TCU Drops Home Contest to SMU, 41-38

Saturday, September 21

Fort Worth, Texas

2:30 p.m.

TCU

2-1

SMU

4-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

SMU

TCU

TCU Drops Home Contest to SMU, 41-38

9/21/2019 7:52:00 PM | Football

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Max Duggan's three TD passes not enough as Mustangs prevail

FORT WORTH – No. 25 TCU outscored SMU 21-10 in the second half, but an early 15-0 deficit proved too much to overcome as the Horned Frogs fell to the Mustangs, 41-38, Saturday afternoon at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

Down 41-38 with 2:35 to play, TCU's defense clamped down and forced the Mustangs to punt, giving the home squad a chance to win it in the final moments. However, four plays later SMU took the ball over on downs with 55 seconds left.

SMU (4-0) scored on its opening drive and never trailed in the game. After the Mustangs took a 15-0 lead, Darius Anderson got the Horned Frogs (2-1) on the board with 2:57 remaining in the first quarter on a 14-yard touchdown run.

Anderson hit paydirt again with 13:05 left in the second quarter, this time scoring from 3 yards out. The play was set up by an Anderson 77-yard run on the first snap of the series. Anderson notched his second-consecutive 100-yard game on the ground, finishing with 161 yards and two scores.

SMU extended its lead back to 10 points as Ke'Mon Freeman's 1-yard score made it 24-14.

Jonathan Song put three points on the board for the Horned Frogs with 3:28 to play in the second quarter, but SMU tacked on a 9-yard TD pass from Shane Buechele to James Proche to go up 31-17 just before the break.

TCU scored the only touchdown of the third quarter when Max Duggan hit Pro Wells from 12 yards out on a 3rd-and-nine play, cutting its deficit to 31-24

In the second half, Duggan completed 15-of-26 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns.

Trailing 38-24, the Horned Frogs closed within 38-31 on Sewo Olonilua's first career receiving touchdown, a 5-yard toss from Duggan. SMU's Russell Roberts' 32-yard field goal with 6:36 left provided the decisive points in the game as the Mustangs' lead was extended to 41-31, before Duggan hit Wells again from 13 yards to provide the final margin of 41-38.

Dylan Thomas topped all TCU receivers with four catches for 70 yards.

TCU held SMU to 130 yards of offense in the second half. Garret Wallow led the defense with a career-high 19 tackles (11 solo). It marks the most tackles for a TCU player in a game since Travin Howard totaled 19 against Texas Tech on Oct. 29, 2016.

UP NEXT
TCU wraps up a two-game homestand next Saturday, Sept. 28, taking on Kansas in its Big 12 opener. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. and the contest will be televised on FS1. SMU opens American Athletic Conference play next week and will travel to Tampa, Fla., to take on South Florida. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. and the contest will be televised on ESPNU.