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5 things Oklahoma fans should know about TCU: Can Frogs slow down explosive OU run game?

TCU’s struggling defense catches the talent-rich Sooner backfield at a seemingly terrible time.

The No. 4 ranked Sooners (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) will return to Norman after a thrilling victory over Texas last week to take on TCU (3-2, 1-1) Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. Here are five things Sooner fans should know about TCU prior to the matchup:

TCU run defense

TCU is coming off a win at Texas Tech after losing their previous two games, one a drama-filled loss to rival SMU and the other a 32-27 loss to Texas. They allowed Texas’ Bijan Robinson to go wild for 216 yards and a pair of touchdowns. They allowed SMU’s Ulysses Bentley IV to go for 153 yards. But those are two of the best running backs in the NCAA, so it’s understandable.

But they also allowed SMU’s second- and third-string backs to combine for over 150 yards. They allowed Texas Tech’s SaRodorick Thompson to rush for 118 yards when his previous season-high was 54. Thompson also sprung loose on a 75-yard reception that came out of the backfield.

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On the season TCU is allowing 206 rushing yards a game, ranked 116th out of 130 teams in the FBS.

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After a week where Oklahoma had running back Kennedy Brooks go for 217 yards against Texas, TCU could be catching the Sooners at a very bad time. And they might have an extremely mobile quarterback to worry about, too.

No slouch in the run game themselves

That being said, the Horned Frogs have had their own successes on the ground. Running back Zach Evans is ranked by Pro Football Focus as the ninth-best running back in the country, just a few slots behind the aforementioned Robinson and Bentley. Evans has rushed for over one-hundred yards in each of his last four games, totaling 559 in that stretch.

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Both Evans and backup Kendre Miller went off against Texas Tech. Miller finished the game with 185 yards and three touchdowns, including this 75-yarder that blew things open in the big win over the Red Raiders.

On paper, the Sooner defense should have a much easier time with the TCU running game than vice versa. OU has a top 10 rushing defense in the nation, currently allowing only 89.5 yards per game. They allowed Bijan Robinson to rattle off 100 yards in the first half of the Red River game last weekend, but they shut him down in the second half, largely due to the efforts of defensive linemen Perrion Winfrey and Isaiah Thomas.

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The Frogs have yet to face a team that can stop them on the ground, but they haven’t faced a defensive front as talented as Oklahoma’s.

Max Duggan

Junior quarterback Max Duggan will square off against Oklahoma for the third time, winless against the Sooners. One of the worst games of his collegiate career came in TCU’s 2019 loss to OU, when Duggan went 7 of 21 passing for 65 yards and an interception. He was much better last season, going 25 of 35 for 276 yards and a touchdown.

Typically Duggan is a safe, though not particularly exciting type of quarterback; not overly threatening with his arm but a threat to take off when he can. He doesn’t turn the ball over too often (only six interceptions over his last 15 games), but he’s not much of a big play threat either. He’s ranked in the middle-of-the-pack or lower in almost every significant statistic among Big 12 QBs.

You have to assume Oklahoma is going to key on TCU’s running game and force Duggan to make plays through the air, which Winfrey, Thomas, and edge-rusher Nik Bonitto will make even more difficult with the heavy pressure that they usually provide.

Protecting the QB

It’s not just the run game that TCU’s defensive front has had issues with, as they’ve failed to get to the opposing quarterback as well. They’ve only logged six sacks on the year.

DL Patrick Jenkins has had a decent year in terms of QB hurries, but is yet to tab a sack in 2021. Leading the way for the Frogs with two is DE Dylan Horton, who notched both sacks in the loss against Texas.

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Oklahoma’s taken a bit longer to figure out its offensive line than Lincoln Riley probably would’ve liked before the season, but the line has played well against strong defensive fronts in consecutive weeks (Kansas State and Texas) and should continue that against a lacking TCU defense.

It would, hypothetically, be a decent time to start a quarterback that, perhaps, lacks some experience to this point. A nice chance to get this hypothetical quarterback his first collegiate start against a defense that he should have time against.

Patterson/Riley matchup

Oklahoma is 16-5 all-time against TCU, and the Horned Frogs have only won once in 10 games against OU since joining the Big 12.

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Lincoln Riley in particular is undefeated against Gary Patterson and TCU (5-0), though he’s had a lot of praise for Patterson in the week leading up to the game.

“It’s a team we know very well, one of the few staffs in this league that’s been pretty consistent,” Riley said Tuesday. “Ton of respect for Coach Patterson and the job he’s done there for years and years, and they got a really good football team this year.”

Patterson has held Riley’s Sooners to less than 30 points just once in TCU’s last eight games against Oklahoma.

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