TCU’s Max Duggan has a ‘don’t lose at all costs’ attitude, which Gary Patterson loves
Max Duggan has been the toast of the town following TCU’s 37-27 victory over then-No. 15 Texas on Saturday.
The true freshman quarterback earned recognition from the Fort Worth-based Davey O’Brien Foundation, named after TCU’s legendary quarterback that won the 1938 Heisman Trophy, by selecting him the national quarterback of the week for Week 9.
He’s the first TCU quarterback to receive that honor since Trevone Boykin following the Texas Tech games in 2014 and 2015.
Duggan was also named Big 12 newcomer of the week and a Manning Award Star of the Week.
It’s all well-deserved with Duggan turning in his best performance to date against the Longhorns. He threw for a career-high 273 yards with two touchdowns and rushed for 72 yards and another score.
For coach Gary Patterson, though, it’s not the numbers that stand out with Duggan.
“The thing I like about him that you can’t teach, you can’t judge, just how much of a leader he is, a ‘don’t lose at all costs’ attitude I think he has,” Patterson said. “We tell our players, ‘It’s not the attitude of how much you like to win. It’s how much you don’t like to lose.’
“It works really well in life too. You fight not to lose more than you fight to win, you’re going to have an opportunity to stay ahead of the game. That’s one of the attitudes we try to do, you’ve got to work hard that you fight not to lose. You don’t like it. In fact, you hate losing more than you like winning. You get to the point where you do it that way, usually you have exactly what you want.”
For Duggan, it’s shown throughout the course of the year even in losses. He’s consistently fought back from slow starts.
In his first career start against SMU last month, Duggan opened the game 1-of-10 for 22 yards in the first half but TCU stayed within striking distance to the end. Co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie praised how Duggan battled afterward.
The same can be said in a loss at Kansas State on Oct. 19. Duggan started 5-of-11 for 33 yards in the first half, but the Frogs had a chance to win with the game tied going into the fourth quarter.
Even in a 49-24 loss at Iowa State on Oct. 5, Duggan started the game 5-of-10 for 23 yards and TCU trailed by as many as 28-3. But Duggan and the Frogs showed life in the fourth quarter to pull within 35-24 with 9:01 left before the Cyclones pulled away.
As Patterson reiterated on Monday, it takes time for players to develop. It’s not like hot cocoa where there’s instant gratification.
“It’s not that easy,” Patterson said. “They’re still going to go through frustrations this Saturday [at Oklahoma State] and probably the rest of the ballgames as he keeps growing up. He’s going to keep growing up and we’ve seen signs of what I think he’s going to be like for TCU the next three and a half years. He’s not even a redshirt freshman. He’s a freshman.
“It’s not like he went through a year of getting stronger and bigger because he was here in January. You guys are talking about an 18-year-old playing against 23-year-olds. I haven’t made a big deal about him not playing well and I’m not going to make a big deal for how we played the last quarter. I think people screw up success a lot more than they screw up failure.”
Still, Duggan’s growth hasn’t gone unnoticed in the Big 12. Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy has been impressed by what he’s seen as the Frogs and Cowboys prepare for Saturday’s game in Stillwater.
“He’s coming along and looks like he’s getting more comfortable in their system,” Gundy said. “He’s playing a little better each week.”
For the season, Duggan is 99-of-169 passing for 1,147 yards with 11 touchdowns and one interception. He’s also rushed for 233 yards and three TDs on 62 carries.
Of course Patterson, Duggan and the rest of the team would like to overcome the troubling trend of slow starts. The Frogs have played from behind in four of the last five games — all games Duggan started.
They’d like to avoid that in a hostile environment such as Stillwater.
“We really need to look at ourselves,” Patterson said. “What are the reasons we start slow?”
Maybe Duggan will help put that question to bed this Saturday, much like he did others last Saturday.
This story was originally published October 29, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
