TCU: Horned Frogs Get Defensive Against Baylor

The TCU Horned Frogs exacted a wet and wild measure of revenge against Big 12 rival Baylor Bears to close out the 2015 college football slate.

Not that it was the trip to the College Football Playoff that was so badly wanted for most of this season, but Friday night’s bizarre victory over Big 12 arch-rival Baylor had to be quite satisfying for the TCU Horned Frogs.

A final score of 28-21 in double overtime isn’t exactly what odds makers might have expected for these two high-powered offenses, but Mother Nature’s input was almost all that mattered at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Ft.Worth.

TCU head coach Gary Patterson has had some great defenses within this program in the not-so-distant past.

The present was certainly not one of those instances.

This year’s Horned Frogs were all about offense as quarterback Trevone Boykin spent much of this season in the very center of the Heisman Trophy discussion.

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When Boykin and his army of skill position players failed to leave Stillwater, Oklahoma with a victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys in early November, the goals and expectations for Patterson’s impressive team changed. After all, they’re only allowing a meager four teams to enter the CFP, at least for right now.

A one-point loss to the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman two weeks later solidified the fact that TCU would not be playing for a national championship this season.

All that was left to do was spoil things for those Baylor Bears, a team that was clinging to a sliver of hope heading into the Thanksgiving Day weekend. The Sooners took care of Baylor the week before edging the Horned Frogs.

Whatever hope Baylor brought to Ft.Worth was drenched during frequent and heavy rains in a football game that ended not with a huge run or pass by Boykin. This game fell into the hands of the TCU defense – twice.

On fourth-and-1, Bears quarterback Chris Johnson attempted to sneak his way across the first-down marker but almost certainly failed in doing so. The Horned Frogs defensive line gave virtually nothing on the play.

Ball game, right?

Nope.

Baylor head coach Art Briles was calling timeout as that play unfolded and was awarded the do-over.

Running back Devin Chafin had already scored three touchdowns for Baylor on the night. But on the second fourth-and-1 attempt, the TCU defense dropped him for a loss, thus ending the game.

Props have to go to Horned Frogs defensive end Josh Carraway, who also had a couple of big plays on the night – one was great, the other not so much.

Carraway was called for a roughing-the-passer penalty in the first quarter following an apparent Johnson interception in the end zone. The first down led to a touchdown for Baylor, as opposed to a turnover.

But in the second period, Carraway picked up a fumble and ran 56 yards for touchdown, the main reason this game ever went to overtime to start with.

Next: Cowboys: Evaluating The Roster

According to Jamie Plunkett of the SB Nation website Frogs O’ War, there’s numerous possibilities for TCU where a bowl game is concerned. The most likely destination seems to be the Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando, Florida. Much depends on what happens between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State on Saturday, but the Horned Frogs appear to be headed for one more opportunity to close out the 2015 season in style.

In the process, TCU might want to consider staying rather defensive no matter who they end up playing in the coming weeks.

Published on 11/29/2015 at 00:41 AM
Last updated at 11/29/2015 at 00:41 AM

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