Did you think Gary Patterson wasn’t gonna have his Horned Frogs ready to play against No. 6 Oklahoma State? The No. 16 Horned Frogs were ready, and they went into Stillwater and scored a 44-31 upset win on Saturday.
TCU upsets Oklahoma State, capped by an OSU *receiver* throwing a crippling pick
Gary Patterson’s Frogs are 4-0, riding shotgun with Oklahoma as top Big 12 contenders.
Rob Ferguson-USA TODAY Sports
The Cowboys had more yardage (and yards per play), but TCU controlled the ball for almost 40 minutes and road 14 points off turnovers to a 13-point win.
The Cowboys showed some pluck in a fourth-quarter comeback bid, after they’d trailed 37-17 with 12 minutes left to play. The most glaring missed opportunity down the stretch was this interception thrown not by OSU QB Mason Rudolph, but by receiver Jalen McCleskey on a trick play attempt gone wrong:
It would’ve been better to have the Heisman candidate QB throw that ball than a wide receiver. Not scoring it helped to cement the result, though the teams traded touchdowns afterward. It contributed to OSU running out of clock.
There weren’t many good moments for Oklahoma State early. In the first half, they got this absolute moonshot of a touchdown from Rudolph to his best receiver, James Washington:
Still, this was TCU’s afternoon. Long-ago Texas A&M transfer Kenny Hill went over 200 yards passing in an efficient effort, and TCU running back Darius Anderson had 160 yards rushing and three touchdowns. The Frogs’ offense never let up.
The Frogs were consistent in the mold of some of Patterson’s teams of old. After a down 2016, it sure looks like they’ve rebounded. This win positions them as Oklahoma’s stiffest competition in the Big 12 — a mantle that previously seemed like it would belong to the Cowboys.
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