Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley impressed with what he’s seen from TCU’s Max Duggan
Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley has seen plenty of Max Dugan this season, whether it’s been scouting other teams or preparing for Saturday’s matchup against TCU.
His takeaways?
“He’s an impressive kid, man,” Riley said on the Big 12 football coaches teleconference Monday. “He’s athletic, an aggressive runner and he’s got a really good guy coaching him, so you know he’s going to get better quickly like he has.”
Riley is referring to TCU co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie. Riley and Cumbie were at Texas Tech in the early 2000s.
Riley played at Texas Tech in 2002 and was teammates with Cumbie, who played from 2000-04. Riley served as a student assistant on Mike Leach’s staff from 2003-05. Both were then on Leach’s staff for the 2009 season with Riley as the inside wide receivers coach and Cumbie as a graduate assistant.
So, for Riley, it comes as no surprise to see Duggan improve on a weekly basis under Cumbie’s tutelege.
“You can see his progress throughout the year and making good decisions,” said Riley, who has coached the past two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks.
“He seems like a — at least from the outside — looks like a tough kid, competitor. It looks like he’s got a chance to be a really good player.”
Riley will get a firsthand look at Duggan on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman.
Duggan is coming off the best game of his young career, leading the Frogs to a 33-31 victory at Texas Tech on Saturday. He completed a career-high 25-of-42 passes for 323 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Duggan also rushed for 75 yards, including a 20-yard TD run on the game’s first possession. It’s the fourth time in the last five games Duggan has rushed for at least 70 yards.
Afterward, TCU coach Gary Patterson said Duggan is “reckless” running the ball at times. But it’s a part of Duggan’s game that Patterson doesn’t want to slow down.
Just about every quarterback in the Big 12 is a running threat.
“You don’t change things like that,” Patterson said on the teleconference. “He’s just got to learn to get down. I’m not going to try to slow much of that down. He’s just got to be smart about how he handles situations.”
For the season, Duggan is 159-of-282 passing for 1,868 yards with 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He’s also rushed for 440 yards and five TDs on 110 carries.
Briefly
▪ Riley had “nothing definitive” as far as WR CeeDee Lamb’s status for the TCU game. Lamb, a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, missed last week’s OU game at Baylor.
▪ TCU came away with points on all six trips to the red zone against Texas Tech, but settled for field goals four times. Asked what needs to happen to turn more of those into TDs, Patterson said: “You’ve got to make plays when you’re down there. It’s simple.”
▪ The TCU-West Virginia game on Nov. 29 (Black Friday) kick off at 3:15 p.m., the Big 12 announced. The game had been originally scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ESPN will televise it.
This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 12:59 PM.
