TCU, Oklahoma struggling to get on proper side of turnover margin

The plays came in the fourth quarter of a lopsided contest, making them easy to overlook among the final statistics.

But to members of the TCU defense and coach Gary Patterson, last week’s interceptions against SMU by safeties Niko Small and Nick Orr represented attitude adjusters. Not only were they the first interceptions of the season by No. 21 TCU, but they also made the difference in allowing the Horned Frogs to win the turnover battle for the first time this season.

As any defensive-minded coach or player will confirm, turnover margin is among the most important statistic for any team with championship hopes. TCU finished plus-18 in turnover margin on its way to a Big 12 co-championship in 2014. Oklahoma posted a plus-9 mark while winning last year’s title.

As a group, the past eight Big 12 champions have been a combined plus-119 in turnover margin since 2008. Two of those champs led the nation: Oklahoma State in 2011 (plus-21) and Oklahoma in 2008 (plus-23).

But the Horned Frogs (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) and Sooners (1-2, 0-0), typically two of the league’s better defensive teams, have not been opportunistic on defense this season. Heading into Saturday’s matchup in Amon G. Carter Stadium between projected league favorites, TCU is minus-2 in turnover margin, ranking 84th among the nation’s 128 FBS schools. Oklahoma, at minus-3, checks in at No. 109.

“That’s just something you have to do as a great defense — you have to get turnovers,” TCU defensive end Josh Carraway said. “Everybody has a role in that. You do that, you get their offense off the field and give our offense a shorter field. Some times, you might be able to take it back for a touchdown. We need to do a better job of that.”

Carraway, like Patterson, hopes last week’s 2-1 edge in turnovers collected against SMU will trigger a flood of good bounces and timely picks in the remaining eight games. Carraway said turnovers tend to come in bunches once a defense has the confidence it can produce them.

Patterson cited the increased comfort level of TCU’s young defenders, displayed by the uptick in turnovers and absence of touchdowns allowed in the 33-3 win over SMU, as a harbinger of better days ahead.

“As we keep growing and getting older as a group, I think you’ll see the production in takeaways,” Patterson said. “The second guy coming in, he’s the one that pounds the ball. With a lot of guys flying around, the ball gets tipped. All those things happen.”

But it took until the 6:08 mark of the fourth quarter in the season’s fourth game before Small secured the Frogs’ first interception. Orr followed suit on the next possession but a fumble drought is ongoing. TCU has forced and recovered only one fumble this season, back in the opener against South Dakota State.

“Those will come when we start playing more together. So, we’re not really worried about that right now,” said linebacker Sammy Douglas, an Arlington High School graduate who ranks third on the team in tackles (25). “We just want to make sure we get one more point than they do.”

Winning the weekly turnover battle tends to help in that regard. Few individuals know that better than Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, who has been puzzled by the Sooners’ inability to intercept a pass this season. Oklahoma also has lost more fumbles (three) than it has recovered (two) in change-of-possession situations.

“Are we doing anything different? No. We’ve been on the other end of that this year and it beats you,” Stoops said earlier this week. “The few chances we’ve had, we haven’t been able to come up with plays. We drop an interception. And when the ball is out, we can’t get to it.”

Stoops cited the ball-security skills of an opponent’s offense as a mitigating factor this season.

“If you’re helping them by not being as careful as you should be in protecting the ball, and they aren’t helping you, you’re going to be on the wrong side of it. And I think that’s where we’ve been,” Stoops said.

For TCU, a key issue is defensive intensity. Carraway said he has seen more of that in recent practices.

“These last two weeks of practice have been our best practices in a long, long time,” Carraway said. “I just think the guys are really improving about how they take that attitude to practice and how they take that attitude to film and to the game as a whole.”

This story was originally published September 29, 2016 at 2:48 PM with the headline "TCU, Oklahoma struggling to get on proper side of turnover margin."