TCU went to Big Ten country Saturday night and won in old-school Big Ten fashion.
Darius Anderson rushed for 179 yards and when the fourth quarter started he had 162 more rushing yards and two more touchdowns than Purdue as the Frogs topped the Boilermakers 34-13.
"That's where we have our seniors," TCU coach Gary Patterson said of his running backs and offensive line. "They've been like this when they've been healthy. Darius is running better than he was when he was a sophomore. He was hurt all last year."
This was a career high for Anderson as he spent the offseason recovering from a knee injury that cost him the end of last season.
"I do feel a lot faster, stronger just from coming off the injury. Getting back in the weight room was a great privilege so its helping me," Anderson said. "Honestly, I give all the credit up front. Moving bodies. All the credit goes to them."
The ground game worked wonders for the Frogs as Sewo Olonilua also scored a touchdown and had 100 yards. Emari Demercado also had 26 yards. The Frogs ran for more than 330 yards and members of the backfield averaged nine yards per carry as they controlled the game. Anderson has no problem sharing the load in the backfield.
"Sky is the limit for us. We both (Darius and Sewo) challenge each other to get better and fix our mistakes and get better," Anderson said. "With us, we have great chemistry. We just cool with each other and telling each other to go run the ball."
It was big for the offense that the ground game worked because the two-quarterback system continued to raise more questions than it answered. Max Duggan and Alex Delton combined to complete eight of 24 passes for 75 yards. Duggan had 70 of those yards, 22 of which coming on a touchdown pass to a wide-open Al’Dontre Davis.
The rest of the wide receivers combined for at least six drops, three from Tre Heights, who had a career high 107 yards against UAPB in week one.
Jalen Reagor had six touches in the game with three carries for 11 yards and three catches for 29 yards. He had a punt return for a touchdown that was negated by a penalty.
Even with that limited production, Reagor outshined the other superstar receiver in this game in Purdue’s Rondale Moore. TCU’s defense limited him to just four touches and 25 total yards. He had a pass ripped from his hands by Trevon Moehrig in the first half that was ruled an interception instead of a catch and fumble.
"I’ve been saying that he’s a good player," Patterson said of Moehrig. "He’s the fastest, physicalist guy - and he’s just a sophomore. But every week, he gets better. And I tried not to screw him up tonight. What I did was try not to screw him up tonight. I called a couple blitzes but I didn’t bring very many. I just tried not to screw it up."
Moehrig had his second interception of the season and Jeff Gladney had his third pick in his last four games as he didn’t fall prey to a flea flicker on his interception in the second half.
The TCU defense was all over the place in this game. Garret Wallow, Ross Blacklock and Dee Winters each had a sack. Wallow led the team with 10 tackles, two for loss. Moehrig broke up two more passes.
"I feel like the defense really settled down these last two weeks and learned some things," Patterson said. "We were able to move the linebackers around, which really helped us."
Purdue had just 118 total yards, three rushing, before its final drive with less than six minutes left in the game.
TCU (2-0) will look to remain undefeated next week back in Fort Worth against SMU (3-0) at 2:30 p.m.
