TCU and Oklahoma State meet to stay in the thick of the Big 12 title race
Saturday, TCU plays its third game in three weeks against a team ranked in the top 15.
Two weeks ago, the Horned Frogs knocked off then-No. 4 Oklahoma 37-33. Saturday, TCU had a three-touchdown lead against Baylor in the fourth quarter before it gave up 24 points in the final 11 minutes of the game to lose 61-58.
The Frogs’ game Saturday against Oklahoma State looks like another high-scoring affair that will help shape the Big 12 title race. TCU’s offense is No. 3 in the country in points per game. Oklahoma State is tied for 25th. Is TCU’s pointsapalooza breaking its previous stereotype, which was centered around lower-scoring games and tenacious defenses?
“There’s two things there. The first thing is the two offenses they played were pretty good,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. “The second thing is that when you run the style of offense that they run, their defensive statistics are going to go down because you’re not using the clock. They’re playing fast. They either score fast or they’re off the field fast so the defense is on the field more. It’s very similar to what’s happened over here the last six or seven years. People have not been happy with the defense, but the defense stays on the field a lot. When we’re having success on offense, the defense is on the field a lot because you’re scoring fast. I would guess – and I could be wrong – that they could play as well as they have played in the past and their defensive statistics will go down because there’s more plays on the field.”
Before the season, TCU moved to a faster offensive tempo. Coach Gary Patterson hired former Texas Tech QB Sonny Cumbie away from the Red Raiders and Doug Meachem from Houston and installed them as co-offensive coordinators. The faster offense means more plays per game overall and, so far, 20 points more per game.
And Gundy is right, the counting stats are deceiving. While Baylor became the first team to score over 60 points on the Frogs since Texas Tech dropped 70 on TCU in 2004, the Horned Frog defense is actually giving up fewer yards per play through 2014 than it did in all of 2013. Last season, as TCU went 4-8, the defense gave up 4.83 yards per play. This year, TCU is giving up 4.75 yards a play.
It’s just that Baylor ran 109 plays.
“Obviously, I want to play great defense,” Patterson said. “You have to be able to even the playing field, and maybe we have to get used to winning 45-31. Sometimes you get into those ball games. I don’t know how you prepare for that to happen. There’s only one person you can blame, and that’s me. In the fourth quarter against Oklahoma, we had our crowd give us energy. In the fourth quarter at Baylor, they had the crowd give them energy. It could’ve gone either way. You can look at it all you want to, but the bottom line is Baylor won by a field goal and we need to move on to Oklahoma State.”
If the Horned Frogs beat the Cowboys, their hopes for a Big 12 title are still firmly intact. Baylor and Oklahoma are yet to play. The game is in Norman, Okla., on November 8 and if Oklahoma wins, the three teams would have at least one loss.
While TCU would need some help to win the conference, likely in the form of the College Football Playoff standings; Oklahoma State controls its own destiny. The Cowboys are undefeated in the conference and still have games against Baylor and Oklahoma remaining, though both are on the road, just like the game against TCU. If Oklahoma State wins, the Cowboys will assume the role TCU has held in the past two weeks as team most likely to challenge Oklahoma and Baylor.
– – – – – – –
Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
