Max Duggan has arrived! Freshman QB carries TCU past No. 15 Texas in thriller.
TCU wide receiver Jalen Reagor feels this is just the start for true freshman quarterback Max Duggan.
“Once he really settles in,” Reagor said, “y’all see what he can do.”
Duggan settled in Saturday, becoming the star in TCU’s 37-27 victory over No. 15 Texas at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
He finished 19 of 27 for a career-high 273 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He also rushed for 72 yards and a score.
Duggan clearly outshined Texas’ standout quarterback, Sam Ehlinger, who threw four interceptions against a stingy TCU defense.
“Hats off,” Texas coach Tom Herman said of Duggan’s performance. “Made some unbelievable throws. He played a great game.”
Duggan showed resiliency. He threw his first career interception in the first quarter, but then stole the show in the second half. He rallied TCU from a 20-13 deficit early in the third quarter.
The Frogs scored 17 straight points to take control of the game.
It started with a 51-yard pass from Duggan to sophomore Taye Barber, setting up a 1-yard TD run by Sewo Olonilua out of the “wildcat” to tie the game at 20.
“Just gotta focus on the ball,” Barber said. “We practice hard all week. Our defense gives us great looks, so it wasn’t nothing new. We do it all the time in practice. To see it in a game, it came all together.”
On the ensuing drive, Ehlinger threw his second interception of the day to TCU safety Ar’Darius Washington. TCU capitalized on the next play when Duggan threw a strike to Reagor for a 44-yard score and a 27-20 lead.
It’s the first time Barber and Reagor have scored TDs in the same game since last season’s opener against Southern. Barber has battled injuries early on this season, but his presence makes defense’s play more honest.
As Reagor said of his TD, “They tried to play man, and I don’t know too many people that can do that. We caught them slipping one time, and it cost them.”
TCU closed the third quarter by intercepting Ehlinger once again. Frogs free safety Trevon Moehrig came up with the ball on the far sideline, setting up a field goal and a 30-20 lead.
Moehrig was surprised Ehlinger tried to force a throw rather than throwing it away.
“I thought he was going to throw it out,” Moehrig said. “As soon as he throws it, I saw it was close enough to grab it. ... All right, I’m going to grab it.”
But Texas stayed within striking distance, marching down the field to make it a 30-27 game with 6:50 left.
That’s when Duggan really went to work.
He connected on a 16-yard pass to John Stephens Jr. on a third-and-11 to avoid a three-and-out. He picked up another first down on a 14-yard rush, emphatically getting up and signaling first down.
Then TCU found itself in a third-and-14 situation at the Texas 47, but Duggan heaved a pass down the seam, and Barber somehow came down with it.
“Just gotta make your play when it comes,” Barber said.
On the next play, Duggan scored on an 11-yard run, throwing up the Frogs’ “Knuckle Up” sign. That sealed the game — and Duggan’s breakout moment.
Asked if the TD run fired up the players, Reagor said: “Absolutely. That’s the general. When you see the quarterback do that, it translates to everyone else.”
Added Moehrig: “If you saw the sideline, everybody was up on their feet, getting hyped for him. Max is a great player, and that play was a big play. He’s been making big plays like that all season.”
As good as Duggan was, the entire team showed resolve following two road losses in Big 12 play.
Barber had a costly drop in the first half, but then came through with two big catches. Reagor fumbled a kickoff return in the first half but scored a game-changing TD in the second half.
The defense was burned once again on a wheel route for a TD in the first half, but it held the Longhorns to 10 points in the second half. Texas entered the game averaging 41 points per game.
Heck, Texas even ran a successful fake punt for a first down on the opening drive of the second half, but TCU’s defense returned and forced a punt later that series.
In the end, TCU did what it needed in order to win.
This is a team that entered with five takeaways on the season and ended up with four on the day. This is a team that entered with a reeling passing attack and ended up with a career day for its freshman quarterback.
Maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise since TCU has now won five of its past six against Texas.
“I was just happy for the kids,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “To be honest with you, we hear it all the time that we’re not good enough, we’re not this, and we just keep proving people wrong. So, they can keep talking but they’re — as you guys say here — fake news. It’s fake news. That we’re lesser. So we’ll stay with what we’re doing.”
Patterson smiled and added: “I figured you guys needed a sound bite. Cause you keep asking the questions, I’ll give you something you can run with. So there it was.”
TCU is at Oklahoma State next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. in Stillwater.
This story was originally published October 26, 2019 at 6:06 PM.
