West Virginia spoils TCU’s homecoming as Frogs football falls again
Gary Patterson likes to tell his players to win the games you’re supposed to win, and Saturday night was supposed to be one of those contests.
The Horned Frogs were playing a Big 12 night game at home for the first time since 2018. It was homecoming. West Virginia entered on a three-game losing streak.
But nothing is going according to plan for TCU this season. That continued with West Virginia pulling away for a 29-17 victory at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
“Win games you’re supposed to. Can’t win games scoring 10 points [on offense], not in this league,” Patterson said. “We gave up 150 more yards than we should’ve defensively. ... You’ve got to play good defense and you can’t turn the ball over. You’ve got to manage the game.”
The Frogs (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) have lost four of their last five games. They’ve allowed at least 200 yards rushing in each of those five games. West Virginia finished with 229 yards rushing, led by Leddie Brown’s 111 yards and three touchdowns.
The Mountaineers (3-4, 1-3) snapped their losing streak and coach Neal Brown improved to 3-0 against the Frogs.
“Some people, they have your number and we’ve got to get where we’re outside the number,” Patterson said. “Some people we’ve had their number.”
Patterson and TCU has had the number of Texas more times than not since joining the Big 12 as well as winning four straight road games against Texas Tech in Lubbock. But, as Patterson said, the Frogs didn’t figure out a way to end their struggles against the Mountaineers.
TCU trailed 20-17 at halftime and then let it get away on a couple interceptions thrown by quarterback Max Duggan in the second half.
Trailing 20-17 in the third quarter, TCU was driving in West Virginia territory. Facing a third-and-4 from the West Virginia 23, Duggan tried to hit Quentin Johnston on an out route. But Mountaineers cornerback Daryl Porter Jr. jumped it, setting up a drive that ended with a field goal.
Still, TCU trailed only 23-17 going into the fourth quarter, but Duggan threw another costly interception on the first play of a drive with 14 minutes left.
This time, West Virginia’s Charles Woods came down with the ball and returned it to the TCU 15. Three plays later, Brown scored on a 3-yard run to give them a 29-17 lead.
Duggan finished his night 16 of 26 for 244 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He was 10 of 13 with a touchdown in the first half, and just 6 of 13 with two interceptions in the second half. He wasn’t helped at times, either, as Johnston dropped a deep ball in the second half and also had a fumble late.
It was that kind of night for TCU.
“They have a great defense,” TCU senior wide receiver Taye Barber said. “We had a couple bad turnovers, but every offense has those days. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do and fight.”
TCU got off to a promising start when Derius Davis returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. It was the first opening kickoff return for a touchdown since at least 1996 for TCU. That ended up being among the few highlights for the Frogs.
West Virginia had 158 yards of total offense in the first quarter, but only led 10-7. TCU stayed in it and Patterson showed aggressiveness early on.
Facing a fourth-and-three from the West Virginia 5, TCU went for it and scored a touchdown on a 5-yard pass from Duggan to Barber. That put the Frogs ahead 14-13.
But West Virginia answered and took a 20-17 lead into halftime. The Mountaineers then pitched the shutout in the second half and went on to their first victory in more than a month.
It leaves TCU searching for answers, but the players aren’t ready to give in.
“Nobody likes losing, so if we use that as motivation to come out and play harder, play fast, we should be all right,” said linebacker Dee Winters, who had a game-high 12 tackles.
“Everybody takes a ‘L’ sometimes,” Barber added. “You’ve just got to keep your head down and keep fighting.”
TCU travels to Kansas State (4-3, 1-3) next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. in Manhattan.
This story was originally published October 23, 2021 at 9:49 PM.
