TCU football closes regular season with dominant victory over Louisiana Tech
TCU continues to play its best football late in the season.
The Horned Frogs took care of business against Louisiana Tech on Saturday night, rolling to a 52-10 victory at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
The Frogs (6-4, 5-4 Big 12) closed the regular season by winning five of their final six games. Louisiana Tech dropped to 5-4.
“The bottom line is we’ve gotten better,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “I think we’ve had addition by subtraction. I think the younger guys have all grown up. The guys in that room are so much stronger and more mature than they were in August. This younger group has grown up and done their thing and got ready to go.”
TCU quarterback Max Duggan accounted for two TDs, one passing and one rushing. Two true freshmen running backs topped the 100-yard mark in Kendre Miller (136 yards with two TDs on five carries) and Zach Evans (130 yards with two TDs on seven carries). And true freshman receiver Quentin Johnston finished with 133 yards on five catches, including a 76-yard TD reception from Duggan.
TCU’s defense was led by linebacker Garret Wallow, who had a season-high 13 tackles, his fourth straight game with double-digit tackles.
La. Tech struggled to get much going on a night it had 244 yards of total offense. Quarterback Luke Anthony, a Fort Worth All Saints product, sustained a gruesome leg injury late in the fourth quarter and had to be carted off the field. He was 15 of 25 passing for 161 yards with one touchdown.
TCU didn’t get off to the fastest start.
On its opening possession, TCU marched deep into La. Tech territory and faced a fourth-and-2 from the La. Tech 4. TCU went for it, running a play with walk-on receiver Chase Curtis taking a direct snap in a wildcat formation. La. Tech played it perfectly, tackling Curtis for a 2-yard loss.
“He was a quarterback that’s moved to wide-out, and he can also play the wildcat,” Patterson said. “I probably would’ve liked to seen one of our better backs do that but that wasn’t the call.”
That is about the only thing that went wrong for TCU all night. The Frogs had 494 yards of total offense, including 333 yards rushing. They are now 6-0 this season when reaching the 200-yard rushing mark.
The Frogs had a 10-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, scoring a TD on a 5-yard run by Duggan. It was the 10th rushing TD by Duggan on the season, the most by a QB since Kenny Hill had 10 in 2016.
TCU extended its first-half lead to 31-0 with three touchdowns in the second quarter. Duggan connected with Johnston for a 76-yard TD, Evans scored on a 4-yard run and then Johnston had a rushing TD on a 1-yard end around.
The 76-yard TD pass was the longest of the season and TCU’s longest since Hill hit Jalen Reagor for a 93-yard TD in the 2017 Alamo Bowl.
“Quentin is a super talented kid,” Duggan said. “When you get the opportunity to get him the ball, he’s so talented and such a good playmaker, I’m going to try to get him the ball as fast as I can just so he can do his thing. Obviously you can see what happens when he gets the ball.”
The Frogs didn’t let up in the second half.
Evans scored on the first play of the half, running 75 yards for a touchdown.
TCU’s defense then forced a takeaway on the next possession with sophomore cornerback C.J. Ceasar II coming down with his second interception of the game. Three plays later, Miller scored on a 38-yard run for a 45-0 lead.
Miller scored the game’s final touchdown with an 89-yard run with 1 minute, 31 seconds left.
La. Tech avoided a shutout by making a 34-yard field goal in the third quarter, and then added a touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 13-yard TD pass from Anthony to Griffin Hebert.
TCU will now wait for its bowl bid. The Frogs could play in several bowls, including the Texas Bowl in Houston on Dec. 31, the Liberty Bowl in Memphis on Dec. 31 or the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix on Dec. 26.
Much will depend on whether the Big 12 sends one or two teams to a New Year’s Six Bowl. Oklahoma and Iowa State will play for the Big 12 championship next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
But TCU is just happy to play another game. After all, this is a team playing its best.
“We’re extremely excited [to play in a bowl game] since we missed last year,” said TCU safety La’Kendrick Van Zandt, who had six tackles. “Confidence-wise? We had a lot of confidence coming in knowing we had won four of the last five. As long as we focused as a team, confidence comes with it.”
This story was originally published December 12, 2020 at 9:28 PM.
