Eric McAlister was a man amongst boys against Southern Methodist University as he propelled the Horned Frogs to a 35-24 victory. There was a moment when he didn’t look like it. TCU was up 14-10 and in the red zone looking to add to their lead before halftime. TCU quarterback Josh Hoover threw a jump ball in the end zone for McAlister.
It looked like he had caught it, and the Frog Horn went off while the TCU fans celebrated. A moment later, their celebration turned to shock as SMU cornerback Jaelyn Davis-Robinson stood up with the ball and began to celebrate with his teammates. It went from a TCU touchdown to a TCU turnover.
“I could see the energy go to their sideline after that play, and I told myself that I wouldn’t let a play like that happen again,” McAlister said.
After that play, McAlister went wild, racking up six catches for 215 yards and two touchdowns. He would log a career high in receiving yards and touchdowns, and tied his career high in catches with eight catches for 254 yards and three touchdowns. He did most of his damage after the catch, with 145 yards coming from that.
The Horned Frogs were trailing for the first time in the game 24-21, the deficit didn’t last long as McAlister took a slant from Hoover 70 yards to the house to put the Frogs back on top.
His second moment was the nail in the coffin for the Mustangs with a 44-yard touchdown to make the score 35-24. SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings would throw a pick shortly after to put the game to bed.
Hoover slung the ball all over the field, finishing with 379 passing yards and a career-high five passing touchdowns, along with an interception. He also ran for 27 yards. All of the plays he made with his legs wouldn’t show up in the box score as he would evade pressure on an early third down on TCU’s first drive and found McAlister for his first touchdown.
The TCU running game had success as well, eclipsing 100 yards on the ground, finishing with 138 spearheaded by the duo of Jeremy Payne and Trent Battle.
The TCU defense would bend, but not break, as they only allowed SMU to score on four of their 12 drives. They held the SMU rushing attack under 100 yards and to four of 13 on third down. Kevin Jennings would have success as he had over 300 total yards and three touchdowns.
The response: TCU’s Jamel Johnson came down with two interceptions.
“There are some things that we need to clean up. I feel like we aren’t even at our best yet,” defensive captain Kaleb Elarms Orr said.
Head Coach Sonny Dykes would push all the right buttons as TCU converted three out of four fourth downs, with the only turnover on downs coming with less than a minute left in the game.
TCU won the turnover battle compared to SMU, 2-1. This was a significant improvement from the previous year, when they lost the turnover battle 5-1 and lost the game.
“We’re going to have to be smart with our practices and make sure that our guys are fresh,” Dykes said looking ahead to next week. “We can’t throw a pick in the end zone, and you can’t have an unsportsmanlike penalty to keep a drive going.”
TCU will go on the road against Arizona State on Sept.20 at Mountain America Stadium.
