Key plays stop TCU vs KSU
If you were told that TCU would have 100 more yards, no turnovers, fewer penalties and hold the ball longer than Kansas State there’s no way you’d think they would have lost.
But somehow that just happened. TCU didn’t make many mistakes, but the ones it did make proved costly in its 24-17 loss Saturday afternoon.
The biggest misstep came in the first quarter on a blocked punt. Two plays later Kansas State was in the end zone.
TCU bounced back in the second quarter with a 10-play, 76-yard drive. All of those yards came on the ground and nine of those plays were runs. That should have been the trend for this entire game as KSU has a bad run defense and TCU has a solid running game.
The Frogs racked up 228 yards on the ground compared to just 94 from Kansas State. Half of TCU’s ground yards came from true freshman quarterback Max Duggan. The signal caller had the best play of the season for the Frogs as he broke several tackles, stiff-armed a defender and raced to the end zone for a 46-yard score in the third quarter to tie the game at 17.
While Kansas State’s biggest play didn’t end in the end zone, two-thirds of those yards by the Wildcats came on a backbreaking play. On second down at his own 10-yard line, KSU quarterback Skylar Thompson ran up the middle of the field for 61 yards barely even touched to get deep into TCU territory.
Three plays later TCU was almost off the field, but Thompson ran for two more yards on a fourth-and-one play to extend the drive and score five plays later to cap a 11-play, 95-yard drive.
It didn’t feel like it watching the game, but Kansas State was 5-of-14 on third and fourth-down conversions. It felt like the team was always picking up third downs. TCU was 5-for-15 on the same downs.
Wide receivers continued to drop passes and Duggan just missed connections on deep balls to Jalen Reagor and Tevailance Hunt. The defense mostly played well except for a couple key plays, but the defensive line continued to struggle as Corey Bethley, Ochaun Mathis, Ross Blacklock and Shameik Blackshear combined to get just four tackles (three from Blacklock) and a sack (Blacklock).
Taye Barber returned from injury to have four catches for 37 yards. Reagor had eight grabs for 85 yards.
TCU will once again be in a dogfight to try and get bowl eligible. The Frogs will likely be favored in just one game the rest of the way and have to go on the road to Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The Frogs (3-3, 1-2 in Big 12) will host Texas (4-2, 2-1) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.