Iron Skillet: TCU grabs big early lead, downs SMU 42-34 in Sonny Dykes’ return to Dallas
While it took the crowd at SMU some time to try and fill the seats at Ford Stadium, TCU didn’t need much time to find the scoreboard early and often against the Mustangs.
In TCU head coach Sonny Dykes’ first game back at SMU, the Horned Frogs jumped out on the Mustangs early as four of their first five possessions ended with a touchdown on its way to a 42-34 win on Saturday.
The Horned Frogs were able to score in just about any fashion as SMU was on its heels early defensively. TCU built a 28-14 lead at the half and held on to snap its two-game losing streak to its crosstown rivals.
“Every single win means the world. They’re hard to get,” Dykes said. “We kind of let them get back in the game, didn’t do a very good job of closing out like we should have. But man it’s hard to win. I’m glad it’s over and I’m hopeful now we can just go on and I can just coach my team and not have to deal with some of the stuff we’ve been dealing with.”
Here’s what we learned about TCU:
Duggan outduels Mordecai
One of the key matchups highlighted before the game was which quarterback would be superior. The answer was Max Duggan. Emphatically. Thanks to a mixture of creative play calling from offensive coordinator from Garrett Riley and pass protection from the offensive line, Duggan threw for 212 yards and three touchdowns in the first half alone. He finished 22 of 29 for 278 yards. Dykes was emotional talking about Duggan after the game.
“He loses the job… and he never blinks. He never had a bad practice, never pouted. Never thought of himself one time. How many people can you say that about that you know in your life? You can say it about Max Duggan, that’s for sure,” Sonny Dykes said.
His first was a beauty as he escaped pressure, rolled to his right and put nice touchdown on the ball for a 18-yard touchdown to Savion Williams on the opening drive of the game. Seven different players caught passes from Duggan as he once again showed how he can be effective as a distributor.
“They’ve taught me a lot,” Duggan said of Dykes and Riley. “Just being confident and relying on the guys and not trying to do too much. I’ve got studs all around, I’ve got guys up front that can do their thing. I’ve got guys on the sideline that are going to put us in a successful spot. I just have to do my job and distribute the ball.”
Tanner Mordecai got SMU back in the game after completing a strike on 4th-and-10 just over the the fingertips of D’Arco Perkins-McAllister to Jake Bailey. Tre Siggers would make it 28-21 late in the third quarter a play later. In the end, as we predicted, Mordecai tossed two interceptions that TCU was able to convert into touchdowns. He finished 27 of 49 for 372 yards.
Defense does enough
Facing a high-powered offense there was some expected ups and downs throughout the game. In the end, the TCU defense kept the SMU’s offense in check thanks to few timely turnovers. In the first quarter Abe Camara picked off Mordecai to help set up TCU’s second touchdown of the quarter.
In the fourth, the game was beginning to tilt towards SMU as TCU’s offense kept stalling. After giving up a third-down conversion, Josh Newton picked off Mordecai again and returned it 33 yards to seize momentum of the game. A few plays later Emari Demercado barreled in from two yards to put TCU back ahead 35-21 with just over eight minutes to play.
“We were in an invert coverage, where the safety goes down and I go high. The receiver ran a post and I stayed on top of it when the quarterback threw it,” Newton said when breaking down his interception.
The pass rush absent the blitz remains a concern and SMU converted too many third and fourth downs, but overall this was an encouraging performance. It was also a clear indication that defense under Joe Gillespie will be better for TCU as the Horned Frogs turn to Big 12 play.
Run game flourishes
After Maryland rushed for more than 200 yards against them, TCU had a quiet confidence that it would be able to do that and then some. Kendre Miller and Emari Demercado were too much to handle for the SMU defensive front. Miller averaged better than nine yards per carry and finished with 138 yards. Miller leads all Power Five running backs with yards per carry and added onto that Saturday.
“It just shows me I’ve got to keep working harder because it’s pretty cool to lead the Power Five in yards per carry, but I’ve got bigger goals and it just shows me I can do more,” Miller said.
Demercado delivered the dagger. TCU had about five minutes left on the clock to ice after SMU made it 35-27. Why run out the clock when you have a running back that can score from 60 yards out? Demercado shed a few tackles and raced in from 63 yards out to put TCU ahead 42-27 with 2:31 remaining.
“He had a challenging career so far in college. Just to see him flourishing in his senior season that means a lot. To me Emari is a brother to me. It’s been amazing to see,” Derius Davis said.
When you adjust for sacks, TCU eclipsed 200 yards and averaged more than seven yards per carry. Miller finished with 17 carries for 142 yards, Demercado had 6 carries for 64 yards.
Davis is dynamic again
Through the first quarter of the season, wide receiver Derius Davis has been the offensive MVP for the Horned Frogs. Once again he delivered big plays on both special teams and on offense to spark TCU. After SMU scored to make it 14-7, Davis took the ensuing kickoff 57 yards to the SMU 43. He was one tackle away from his second career kickoff touchdown.
The return set up a four-play touchdown drive as Max Duggan completed an underneath pass to Jared Wiley for a walk-in touchdown. Later in the second quarter after the defense forced a punt, Davis took a jet touch pass from Duggan 80 yards for a one play drive that made it 28-7. In the first half alone Davis had 163 total yards on just three touches.
Davis accounted for 78 receiving yards and 98 return yards.
“I’m a big special teams guy and my job is to really just make plays. Just being a leader. We rotate at the wide receiver spot so they tell us when you get in play fast, play physical,” Davis said of his performance.
Hodges-Tomlinson slows Rice
SMU receiver Rashee Rice entered Saturday as the country’s leading receiver. If he remains in that spot it won’t be because of what he did against TCU. With Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson shadowing him virtually all game, the Horned Frogs corner got the best of the talented receiver despite a rocky first half.
Hodges-Tomlinson was flagged for three penalties in the first half. His physical style and hand placement was a deterrent and Rice eventually beat him for a touchdown before halftime. Like one would expect from a top tier corner, Hodges-Tomlinson didn’t let the first half knock him off his game. Rice was held to one catch in the second half and 74 yards total. He entered the game averaging 163.
“That was his assignment. You know he had that first half, but one half don’t win you the game. Whenever he came to the sideline I told him ‘Bruh, calm down. You’re a dog. Now just show that.’ And look what God did for him. I’m proud of him and the whole defense,” Newton said.
This story was originally published September 24, 2022 at 2:43 PM.
