TCU ends regular season on high note, beats Cincinnati. Bowl game next.
It was closer than it needed to be, but the Horned Frogs overcame the elements and inconsistent offense to take down Cincinnati 20-13 in the regular-season finale.
“It’s hard to win, there wasn’t anything easy about today,” coach Sonny Dykes said after the win. “Cincinnati just kept fighting and hanging in there. This was a highly motivated team and they made some plays. I thought their quarterback really played well and got them back in the game.”
TCU led 20-7 most of the second half thanks to a strong showing by its defense. But the offense went scoreless in the third quarter and missed on multiple opportunities to put the game away.
The Bearcats pulled within 20-13 when Brendan Sorsby scored a touchdown on an 8-yard run with 5:15 remaining. Cincinnati had two opportunities to make an extra point, but missed both attempts.
The Horned Frogs then turned to freshman quarterback Hauss Hejny to milk the clock. The former Aledo star flourished in the biggest spot of his young career as he moved the Horned Frogs to the Cincinnati 34-yard before the two-minute timeout.
Needing just one first down to clinch the game Hejny was stopped short of the first down marker twice. While he didn’t convert the final first down, Dykes praised Hejny for helping the Horned Frogs take off over four minutes off the clock.
“We put Hauss in and he ran hard,” Dykes said. “He was powerful, he was explosive. He finished runs really well and I thought he did a good job of allowing us to milk the clock.”
With 1:10 remaining TCU lined up to go for it, but the offense committed a false start and was forced to punt. Ethan Craw pinned the Bearcats at their own 3-yard line with just 60 seconds remaining.
The Bearcats drove to the TCU 40 and attempted a hail mary with three seconds remaining, but Sorsby’s pass fell incomplete.
The Horned Frogs finished the regular season with an 8-4 record and a 6-3 record in the Big 12. Two narrow losses (35-34 to Central Florida and 37-34 to Baylor) cost the Frogs an opportunity to play in the Big 12 championship game next week.
Bech exits early
The Horned Frogs had to play most of the game without leading receiver Jack Bech. Bech opened the game with three receptions for 27 yards, but exited the game with an injury at the end of the first quarter. That opened up the door for Blake Nowell to receive his most extensive playing time of the season.
Nowell entered Saturday with just five catches for 84 yards. He nearly matched that in the first half as he produced three catches for 75 yards.
“Blake’s a guy I have a lot of trust in,” Josh Hoover said. “I believe in him, he’s always been a guy that’s really reliable. Seeing him come in there nothing changed for me. We were going to do our thing and keep throwing the ball. Blake did a great job of stepping up.”
While Nowell did a good job of filling Bech’s shoes, the absence of Bech played a heavy factor in the second half as TCU’s offense struggled to put the game away.
Hoover went just 1-of-6 in the third quarter without his favorite target. He finished with a season-low 212 yards. Nowell led all receivers with 75 yards while JP Richardson had two receptions for 50 yards. Dykes said Savion Williams was also banged up and he was held to just 25 total yards (15 receiving, 10 rushing).
Defensive progression
TCU’s defense closed the regular season on a high note with a complete performance against the Bearcats. Cincinnati’s offense isn’t prolific, but the Bearcats entered Saturday as one of the most balanced teams in the Big 12. Yet the Horned Frogs held their own against the run and pass.
In the Bearcats’ first eight drives, Cincinnati only reached TCU territory once at the beginning of the second quarter. The Bearcats didn’t cross the 50 against until the final play of the third quarter. As Cincinnati moved deeper into the red zone, TCU’s defense came up with the stop of the game.
On 2nd-and-10, Brendan Sorsby floated a ball into the the end zone, but put too much air on the pass and Channing Canada was there for the crucial interception with TCU only leading 20-7 with 11:34 remaining in the game. The Horned Frogs’ offense squandered the turnover as TCU went three and out, leading to the Sorsby touchdown run on Cincinnati’s next drive. The Bearcats found some success late, but this was one of the most impressing showings by the defense.
“I just think we built such a storng culture on defense that we started believing in each other,” defensive tackle Markis Deal said. “We just played fast, whole team flying to the ball and that helped us. You make plays like that and that’s what we focused on.”
Strong start
Despite the cold conditions, TCU got off to a strong start against the Bearcats as TCU took a 20-7 lead into halftime. After going three-and-out on its first possession, the Horned Frogs received a gift from Cincinnati when the Bearcats muffed the ensuing punt at their own 29-yard line. TCU capitalized as Savion Williams scored the first of his two first half rushing touchdowns.
TCU would take a 10-0 lead before the Bearcats began to show life. Corey Kiner ripped off a 46-yard run to get the Bearcats to the TCU 1 and then scored on the very next play. TCU needed just six plays to respond as Hoover began to settle in with his accuracy. He connected with Blake Nowell for a 40-yard gain that would lead to another Williams rushing touchdown as TCU went up 17-7.
On the Bearcats’ next possession, safety Abe Camara flew into the backfield to deliver a powerful hit on Kiner that forced a fumble. That would lead to another Kyle Lemmermann field goal as TCU increased its lead to 20-7. The only blemish from the first half came right before halftime when TCU could’ve added on to its lead.
However, TCU committed a false start at the Cincinnati 15 with just eight seconds remaining. The five yards would be crucial as Lemmermann missed his third attempt. The late blunder aside, it was another strong opening half for TCU.
This story was originally published November 30, 2024 at 8:39 PM.
