TCU football falls short of bowl eligibility in loss to West Virginia
TCU coach Gary Patterson didn’t want his players to talk. He didn’t want to talk about co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie’s job security. Heck, he didn’t want to talk about why the passing game struggled mightily for the second consecutive game.
The 2019 season won’t be a memorable one for Patterson and the Horned Frogs. West Virginia spoiled any bowl plans TCU might’ve had for the holidays, as the Mountaineers scored a late touchdown for a 20-17 victory Friday afternoon at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
Patterson served as TCU’s lone voice for the forgettable season following the finale, refusing to make players available in the postgame media session for what several longtime reporters thought was the first time in his tenure.
“They’re not very happy with me right now, and I’m not very happy with them to be honest with you,” Patterson said. “I feel sorry for my seniors. I didn’t get them back to a bowl game. Simple as that.”
TCU (5-7, 3-6 Big 12) only has itself to blame for being home for the holidays. The Frogs went 1-6 in one-score games this year, including the regular-season finale.
Two of those losses came when TCU’s defense held the opposing team to less than 300 yards of total offense (Baylor and West Virginia). Patterson is now 101-12 in such games.
TCU’s offense will rank in the bottom half of the Big 12 a year after scoring its fewest points of the Patterson era. But Patterson refused to offer an evaluation of Cumbie, who finished his third season as play-caller.
“I’m not doing that,” Patterson said. “This’ll be done in a minute if you want to keep asking that. I’m not into selling newspapers. That’s your job.”
Patterson also didn’t want to talk about the passing game struggles for the second straight week. TCU had just 65 yards passing at Oklahoma last week, the fewest by a Big 12 team this season.
On Friday, true freshman quarterback Max Duggan struggled once again by going 15 of 36 for 144 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. WVU sacked him twice and recorded six QB hurries.
Asked if there’s anything he can point to as far as the passing game struggles, Patterson said: “Nope.”
Patterson made it clear the struggles went beyond the offense. The defense had several unforced errors on the game-deciding drive.
The Frogs took a 17-10 lead early in the third quarter following a 70-yard punt return for touchdown by Jalen Reagor, and were nursing a 17-13 lead when WVU took over on its own 39 with 4:47 left.
WVU faced fourth and inches from its 48 in that pivotal drive and picked it up courtesy of a pass interference by TCU cornerback Jeff Gladney, who made contact with WVU’s Sam James.
Then, facing third and 12, WVU got another gift from TCU on a roughing the passer penalty on defensive tackle Ross Blacklock. Blacklock led with his helmet on the late hit of WVU quarterback Jarret Doege and was ejected for targeting.
“Can’t keep drives alive with personal fouls,” Patterson said. “Plain and simple.”
Two plays later, Doege found Isaiah Esdale down the far sideline for a 35-yard TD. Esdale got by TCU safety Vernon Scott to put WVU up 20-17 with 2:05 left.
TCU had two more offensive possessions but failed to get into field goal range.
The Frogs finished with 297 yards of total offense, the second consecutive game in which they failed to reach the 300-yard mark. The Mountaineers had just 244 yards of total offense and lost the turnover battle 3-2. But WVU turned its two takeaways into 10 points, while TCU turned its three into zero points.
And the list goes on.
“We got beat. We’re not going to a bowl game,” Patterson said. “I’m not happy with them because we gave it away, to be honest with you. Plain and simple. Not emotional, not mad, matter of fact. Simple as that.”
TCU will wrap up its season with a 3 p.m. meeting Saturday. After that, it’s on to the 2020 season. There will be no bowl practices for the first time since 2013.
Patterson made a little quip about how TCU’s finals schedule would have interfered with bowl practices, so Friday might’ve been a sign from the football gods. But his frustration was apparent during the six-minute postgame interview.
Not much needed to be said.
This story was originally published November 29, 2019 at 6:39 PM.
