Following their bye week, TCU football looked outmatched Saturday, falling to Oklahoma 33-14 behind just 351 yards of total offense, including 75 on the ground.
“Obviously, offensively, we need work,” head coach Gary Patterson said. “We’re never going to have the give up attitude. That’s not going to happen.”
The rushing total was the Frogs’ lowest of the season and well below their average of 171.7 yards per game.
Signal caller Spencer Rattler was lights out for Oklahoma, going 13-for-22 with 332 yards passing and two touchdowns. The redshirt freshman’s primary target was true freshman Marvin Mims, who caught four passes for a career-high 132 yards and two scores.
“You’re not going to rattle a quarterback if you don’t have a pass rush,” Patterson said. “We hit him with a blitz a couple of times, but he was able to get out of it.”
Mims also added a 38-yard punt return late in the third quarter that led to a field goal for the Sooners.
After scoring seven points in the first half for the third time this season, TCU punted on their first four drives of the second half. This put them in a 30-7 hole that would prove too much from which to come back.
With just under nine minutes to go in the game, Patterson elected to punt, down 23, on fourth and inches, signaling he had all but given up on the contest.
“No,” Patterson said to second thoughts about going for it. “The bottom line is you can’t embarrass your kids either.”
One of the few bright sides for TCU had been quarterback Max Duggan, who finished an efficient 25-for-35 with a season-high 276 yards and a touchdown.
On the defensive side, freshman Khari Coleman was dominant for the Frogs, putting up 3.5 tackles for a loss and a sack. His efforts went to waste, though, as the Sooners collected 498 yards of total offense.
“Great guy, great player, just a beast of a guy,” safety Trevon Moehrig said of Coleman. “He goes full speed all the time.”
Neither team committed a turnover in the game.
Few things went right for TCU in the first quarter. On Oklahoma’s first drive, the Sooners ate up 73 yards in just over three minutes, scoring on a strong 12-yard run by running back T.J. Pledger.
The Frogs then punted on their first three drives, as the Sooners tacked on another score and a field goal to take an early 17-0 lead.
TCU finally got things going in the second quarter, as a 47-yard pass from Duggan to tight end Pro Wells put the Frogs deep in Sooner territory. Seven straight runs by TCU resulted in their first points of the day on a six-yard run by redshirt freshman Daimarqua Foster.
The touchdown was the first of the season for Foster and the second of his career.
Oklahoma’s lead would remain the same through the end of the first half, as the teams traded punts and missed field goals.
Though it felt like the Frogs had been able to move the ball well in the second quarter, TCU hit a wall offensively after halftime. The Frogs gained 45 total yards on their first four drives of the second half.
TCU scored on an 11-yard pass from Duggan to Wells with 3:42 remaining, but it was too little, too late.
Wells finished with season-highs in catches (2), yards (58), and touchdowns (1) on the day.
The defeat drops TCU to 1-3 on the year. The Frogs have yet to win a game at home (0-3).
“We just got to hate losing more than we love winning,” wide receiver Taye Barber said.
Another loss for the Frogs came in the second quarter, when cornerback Noah Daniels was helped off the field with an injury. Patterson said after the game the junior, who was rated by PFF as the third-best cornerback in the nation entering the game, is likely done for the season.
TCU will look to get back in the win column next week as they head to Waco for a matchup with rival Baylor on Halloween. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., and the game will be aired on ESPN2.
