Somehow, TCU football overcomes five turnovers and knocks off No. 19 Oklahoma State
TCU football fell into an early deficit. The Frogs turned it over five times. They gave up a long touchdown. That isn’t a winning formula for most unranked teams to knock off a ranked team.
But TCU somehow found a way to overcome those mistakes in a 29-22 upset victory over No. 19 Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
“Hopefully we have some positive articles,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said, smiling, “Because I’ll be honest with you — I don’t know how we won that ballgame.”
TCU (5-4, 5-4 Big 12) has a winning record for the first time this season. Oklahoma State (6-3, 5-3 Big 12) fell out of Big 12 championship contention.
Credit the TCU defense for making stands following turnovers. Of the four offensive drives Oklahoma State ran following a takeaway, it scored only three points. The Cowboys had a field goal, two punts and a turnover on downs in those situations.
“I’ve never lost [the turnover margin 5-1] and still won. I can promise you that,” Patterson said. “That was a good football team and they’ve got some good players, but we found a way to get done what we needed to get done.”
Frogs quarterback Max Duggan showcased his legs and arm throughout the day. He had two rushing TDs, including a 42-yard run early in the third quarter. After that long TD run, Duggan completed the longest pass of his career, a 71-yard TD to Derius Davis to give TCU the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.
“On that play, they actually double-teamed me,” Davis said. “I felt like Max was getting pressured, so I was about to come back toward the ball but I saw him throw it, so I just turned around and ran as fast as I could and there was the ball and I scored the touchdown.”
Oklahoma State had a chance to tie it three times with less than five minutes left, but once again TCU’s defense made a stand. The Cowboys had a first-and-goal from the 7, but that drive ended with an interception by Frogs safety Trevon Moehrig with 4 minutes, 14 seconds left.
OSU QB Spencer Sanders tried to find tight end Jelani Woods over the middle of the end zone, but the ball bounced off his hands and into Moehrig’s in the back of the end zone.
TCU, though, gave it right back to Oklahoma State. Duggan fumbled it away three plays later as the Cowboys took over on the TCU 26. It was the fifth giveaway by TCU on the day, including the third fumble forced by OSU linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga.
But TCU’s defense bailed the offense out all day. OSU turned it over on downs with 2 minutes, 18 seconds.
Oklahoma State had a final chance when it got the ball back with 33 seconds, but Sanders’ Hail Mary at the buzzer fell incomplete.
“When we went out there when a turnover happened, we would just come out with the mentality of all right, we’ll just stop them, no big deal,” Moehrig said. “That’s what we do. This is TCU football, this is TCU defense. We just trusted our defense, trusted the coaching and what we did in practice and played some really good defense tonight.”
Duggan finished 12 of 26 passing for 265 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also had a team-high 104 yards rushing with two TDs on 19 carries.
The Frogs had two 100-yard receivers in Davis (six catches for 139 yards) and true freshman Quentin Johnston (three catches for 114 yards). They totaled 236 yards rushing on 52 carries, improving to 5-0 when they reach the 200-yard rush mark this season.
TCU got off to a slow start in the opening half.
Freshman running back Zach Evans fumbled on the opening drive, which turned into a 42-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Oklahoma State defensive end Brock Martin. Officials reviewed the play as it appeared Evans may have been down before the ball came loose, but the ruling stood.
The Cowboys extended their lead to 13-0 with a 57-yard TD drive later in the first quarter, capped with a 1-yard scoring run by Dezmon Jackson. OSU missed the point-after attempt.
TCU’s offense, meanwhile, didn’t get anything going early on. Along with the fumble on their opening drive, the Frogs’ next five possessions were four punts, including three three-and-outs, and a missed field- goal attempt.
And, just when the Frogs showed life with a 58-yard completion from Duggan to Johnston to get into OSU territory, Duggan threw an interception on a pass intended for Pro Wells.
But TCU eventually got on the scoreboard, putting together a 47-yard TD drive when it took over with 1 minute, 15 seconds left in the half. Duggan scored on a 1-yard run to make it a 13-7 game with 42 seconds left.
OSU added a late field goal to take a 16-7 lead into the locker rooms, but TCU had gained enough confidence. It had three straight TD drives (final drive of the first half and the first two of the second half) to take control of the game.
“I think it was just coming out of the locker room with a different type of energy. We fed off the defense,” Duggan said. “They were making plays the whole game. When they make plays it helps us, gives us momentum, and I think that was the biggest thing. They made plays, and our offense got some energy.”
TCU is scheduled to face Louisiana Tech next Saturday in a nonconference matchup. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
This story was originally published December 5, 2020 at 3:03 PM.
