TCU’s loss to Oklahoma means one thing: This season is over, and it’s on to 2019
By Mac Engel
Since getting up to play Ohio State, TCU has been down and can’t get back up. That’s why Gary Patterson hates playing those games “that everyone loves.”
Not only did TCU lose the “big game” to Ohio State, but it lost the season, too. A team that was picked to finish third in the Big 12 will be lucky to reach sixth or seventh.
TCU had one last shot to save its season and make a national impression against a top-tier team and couldn’t do it because they’re not good enough. Capping a truly terrible week in what is becoming an awful year, TCU lost to No. 9 Oklahoma on Saturday 52-27 in Fort Worth.
Even worse, they couldn’t fill the place, which should be an alarming trend for school administrators.
Saturday was TCU’s last chance to salvage its season and make a part of it memorable. If it had been able to defeat mighty Oklahoma at home, it was a chance for students to rush the field and for all of its fans to say, “We got the Sooners.”
Now in its seventh season in the Big 12, TCU’s identity as a Power 5 member is that of a rebuild rather than the coveted reload program. It is the hardest thing to do for any Power 5 member.
The Frogs are 3-4, and will have to win out to reach the eight-win plateau. The remaining schedule is weak, but there is a chance TCU will finish with its third losing record in the last six years.
Before 2013, TCU had one losing record under Patterson.
The only remaining thing to do is qualify for The Addicted To Gambling Bowl, and be sure to develop quarterback Shawn Robinson, or Michael Collins, and an offensive line that is as over-matched as feared. This season is now entirely about next season.
And, whatever you do, don’t lose to Kansas.
A season that included a high-point of being ranked 15th in the nation now includes a potential ending-point with an invitation to the Cheez-It Bowl, or a big trip to the Armed Forces Bowl.
No matter how hard TCU and the head coach spin this, the 2018 season is gone. Don’t care about third-quarter leads against this team or that team, the final score is the final score.
And the final score against the good teams isn’t good for TCU.
TCU had a shot against Ohio State, Texas, Texas Tech and blew all of their chances to win those games. It should have finished 2-1 in that stretch rather than 0-3.
So it was only fitting TCU was run over by Kyler Murray and the Sooners on Saturday to conclude a horrid 10 days for the Frogs:
TCU blew the home game against Tech.
Patterson flew back to Kansas for the memorial service for his mother.
Running back Kennedy Snell announced his intention to transfer. His playing time had dwindled and the guy who was thought to be a valuable toy in the mold of returner/running back KaVontae Turpin was lost on the depth chart
Three recruits announced they were withdrawing their verbal commitments from TCU, including one who will likely go to Texas.
Both Robinson and Collins played against Oklahoma.
There is a lot to like about both QBs, but the saying is the saying, “If you have two quarterbacks you don’t have one.”
Robinson was pulled for Collins in the first half for a reason. He is the more potentially damaging player, but he’s a football baby who has not grasped the value of retaining possession of the ball. The mistakes that he could get away with at DeSoto are killing both he and his teammates.
Now he’s playing spooked and is probably hurt, too.
GP and his staff have to figure out what they have in this kid, and if they can win with this kid, or make it apparent that transferring is in his best interest. That’s the way it goes for quarterbacks at this level.
It would help if Robinson’s offensive line could block; what was feared to be one of this team’s biggest weaknesses is just that. TCU lost too many quality linemen to graduation/NFL and has not adequately replaced them.
TCU has been through this, when quarterback Kenny Hill was a junior in ‘16, and Trevone Boykin was a sophomore in ‘13. When Boykin was bouncing around all over the field in ‘13, the team finished 4-8 but followed that year up with two of the most memorable seasons in school history.
Hill’s junior year resulted in a 6-7 record, but the following season the Frogs were 11-3, reached the Big 12 title game and won the Alamo Bowl.
TCU had the schedule set up for a good season, but that’s gone. This season is entirely about 2019.
This story was originally published October 20, 2018 at 4:19 PM.
