For the seventh time in nine years as a member of the Big 12 TCU has knocked off Texas.

And for a multitude of reasons, this one will be especially memorable.

Garret Wallow forced a fumble at the Frog one-yard line with 2:42 left on the clock to preserve a 33-31 win against No. 9 Texas.

“You’ve got to take ballgames. You’ve got to find a way to win if you want to win.” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “It wasn’t pretty, but we found a way to win.”

It sure wasn’t pretty. The two teams combined for 26 accepted penalties, several reviews and even three opening kick offs.

“We got three kick offs for heaven’s sake,” Patterson said. “My defense was already tired. We’re offsides, it’s like, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

But all of that early frustration eventually paid off when Max Duggan took off on a 26-yard touchdown scamper untouched to give TCU a 33-29 lead with 4:01 to play.

“Yeah, that was a great check. They gave us a certain look and he checked the call,” Patterson said. “It’s just a great check. You’ve got to put it all on his shoulders, it was a great check. Him and the offensive coaches.”

Duggan said he knew when he saw Texas’ defense for that game-winning score it was going to work out well for him.

“In that formation we knew that check would’ve been good for us,” Duggan said. “We had a call in that formation and I saw an opening and I did a check and had room for it. We were just really excited to take the lead.”

That lead stood because of a great defensive play after a less than great defensive play.

Sam Ehlinger hit Keaontay Ingram for a 52-yard play and then the running back carried it 16 yards down to the TCU 1. Then TCU’s senior linebacker made a game-saving play as he punched the ball out of Ingram’s hands as he went for the go-ahead score.

“I wanted to go hug Garret, but we had to go back on offense,” TCU wide receiver Taye Barber said. “His IQ was very high on that play and it showed. That was a great play. A really great play.”

Barber, who led the team with seven catches on seven targets for 51 yards, got some sweet vindication for himself when his number got called on a third-down play with a chance to seal the win.

“Last week, I had a big drop and I wanted to make up for it and catch everything that came my way no matter what happened during the play or after the play,” Barber said. “I just wanted to get right for my teammates.”

The junior did just that as he took a jet sweep around the right end for a nine-yard gain on third-and-seven from his own four-yard line.

“We practice that a lot during the week,” Barber said. “So it feels great in a game for something we practice week in and week out to close the deal out and get the job done.”

Another play the team practices each week that seldom comes up was the final play of the game. That pick up by Barber allowed TCU to run the clock down to just six seconds left from their own 15-yard line. Instead of risking a punt, Patterson elected for Duggan to run out of the back of his own end zone for a safety.

“We did that against Stanford back in I want to say 2007 or 2008. We ran out almost all the clock so they couldn’t do anything,” Patterson said. “It was better to take the safety than it was to try to punt it and them to be able to get a long throw. You wanted to take the ball out of their hands, it was simple.”

Even if that play comes up every dozen or so years, a 20-year veteran like Patterson, has his team ready.

“We practice it every single week. We were prepared for it. We practice late game scenarios like that so we’re prepared,” Duggan said. “Our coaches do a great job preparing us for any situation.”

The ending got weirder when a hold was called on TCU during that run back by Duggan, but after what felt like the referee’s dozenth conference of the game, they decided the safety was the final play.

Duggan finished with 231 passing yards as he completed 20 of 30 passes. He also ran for 79 yards and two scores. Quentin Johnston impressed again with three catches for 70 yards, including a 50-yard gain. He almost hauled in an impressive one-hand grab that would have put him over 100 yards in just his second career game. Blair Conwright hauled in a key 34-yard grab that set up a TCU score.

Griffin Kell hit all four of his field goal attempts from 27, 32, 49 and 28 yards.

The TCU defense once again played well for the most part, but a handful of big plays kept Texas in this game. The Longhorns had five plays of 36+ yards, including a pair of 52-yard passes.

“We’ve got to tackle. We played great defense except for big plays,” Patterson said. “Three big plays. We have to quit giving up big plays. It’s simple: you’ve got to do your job.”

TCU (1-1) will aim to once again do its job next week when it hosts Kansas State (1-0) at 3 p.m. Saturday.