TCU’s Duggan either develops, or the program faces a Mack Brown-sized crisis
This will be only the second time that TCU coach Gary Patterson will go consecutive years without posting a double-digit win season.
His only chance to avoid a third straight year of similar results is if quarterback Max Duggan can play, because he is TCU’s only candidate.
TCU’s football identity is defense, but the Big 12 is about the quarterback.
TCU’s best years in this league all occurred when it had a QB who could play: Trevone Boykin’s two full years as a starter, and Kenny Hill’s senior season. Those are TCU’s three double-digit win years in the Horned Frogs’ eight seasons in the Big 12.
They finished in the Top 10 in each of those three years.
The only way to return to that level is if Duggan is a player, and everyone around this program is convinced that giving him the keys as a true freshman was the right move.
This is going to work or we are potentially watching a similar Mack Brown narrative.
Max Duggan vs. the field
If you need stats to impress you about Duggan, stop. He has completed 56% of his passes with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
His receivers have not been his BFF’s. TCU doesn’t keep this stat, but Duggan has been victimized by countless drops.
In the Frogs’ three-overtime loss to Baylor in Fort Worth on Saturday, at least four passes were dropped.
Duggan’s first quarter-pass to tight end Pro Wells should have been a touchdown, but he let the ball slide through his hands.
Duggan had two passes that could have been caught by junior Jalen Reagor. One of Duggan’s interceptions went through the hands of running back Sewo Olonilua.
That’s one game.
Duggan has been commended for his toughness, ability as a runner and his maturity. He has been compared to, maturity wise, Andy Dalton when he was a freshman starting quarterback for TCU in 2007.
As a redshirt freshman, Dalton acted like a 25-year-old professional adult. In his first year as the starting quarterback, Dalton’s Frogs finished 8-5; in Dalton’s next three years, the Frogs were a combined 36-3.
Duggan is commended for his mechanics, which look similar to New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. Duggan throws the ball over the top, and, when he’s right, he can put it down the field where he wants it.
On multiple occasions, he has made NFL-caliber passes. Granted, the Texas Longhorns defense is awful, but Duggan’s play won that October game against UT.
And then there are those times when he plays like a freshman who tries to do too much. He plays like a freshman who thinks he can get away with what he did in high school against a Big 12 team.
He can’t.
There are other quarterbacks on the roster, but those in the program insist Max Duggan is not only the best alternative, but he is the only alternative.
He is Plan A, B, C and D.
The Mack Brown scenario
The late Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes once famously said: “It’s like the old Chinese proverb. You lose 10% of your friends every year. I coached at Tech 13 years. You figure it out.”
Gary Patterson will soon finish his 19th season as the head coach at TCU. Behind Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, GP is the longest tenured head coach in the nation.
Lasting this long in this profession is difficult. Fans are fickle, irrational and impatient. And those are the good days.
Not even Mack Brown could make it this long in Austin despite a résumé that included a national title.
After reaching a second national title game, this time in 2009, Brown lasted four more years in Austin. The most obvious culprit was that he never could find a quarterback.
Hyped freshman Garrett Gilbert didn’t pan out, and he transferred to SMU.
Hyped freshman David Ash could not stay healthy, and he retired.
Case McCoy was not as good as his brother, Colt.
The addition of Tyrone Swoopes as a top recruit was a miss.
There were other issues, namely offensive line, but Mack’s time in Austin concluded because he never found another quarterback. Despite making Texas football a national power for the first time since the days of Darrell K. Royal, Mack was pushed out after the 2013 season.
TCU can still be about Gary Patterson’s defense, but the only way the Horned Frogs are a national name again comes down to Max Duggan.
