TCU’s season comes to disappointing end in lopsided loss to Oklahoma
Any chance TCU had of reaching a bowl game was emphatically crushed by Oklahoma in the second quarter of TCU’s 69-45 loss in their regular season finale on Friday.
After a lengthy first quarter that featured big plays and big mistakes by both sides, TCU only trailed the Sooners 14-13. But the close game wouldn’t last long as the Sooners outscored the Horned Frogs 28-3 in the second quarter.
“Disappointed that we didn’t play better,” coach Sonny Dykes said. “I was proud of our guys for getting back in the game in the second half. We got it down to two scores and got back in the game but couldn’t get a stop.”
Dillon Gabriel started the surge with a 53-yard bomb to Brennen Thompson for a touchdown that made it 21-13. Then Gavin Sawchuk scored back-to-back touchdowns to break the game open. He was virtually untouched on both scores as Oklahoma had no problems creating running lanes for their skill positions.
Oklahoma took a 42-16 lead into halftime, but the Horned Frogs tried to make things interesting cutting the deficit to 45-31 late in the third quarter. However with a chance to get the ball back in Oklahoma territory, the Horned Frogs allowed Gabriel to convert a fourth-and-inches with a 40-yard run.
The Sooners scored a few plays later to end any notion of a TCU comeback.
“That was the theme of the day, we couldn’t get off the field,” Dykes said. “We couldn’t get off the field on third down, couldn’t get off the field on fourth down. We gave up a bunch of bombs at the beginning of the game, hard to overcome that many big plays.”
Gabriel’s return
There was speculation that Dillon Gabriel would be unable to play after suffering a concussion in the second half last week against BYU. Despite it being a short week the star quarterback was able to start for the Sooners and showed no signs of an injury slowing him down as he picked on the TCU secondary repeatedly.
His first completion of the game was a 50-yard strike to Nic Anderson and it set up his eight yard rushing touchdown that gave Oklahoma a 7-0 lead. His third completion went for 59 yards as he connected with Jayden Gibson for a touchdown in the first quarter that made it 14-7.
Gabriel’s sixth completion was the 53-yard touchdown to Brennen Thompson to start the second quarter. Gabriel had over 200 yards on his first six completions and at one point Oklahoma was averaging over 25 yards per completion. The inability of the defensive line to pressure Gabriel allowed the Big 12’s best quarterback to pick apart a secondary that was down one starter in Avery Helm.
Gabriel likely locked up Big 12 Player of the Year as he passed for 400 yards and three touchdowns while adding 36 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.
Defensive disappointment
Every time TCU has been tasked with facing a quality offense this season, its defense failed to show up. Once again, the Horned Frogs allowed 40-plus in game after giving up 45 to Colorado and 41 to Kansas State. Each team was able to decimate the Horned Frogs in different ways. For the Sooners, the most efficient way to attack TCU was over the top with the passing game.
In the first half, the Horned Frogs allowed seven passing plays of more than 15 yards and it didn’t matter who was in coverage. Safeties like Bud Clark and Mark Perry were beaten on touchdowns while Channing Canada struggled trying to fill in for Avery Helm. The Sooners added four more big plays in the second half as over 300 of Gabriel’s yards came on 11 completions.
TCU’s run defense wasn’t much better as an Oklahoma run game, which had been stagnant most of the season, had plenty of success Friday. Gavin Sawchuk rushed for three touchdowns and 130 yards as he and the offensive line wore TCU down in the second half. The 69 points allowed is the most TCU has given up since 2004. Even as the Horned Frogs sold out to stop the big plays in the second half, Oklahoma still averaged eight yards per play and Gabriel averaged almost 17 yards per completion.
When TCU blitzed, Gabriel hit them over the top. When they sat back in coverage, Gabriel just bided his time and had no problem taking the check down route and allowing his receivers to pick up first down after first down. Were it not for the two turnovers the carnage could’ve been even worse.
Bailey’s valiant effort
One of the main reasons the Horned Frogs had a chance to make things close in the second half was the play of Emani Bailey. The running back has consistently been TCU’s best offensive weapon and that continued on Friday as he rushed for over 100 yards for the fifth time this season.
With the score sitting at 45-16, Bailey ripped right up the middle for a 32-yard touchdown to start the attempted comeback in the third quarter. At the end of the third, the Horned Frogs made it a two possession game once again thanks to Bailey. He ripped off a 49 yard run to get TCU inside the red zone and then finished off the drive with a score as he caught a screen pass, bumped off a defender and eventually found the endzone to make it 52-38.
“I absolutely love the way we came out and fought back,” Bailey said. “It showed character with the type of men we are.”
While his effort wasn’t enough, Bailey should be commended for how he inspired the offense to not fold after struggling in the first half. Bailey finished with 150 rushing yards, 24 yards receiving and two touchdowns.
“I think we ran the ball well,” Dykes said. “Emani did a good job of slipping out of some tackles and making some big runs. We played pretty well up front against a good defensive front.”
A game-changing missed call?
Social media was lit ablaze as it appeared that the officials missed a fumble against Oklahoma at a key time in the game. In the first quarter, Gabriel hit Nic Anderson up the seam route for a big gain only for TCU safety Millard Bradford to deliver a hard hit that dislodged the ball.
It was ruled an incomplete pass on the field, but replays on the FOX broadcast showed Anderson took multiple steps and secure the ball before Bradford’s hit. The play wasn’t reviewed and Sonny Dykes didn’t call a timeout to give replay officials more time, but the brunt of the blunder lies with the officiating crew.
The Sooners scored two plays later in a key sequence.
“It was a big deal, they threw a 60-yard touchdown on the next play,” Dykes said. “I would like some explanation for that but I didn’t get one.”
While the missed fumble mattered, it’s hard to say that it had a huge impact on the way the first half played out as TCU was unable to find anyway to stop the Sooners defensively.
This story was originally published November 24, 2023 at 2:54 PM.
