No. 7 TCU uses fourth quarter surge to down Texas Tech 34-24
For three quarters, No. 7 TCU looked firmly on the verge of being upset by in-state rival Texas Tech as the Horned Frogs trailed 17-13 entering the fourth quarter.
One of the best offenses in the country was without its top player in star receiver Quentin Johnston and was out of sorts against an aggressive Texas Tech defense that was playing above itself.
Then the fourth quarter happened.
The Horned Frogs scored 21 straight points in the final quarter to turn to alleviate all the built up stress in Amon G. Carter Stadium. TCU moved to 9-0 with a 34-24 win over its in-state rivals.
“Took us awhile to get in sync offensively, I think Texas Tech had a lot to do with that,” TCU head coach Sonny Dykes said. “They got us a little bit out of a rhythm. We had to overcome and I thought our defense did a tremendous job letting the offense find a rhythm.”
Kendre Miller started the scoring surge with a two-yard touchdown. Then the defense kept stopping Texas Tech with two straight fourth down stops.
With short fields, Max Duggan finally found a rhythm after struggling without his top target. He threw his best pass of the day on a 23-yard strike to Derius Davis in between three defenders. Duggan tossed his second touchdown to Emari Demercado with less than six minutes remaining to put TCU ahead 34-17.
Duggan went 12-of-23 for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Taye Barber led the receivers with 62 yards.
The Horned Frogs weathered the storm and remained alive in the College Football Playoff conversation with its fourth straight win over Texas Tech.
“I think the great thing about this team is they’ve got a lot of confidence, they feel if we can get the game into the second half with a chance to win we’re going to figure out how to do it. I thought it was the same story today. We got to the middle of the third quarter and were able to start running the ball and started to wear them down,” Dykes said.
Miller carries the load
With Quentin Johnston out for basically the entire game, the TCU offense needed someone to give them a spark and the star running back answered the call. Miller put the Horned Frogs ahead for good with a short, powerful two-yard touchdown run that was aided by Wes Harris basically dragging him into the endzone.
He helped set up another fourth down touchdown to his backfield mate Emari Demercado that put the game away late in the fourth quarter. Miller had his sixth 100-yard rushing game in his last seven and now has scored a touchdown in 10 straight games dating back to last season.
“I think he’s as good a back as I’ve ever been around. He gets better when get running backs get better. The great ones have a tendency to get better in the second half and he does that,” Dykes said.
Miller keyed the offensive explosion in the fourth quarter and continues to make a name for himself as one of the best running backs in the country. He had 158 yards on 21 carries.
Fourth down battle
Situational football always plays a massive role in rivalry games. For TCU it was their struggles on fourth down compared to Texas Tech’s success that stood out. On two separate occasions, the Horned Frogs were stuffed on fourth down with the option to take the points. The first game in the first quarter with TCU wanting to be aggressive and try to seize a 14-0 lead.
The failed conversion eventually led to a Red Raiders touchdown. The next game in the third quarter with TCU trailing 17-13. Facing a fourth-and-4 at the Texas Tech 12, it was clear there was some confusion about the play between Max Duggan and his receivers. Duggan was sacked as a result.
On the flip side, the Red Raiders were three of three on fourth down through three quarters. Texas Tech took the 17-13 lead mentioned above after a fourth down conversion. After Tyler Shough completed a short pass to SaRodrick Thompson to move the chains, Shough threw a strike to J.J. Sparkman for a 33-yard touchdown. The Red Raiders also converted a fourth down earlier to keep the drive going.
“They converted some fourth downs backed up and kept some drives alive that resulted in points,” Dykes said. Dykes acknowledged that TCU probably should’ve kicked a field goal on fourth-and-4.
It wasn’t until a pair of fourth down stops that TCU was able to seize the game. Namdi Obiazor stuffed Donovan Smith on a quarterback power in the fourth quarter which led to a Horned Frog touchdown to go up 27-17. On the next drive, Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson broke up another attempt on fourth down and TCU capitalized with another touchdown to put the game away.
“Those were huge, you could kind of feel the momentum. We were waiting for the offense to wake up and we got a touchdown after the first fourth down stop. We had all the momentum, it feeds the beast,” linebacker Johnny Hodges said.
Another sluggish start
TCU started fast on one side of the ball as the defense played much better in the first half. The first play of the game nearly resulted in an interception by Josh Newton. With the defense flying around the field, the Horned Frogs forced punts on Texas Tech’s first two drives, but the offense was unable to capitalize.
With a chance to go up 14-0, TCU was stuffed on a fourth-and-short attempt near the red zone. The Red Raiders responded with a three play drive to even it up at 7 midway through the first quarter. Texas Tech actually led 10-7 at the end of the first quarter as the Red Raiders held up against TCU’s rushing attack and the Horned Frogs were also forced to go without star wide receiver Quentin Johnston.
“We felt like we would have him all week and he got to the game and just didn’t feel right. We didn’t want to take a chance, we wanted to get him back 100% healthy,” Dykes said.
Johnston played just a snap or two in the first half and his absence was evident as the Horned Frogs failed to score a touchdown in a half for the first time since Colorado in the season opener. Despite the offensive struggles, TCU managed to hold a 13-10 lead at halftime as Griffin Kell hit his second field goal of the half with nine seconds remaining before halftime.
Davis at the top
Derius Davis continued to add to his case as being one of the most electric return men in college football. After the TCU defense forced a three and out Davis got the Horned Frogs on the scoreboard first with an 82-yard punt return in the first quarter. Davis caught it deep, his teammates sealed Tech defenders inside and allowed him to bounce it outside to his right for a score he made look easy.
“They out-kicked their coverage, my job is the easiest job. The hardest one is going out there and blocking. All I really did was go right and go up-field and make a cutback. My blockers made my job very easy so credit to them,” Davis said.
Not only did it give TCU a 7-0 lead, it also moved him to the top of TCU’s leaderboard for all-time punt return touchdowns. He surpassed former Horned Frog and current Dallas Cowboys receiver KaVontae Turpin in that category and tied him with six career return touchdowns all-time. His score was the lone touchdown of the first quarter for TCU.
“It’s a blessing because the guy before me (Turpin) had a lot of success in the return game and still is having that success in the league,” Davis said.
This story was originally published November 5, 2022 at 2:40 PM.
