‘We have to do a better job.’ TCU football struggles in 21-14 loss to K-State
TCU lost players to ejection and injury. The defense gave up big plays and didn’t register a sack until the fourth quarter. The offense went three-and-out almost half the time. The special teams had a field goal blocked. And the list goes on.
All of it paved the way for Kansas State to leave with a 21-14 victory over TCU on Saturday afternoon at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
“What I told them downstairs is that I’m disappointed in the loss, not how some of the younger guys played,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “In a game where you don’t have many choices, you have to make plays when you’re supposed to make plays and you can’t give them anything and we gave them something.
“At the end of the day we have to do a better job on all accounts. We have to move forward from it.”
TCU dropped to 1-2 on the season a week after knocking off then-No. 9 Texas. Kansas State, meanwhile, is now 3-1 and will likely enter the top-25 rankings.
The Wildcats also took a 5-4 edge in the series since TCU joined the Big 12 in 2012.
K-State true freshman Will Howard made his first college start at QB with senior Skylar Thompson sidelined with an injury. Howard flashed early with an 80-yard run during a field-goal drive by the Wildcats, but that was his most impressive play of the day.
Howard finished 8 of 19 passing for 117 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. He also had a game-high 86 yards rushing with one TD on 13 carries. Howard’s longest pass play was a 45-yard pass to running back Deuce Vaughn during a TD drive in the first half.
“Kansas State played a really good game. They’re a really good team,” TCU linebacker Garret Wallow said. “They came with a second-string QB and won. I give my props to them.”
For TCU, though, this game came down to offensive struggles. The Frogs went three-and-out five times and also turned it over on the third play of another offensive drive.
Patterson wasn’t ready to break down his offensive efforts afterward, saying: “I don’t know until I watch the film. I’ll tell ya later.
“You can’t go backwards. Number one, penalties; number two, you can’t take sacks. We have to be able to run the football. It’s a pretty simple formula. For us, we’ve got to be able to run the football.”
TCU finished with 189 yards rushing and two TDs on 37 carries. Fifty-eight of those rushing yards and one of the TDs came on TCU’s second-to-last possession.
The Frogs had a forgettable third quarter, despite delivering the game’s first turnover on an interception by safety Josh Foster. The offense responded with a three-and-out.
TCU quarterback Max Duggan then missed the next two series recovering from an injury. Backup QB Matthew Downing struggled, leading another three-and-out drive and then throwing an interception that K-State DB AJ Parker returned for a touchdown and a 21-7 lead late in the third quarter.
Duggan returned, but TCU’s next two drives were a turnover on downs and a three-and-out. TCU eventually showed life late in the fourth quarter. Duggan scored on a fourth-and-goal from the K-State 3 to make it a 21-14 game with 3 minutes, 39 seconds left.
K-State had a chance to close out the game on the next drive, but Howard tripped short of a first down on a third-and-1 from the TCU 48. The Frogs got the ball back on their own 4 with 1:05 left.
TCU didn’t have any late magic even though it had multiple Hail Mary attempts following a roughing-the-passer penalty by K-State on what should have been the final play of the game. The Frogs’ final play came with an untimed down from the Wildcats’ 39 as Duggan’s heave fell incomplete.
Duggan finished 19 of 31 passing for 154 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
Asked about the offensive struggles, including the five three-and-outs, left tackle Austin Myers said, “It’s kind of hard to put into words, but it’s just disappointing because you know you’re better than that. We should be executing the plays that we’ve been practicing all week.”
TCU didn’t get off to a promising start with K-State taking a 14-7 lead by halftime. Patterson said the team needed to start the game with more energy.
Among the issues for the Frogs included giving up a couple big plays, including an 80-yard QB run by Howard during a Wildcats field-goal drive and a 45-yard passing play from Howard to Vaughn during a TD drive.
TCU’s offense had two three-and-out drives in the opening half, as well as having a field-goal attempt blocked. Those stood out more than a 10-play TD drive in which the Frogs scored on a 7-yard TD run by Darwin Barlow.
Additionally, TCU lost a number of players early on. Sophomore safety Ar’Darius Washington was ejected for a targeting hit on Vaughn in the first quarter. Starting center Esteban Avila sustained an injury, and so did starting cornerback Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson. Avila and Hodges-Tomlinson did not return.
“We have to come out with a lot more energy if we want to win ball games,” Patterson said. “In this league you’ve got to play four quarters. Everybody is dangerous.”
TCU is off next week before facing Oklahoma on Oct. 24 in Fort Worth.
This story was originally published October 10, 2020 at 7:01 PM.
