He’s on pace for a 2,000-yard season. How TCU plans to slow down OSU’s Chuba Hubbard
TCU has the Big 12’s top-ranked rushing defense. Oklahoma State has the top-ranked rushing offense behind the nation’s leading rusher and Heisman hopeful Chuba Hubbard.
So it’s no secret what the Frogs must do to win on Saturday in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
“If we want to win, we’re going to have to contain him,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said of Hubbard.
Easier said than done.
Hubbard, the 6-foot-1, 207-pound Canadian, has been torching defense’s all season. The redshirt sophomore opened the season with 221 yards rushing at Oregon State. He’s went on to rush for 256 yards at Tulsa and 296 yards against Kansas State.
Hubbard is the only player in the country with three 200-yard games. He’s topped the 100-yard mark in every Big 12 game. In fact, the only time he failed to reach the 100-yard mark is the second game of the season against McNeese.
Hubbard had just 44 yards on eight carries as Oklahoma State rolled to a 56-14 victory.
Despite that, Hubbard is on pace for a 2,000-yard season. He’s already rushed for 1,381 yards and 16 TDs on 216 carries in eight games.
That might not threaten former Oklahoma State running back Barry Sanders’ all-time record of 2,628 yards in 1988. But, as Patterson said, “That’s a lot of yards.”
“He’s a track guy who plays football,” Patterson continued. “He has a really good burst, especially an inside burst on inside holes that I think is underrated. He takes off. One step, he can get going. So you’ve got to be able to play the run with all 11.
“You can’t play the run thinking you’ll be one-on-one.”
As Patterson alluded to, Hubbard has rare speed. He ran a 10.55-second 100-meter sprint in high school and was a three-time national champion for his age group in the 100 meters.
But TCU contained him last season. The Frogs held Hubbard to just 42 yards rushing on 13 carries in a 31-24 victory in the regular-season finale.
The 3.2 yards per carry average in that game remains the lowest for Hubbard when he’s had multiple carries.
This has become the norm for TCU, though. Running backs rarely have big games against the Frogs.
There’s only been one player to top the 100-yard rushing mark on them this season and it wasn’t even a running back. Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy had 102 yards rushing on 12 carries.
TCU has contained top RBs such as SMU’s Xavier Jones, Kansas’ Pooka Williams Jr. and Texas’ Keaontay Ingram.
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy understands how difficult it is to establish the run against Patterson’s defense.
“I don’t know if there’s anybody in the country that is more experienced and understands defense better than he does,” Gundy said. “And he wants to stop the run. We all know that. And we have to be able to rush the football. It’ll be a good matchup.”
Gundy took a step further, calling TCU’s front six the best he’s seen since it joined the Big 12 in 2012. The Frogs should have safety-turned-linebacker La’Kendrick Van Zandt back in the lineup for Saturday’s game, too, something that should give them even more speed.
“I think this is the best front six that he’s had with the two down guys, edge players, and the ‘backers inside,” Gundy said. “The way they can run and tackle. Their corners can cover and their safeties are really, really good tacklers. They’re one of the few teams in the league where they’re not missing tackles.
“This will be a great challenge for our offense.”
This story was originally published October 30, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
