Why TCU and Max Duggan are confident the deep ball will connect … eventually
TCU quarterback Max Duggan didn’t make excuses. He knows his touch on the deep ball must improve if the Frogs are going to accomplish what they hope to this season — contending for a Big 12 championship and more.
“Obviously I’ve got to be better on the downfield throws,” Duggan said. “I missed a lot of them and it really hurt us at times. It would have helped us if I hit them. It’s just connection, and just more in practice of getting a feel for them, seeing coverages, seeing how they’re playing them, and giving them a shot. I kind of just threw it out of bounds or didn’t give them a shot. I’ve just got to put it out there and let the playmakers make plays.”
The good news is Duggan’s misfires didn’t cost TCU. The Frogs prevailed with a 34-32 victory over Cal on Saturday, but there were plenty of takeaways from the game.
Improving the deep ball is among the top takeaways. The Frogs have taken strides from last season when they averaged fewer than 200 yards passing per game but it remains a work in progress.
Duggan had receivers open on multiple deep routes in the opening half, but didn’t connect. He missed Quentin Johnston a couple of times as well as Taye Barber.
In the second half, there were more missed opportunities. Duggan overthrew an open Derius Davis and later airmailed a wide-open Quincy Brown down the sidelines.
But Duggan remained confident that TCU’s offense will find its rhythm on the deep routes eventually, pointing to the success the unit had during fall camp on those plays.
“We’ll hit them,” he said. “During fall camp, we were hitting them. It’s just connection and just timing with each other. We’ll hit them.
“Obviously some games you might and there will be one game where you’re hitting some you probably shouldn’t have, so it’s just a matter of time.”
TCU coach Gary Patterson and Johnston agreed when asked about the deep ball struggles after Saturday’s game. Patterson wasn’t going to panic, particularly following a game the Frogs won.
“He’s got to do a better job on the deep ball and we will,” Patterson said. “With the guy (Brown) down the sidelines, it was wide open. That’s one of those you’ve just got to throw it to him. It doesn’t have to look pretty.”
Asked specifically how the offense can improve in that department, Patterson pointed to the success the group had throughout the offseason and in fall camp.
“To be honest with you, they’ve thrown the deep ball really well in camp,” Patterson said. “Max has just got to not hurry it. It’s like our kicker on the one field goal. Every time he rushes it, he pulls it left. So don’t rush it. It’s pretty easy.”
Added Johnston: “In practice that’s something we work on a lot. It wasn’t the best for us today but the shorter routes were, so we keep coming back to that. You know we’re going to go back to practice and keep working on the deep ball.”
On the defensive side, the main takeaway centered on preventing the deep ball. Cal had five pass plays that gained at least 28 yards, including two that went 50-plus yards on touchdown drives.
Patterson said the secondary would get a chance to watch the film for a “long time.”
“I might even be in the corner room (Sunday),” he said, smiling during his postgame news conference Saturday. “I’ve been telling them for two weeks how this is going to go down in one of these ballgames. Fortunately for us, it went down but we won. Sometimes they just have to be shown. Coach (Jeremy) Modkins has been telling them. I’ve been telling them.”
At the end of the day, it’s a safe bet that TCU will be focused on the deep ball on both sides of the ball during its upcoming bye week. TCU returns to action when it hosts SMU on Sept. 25 in Fort Worth.
