TCU will host Louisiana Tech on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas, in a game that wasn’t even on the schedule until Dec. 2.
Blame it on 2020. In a season of stops and starts created by the concerns over the spread of coronavirus, the two teams were determined to get in another game.
The dustup with Louisiana Tech replaces the Horned Frogs’ originally scheduled game against SMU that was first postponed and then canceled. The Bulldogs have lost three games to cancelations and another (a potential rescheduling of a game against Rice) is still in limbo.
The Horned Frogs (5-4) have won four of their past five games, including a rousing 29-22 win last Saturday at home against then-No. 15 Oklahoma State. The week’s game will be TCU’s only regular-season nonconference contest.
TCU quarterback Max Duggan had 369 yards of total offense (265 passing, 104 rushing) last Saturday as the Horned Frogs earned their third win over Oklahoma State in the past four years. TCU totaled 501 yards of offense thanks in part to two 100-yard receivers (Derius Davis, 139, and Quentin Johnston, 114) and a 100-yard rusher (Duggan, 104).
Safety Trevon Moehrig made the game-saving defensive play against Oklahoma State, nabbing a one-handed interception in the back of the end zone late in the fourth quarter.
“These guys played a lot of football last year and this year, and they trust each other,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said after the victory. “When you get your guys to where they like to play with each other and have a good time, good things happen. They’ve been having a good time the last four or five weeks. At the end of the day, you’ve got to score one more. You’ve got to hold them to one less.”
Louisiana Tech (5-3) was on the field for the first time in more than a month on Dec. 3, when it outlasted North Texas 42-31 on the road.
The win, the Bulldogs’ second in a row, came on the distant heels of a 37-34 victory in double overtime over UAB on Oct. 31, with two cancelations and two postponements coming in between.
“It had been a long time since we were out on the field,” Louisiana Tech coach Skip Holtz said after the North Texas contest. “I know our players were excited to be back out there. It has taken a lot out of us when games kept getting canceled. I was a little worried about rust, but I wasn’t worried about the team competing. We played physical, and we played hard.”
Israel Tucker was the star for the Bulldogs against North Texas, rushing for 161 yards and two touchdowns on 37 carries.
Tucker, who was named Conference USA co-offensive player of the week for his performance, became the first Louisiana Tech runner to carry the ball 30 or more times since Lennon Creer in 2011. His 37 carries weare the fourth most in program history and the most since 2004.
TCU and Louisiana Tech are meeting for just the second time and first since the Horned Frogs defeated the Bulldogs, 31-24, in the 2011 Poinsettia Bowl at San Diego.
