore Tony James started at cornerback in place of Jeff Gladney, who missed the game with an ankle injury.

“Two guys tonight I talked about in the locker room were Tony James and Des White,” Patterson said. “Both of those guys stepped up, and we needed people to step up.”

This story was originally published September 23, 2016 at 11:49 PM with the headline "TCU defense ‘rises to the occasion’ in stopping SMU cold 33-3."