Reagor’s ‘ridiculousness,’ Muehlstein’s moxie highlight TCU’s win over Oklahoma State

TCU coach Gary Patterson isn’t shedding any tears that he won’t see another Big 12 offense this season.

It’s not an easy task slowing down some of the most high-powered offenses in the country, and Patterson worked his magic the past two weeks to get the Frogs into a bowl game.

TCU held Baylor to nine points two weeks ago, and then contained Oklahoma State in the regular-season finale on Saturday.

“I’m tired,” Patterson said. “Two weeks in a row, I’m tired. … I can tell you this much – having been a defensive guy in this league, I’m looking forward to everyone else defending them instead of me. Holy smokes. That’s a lot of work.”

A lot of work that resulted in a bowl berth for a TCU team that has been hit with a seemingly endless list of injuries. As Patterson posted on his social media account Sunday, “This team is awesome! We are not where we want to be record wise but showed unbelievable spirit! We are Bowling-Boom!”

Bowling for the 16th time in Patterson’s 18 seasons at TCU. On to the takeaways from the regular-season finale –

Reagor’s ridiculousness

Jalen Reagor has been TCU’s best player. He’s a threat every time the ball is in his hands and became just the third player in school history to reach the 1,000-yard receiving mark.

Reagor did it all in a record-setting performance Saturday – receiving, lining up at quarterback and running back, and returning kicks.

“That dude is ridiculous,” cornerback Jeff Gladney said. “He’s ridiculous.”

Said free safety Niko Small: “That dude is a baller. I don’t know how else to explain. Some things you just can’t teach … speed, agility, vision, play-making ability.”

Reagor scored two touchdowns on Saturday, a 6-yard reception in the first half that gave TCU a 7-3 lead and gave Reagor 1,000 yards on the dot, and an 83-yard TD run.

Reagor, who is the son of former NFL defensive lineman Montae Reagor, has high expectations for himself. He made it clear his goal next season to win the Biletnikoff Award, which is given to the nation’s top receiver.

Patterson had a simple answer when asked about Reagor’s record-setting performance.

“The bottom line is he’s a good player,” Patterson said.

The Mule

TCU has been ravished by injuries, starting with its top two quarterbacks going down with injuries. But that simply opened the door and an opportunity for fifth-year senior Grayson Muehlstein.

Muehlstein made his first career start and handled himself and the offense well. Things didn’t get off to the most promising start with him losing a fumble on the second play of the game, but he didn’t turn it over after that.

Muehlstein finished 16-for-25 passing for 180 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for 47 yards on 13 carries.

“I told them downstairs to be honest with you, I told them if you want to see in a day and age when everybody, when it’s not going well, they leave, they transfer, they don’t handle the hard parts, but here’s a guy that stayed for five years and was rewarded,” Patterson said. “He’s the consummate Horned Frog, team player. I think he got his master’s. Here’s a guy that stayed around because he said this is what we wanted to do and he appreciated it, and he’s been part of us.

“Where would we be right now if he wasn’t here?

We wouldn’t have done what we did tonight if I was playing quarterback. I can promise you that.”

Muehlstein shined when he led a fourth-quarter TD drive after Oklahoma State had pulled to within 24-17. He was 3-for-3 passing for 55 yards on that drive, capped with a 24-yard TD pass to Derius Davis.

“We had to fight back,” Muehlstein said. “The defense was playing really well early on and then let up a few scores. We couldn’t let off the gas. We had to keep fighting and giving ourselves a chance to win.”

Flurry of points

TCU has seen games get out of hand in a hurry this season.

Ohio State scored 20 unanswered in a four-minute stretch in the third quarter to turn a 21-13 deficit into a 33-21 lead; Texas scored two TDs in less than a minute late in the third quarter to turn a 16-10 deficit into a 24-16 lead; and West Virginia scored 21 unanswered in the final 5:09 of the first half, turning what had been a 3-3 game into a 24-3 lead by half.

Things turned TCU’s way on Saturday, though. The Frogs scored two touchdowns in less than a minute early in the third quarter on a 15-yard fumble recovery touchdown by linebacker Jawuan Johnson and on Reagor’s 83 yard run 56 seconds later.

“Finally, that happened for us instead of happening against us,” Patterson said. “That’s been happening against us for the season.”

Stellar D

As stated, TCU has been hit with a number of injuries this season. The defense has been battling injury issues since fall camp when defensive tackle Ross Blacklock went down with an Achilles injury.

Along the way, two starting safeties (Innis Gaines and Niko Small) have missed multiple games; one of the top tacklers of the Patterson era, Ty Summers, has missed multiple games; and the team’s leading tackler at the time, Garret Wallow, changed positions from linebacker to safety.

Through it all, though, TCU had the Big 12’s top-ranked defense in conference games. The Frogs are the top-ranked defense in the league through every game, although that could change if Iowa State holds Drake to less than 200 total yards of offense next week.

Either way, it’s been a remarkable showing by the Frogs’ D considering all of the moving parts.

“This is a crazy season with all the injuries,” Gladney said. “I’ve never seen nothing like this before. Adversity, I guess it brings the best out of some people.”

Among the notable numbers from the defense in the regular season – Wallow finished with 72 tackles on the season; linebacker Arico Evans is the Frogs’ leading tackler with 75 tackles, including 10 against Oklahoma State; Gladney ranks third in the Big 12 with 14 pass breakups, including one interception; defensive end Ben Banogu is second in the Big 12 with 17 tackles for loss.

Final word

“I’m sure Oklahoma State walked off the same way Baylor did, saying ‘How’d that happen?’” – Patterson