How TCU football will try to slow down Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma’s offense
TCU coach Gary Patterson wasn’t pleased with how his defense handled Texas Tech quarterback Jett Duffey last week.
The Mansfield Lake Ridge product escaped multiple would-be sacks in the game to keep drives alive and helped the Red Raiders overcome an early 24-3 deficit. TCU eventually rallied for a 33-31 victory, but Patterson knows that can’t happen again this week.
Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts is another elusive quarterback and has more weapons at his disposal than Duffey. That’s why TCU defenders have to capitalize if they have an opportunity to bring Hurts down in the backfield on Saturday night.
“You can’t go back and think that you’re just playing an ordinary quarterback,” Patterson said. “He’s more built size-wise, strength-wise. You can’t think you’re going to go kill him because that’s not what’s going to happen if you blitz and you come free. They can pull away from you.
“We struggled with that last week. We had guys free three, four, five times and we didn’t get the quarterback down in the backfield. We’ve got to do a better job of understanding, it’s not how you get them down, it’s just get them down.”
That issue almost cost TCU the game last week at Texas Tech.
Frogs defensive tackle Corey Bethley missed a sack early in the second quarter, which would have put the Red Raiders in a second-and-long situation. Instead, Duffey scrambled for a 13-yard gain and Tech ended up scoring its first points with a field goal drive.
On the Red Raiders’ next offensive possession, Frogs cornerback Jeff Gladney whiffed on what should have been another sack. Duffey eluded the pressure and connected for a 26-yard touchdown to Dalton Rigdon.
Early in the second half, TCU defensive tackle Ross Blacklock came free in the backfield but failed to bring Duffey down on a second-and-10 from the Tech 33. Duffey ended up scrambling for a first down, rather than facing a third-and-long. Tech went on to score a TD on that drive and pull to within 27-22.
Then, on the drive the Red Raiders took a 28-27 lead, Duffey had a signature play facing a third-and-6 from the TCU 47. Multiple TCU defenders had a chance to tackle Duffey in the backfield, but he slipped by all of them and turned it into a 14-yard run.
So, instead of being forced to punt, Tech had a first-and-10 from the TCU 33 and capitalized on the next play when Duffey connected with Erik Ezukanma for a TD.
As Patterson said afterward, “You can’t kill the guy. You’ve got to tackle his legs and get him down. He’s a running back playing quarterback. You’ve got to understand what he is, and we did not. Obviously.”
The same rings true for Hurts.
This is a guy who ranks second in the Big 12 — in passing and rushing. He’s averaging 303.9 yards through the air, and 98.3 yards on the ground. He’s been named the league’s offensive player of the week and newcomer of the week multiple times this season.
Hurts is coming off a game in which he helped Oklahoma erase a 25-point deficit at Baylor. He finished 30-of-42 passing for 297 yards with four TDs, and also ran for 114 yards.
For the season, Hurts has already thrown for a career-best 3,039 yards and 28 TDs (and counting), and rushed for a career-best 983 yards and 15 TDs (and counting).
“Obviously [Oklahoma] is putting up the best numbers in the Big 12, so you have to say he’s doing a good job,” Patterson said of Hurts.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Saturday at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman.
