Max Duggan, TCU Horned Frogs dominate No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners in Big 12 football upset
The first half between TCU and Oklahoma took more than two hours to be played.
Why?
Because the Horned Frogs couldn’t stop scoring. Whether it was on the ground or through the air, TCU gashed the Oklahoma defense. The Horned Frogs had touchdowns of 73, 67 and 62 yards in a dominating first half over the 18th ranked team in the country.
After gaining 479 yards of offense in the first two quarters, TCU finished with nearly 700 as the Horned Frogs cruised at home for a 55-24 win over the Sooners. It was the first win over a ranked opponent in the Sonny Dykes era and should lead to a Top 25 spot for TCU in next week’s AP Poll.
“Really proud of our effort today. I thought the guys were really ready to play. It seemed to me that they were really dialed in and focused,” Dykes said. “We had a great game plan on both sides of the ball.”
Here’s how it unfolded:
Torrid start
The first two drives couldn’t have gone any better for the Horned Frogs. Abe Camara forced a fumble from Oklahoma star receiver Marvin Mims, and a few plays later Max Duggan completed a beautiful back shoulder fade to Savion Williams for a touchdown that put TCU on the board first.
“When we got that turnover and went down and scored that was huge. It gave our guys a big boost. When you can do that and get that kind of confidence and emotion going, it’s great. The crowd was great, it was really fun to be apart of that atmosphere. I think our players fed off of that,” Dykes said.
It was a sign of what was to come. On TCU’s third series Duggan found a wide open Taye Barber behind the Oklahoma defense for a 73-yard touchdown pass. The next drive was just one play as Duggan kept it on a zone read and outraced the defense for a 67-yard touchdown. Just past the midway point of the first quarter TCU led the Sooners 20-3, and there was no looking back from that point.
Kendre Miller added one more touchdown just before the quarter ended to establish a commanding 27-10 lead.
Defense stands tall
The big plays on offense will get most of the attention, but TCU’s defense deserves plenty of credit for how it slowed one of the nation’s top offenses. Oklahoma was held to one field goal across its first five drives. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel had been crisp and effective in the Sooners’ first four games, but the TCU secondary made life tough on him with tight windows around his receivers.
There was one sequence where Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson broke up two straight passes, including one on Mims, to force a punt. The Horned Frogs sacked Gabriel and Davis Beville four times and were much better on third down against Oklahoma.
“I think the defensive line did a good job winning one-on-one battles. I think Coach Gillespie put us in positions where we could get them in one on one and not get double teamed. Marcel (Brooks) came in, and he’s a freak at the pass rush. He really helped us out,” linebacker Johnny Hodges said.
Gabriel was just 7 of 16 for 126 yards before he exited the game with an injury in the first half. Well below his season completion percentage of 67%. Oklahoma finished with less than 200 yards passing.
Mad Max does it again
Producing stat lines like Max Duggan’s are hard to do, even if you’re playing on the Rookie level of the Madden video game. Through three quarters Duggan had 302 yards passing, 116 yards rushing and five total touchdowns. He showed off his speed on his 67-yard touchdown and another for 35 yards late in the third quarter.
Duggan’s father, Jim, says that Max’s speed comes from his mother, Deb, a Hall of Fame track runner in college at South Dakota by the way.
Back to their son, who once again showed an ease and comfort in Dykes’ and Garrett Riley’s offensive system. Duggan’s decision making and vision in the pocket stood out. It also helped that the offensive line controlled the trenches. Oklahoma led the Big 12 in sacks entering the game, but didn’t sack Duggan once, and he was rarely pressured. Duggan has continued to play the best ball of his career, and he’s helped turn TCU into one of the most explosive offenses in the country.
“I’m just playing confident and relying on the guys around me. I’m not doing anything that’s outside of my job,” Duggan said. “Coach Dykes talks a lot about doing your job, and I understand what I’m supposed to do on each play. Coach Riley’s putting us in good plays.”
TCU weapons better than OU’s
How many programs can line up across from Oklahoma and believe they have better talent at skill positions? TCU is among that select group, and it might not be close. Eight different receivers caught passes from Duggan. Taye Barber had 107 yards himself in the first quarter.
Gunnar Henderson showed his big-play potential as he got behind the Sooners defense for a 62-yard touchdown that made it 41-17 before the half. Miller had 136 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns while Emari Demercado added another one. Six different Horned Frogs scored a touchdown as the offense once again showed how loaded it is across the board. There’s no one player a defense can key on, and defenses are starting to figure that out.
“We weren’t outclassed, we didn’t look that way at all. I think our guys felt like we belonged and had a desire to want to play hard and to show people what we’re capable of,” Dykes said.
Quentin Johnston didn’t have a big afternoon as his slow start continues, but he did draw two pass interferences that set up a score. His contributions went beyond the stat sheet.
Speaking of weapons, the TCU offensive line could be considered one at this point. All the talk from the preseason about how strong the unit was has played out in the first four games. TCU ran for more than 300 yards and averaged almost 10 yards per carry.
“It’s very much a mindset coming into the game. We knew the game wasn’t going to be given to us. After every successful drive we came back to the sidelines and said the job’s not done. I feel like that’s what carried the team,” center Steve Avila said.
A series of mysterious, missed calls
It didn’t end up mattering, but it’s still worth mentioning the two strange and egregious missed penalties or calls by referees in the second quarter.
Late in the second quarter, Duggan attempted a pass to an open Geor’Quarius Spivey. The defender got to Spivey much sooner than the ball did and hit Spivey to force an incompletion. It was a play eerily similar to the controversial no-call during the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams 2019 NFC Championship Game.
Just like that game there was no flag thrown here, and TCU eventually turned it over on downs. TCU would force a punt after the no-call. On the ensuing punt, Derius Davis caught it and took off with a crease forming up the middle. Except the play was called dead as the referees said Davis made a fair-catch signal beforehand. Subsequent replays of the play showed Davis made no motion at all with his arms. It was a head-scratching call, that left Dykes furious.
Thankfully neither call had much of an impact on the final score, and Dykes didn’t have much to say about it afterwards.
“He said (Davis) waved when it was first punted, I didn’t see that, but that was the explanation,” Dykes said.
This story was originally published October 1, 2022 at 3:02 PM.
