Max Duggan’s Heisman effort wasn’t enough vs. K-State. Was it enough to get TCU into CFP?

ARLINGTON — Max Duggan and TCU did what they always seem to do in rising to the moment despite the odds and the deficit.

For the first time this season it wasn’t enough, and the opponent celebrated the storybook ending.

Ty Zentner booted a 31-yard field goal in the first overtime Saturday to give CFP No. 10 Kansas State a 31-28 win in the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium. The Wildcats will play in the Sugar Bowl after winning the conference.

“Big 12 champions has a nice ring to it,” Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said. “Credit to our seniors. Credit to our leaders. Credit to the culture that they’ve created. Credit to player ownership, the power of belief, all those things, because we’ve had a lot of tough times.”

No. 3 TCU (12-1) will have an anxious wait until the College Football Playoff pairings are announced at 11:15 a.m. Sunday in Grapevine.

Duggan did everything humanly possible — and then some — to will TCU into overtime from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter. On an 80-yard touchdown drive, he ran for 87 yards because of penalties, several times looking physically ill on the turf. He still found a way to score from 8 yards out on a keeper and then hit Jared Wiley for a tying two-point conversion with 1:51 left.

But on the most important sequence in overtime, TCU gave running back Kendre Miller two shots at a go-ahead touchdown. K-State (10-3) held both times, setting up the winning field goal. Miller looked like he might have broken the plane of the goal line on third down, but the play wasn’t reviewed.

“We just felt that Kendre has done it for us all year,” TCU coach Sonny Dykes said. “He’s been really, really good at converting those short yardage situations. ... Obviously if we had to do it over again, we’d do it different.”

He also noted that Duggan wasn’t exactly 100% physically, which factored into the play call.

The emotional collateral damage from the loss was fully apparent an hour after the loss.

The senior quarterback was distraught, frequently choking up during his media availability while fighting a losing battle against tears. More than anything, Duggan kept talking about wanting to take TCU to the playoffs.

“The seniors on this team have been through a lot,” Duggan said. “That’s where it hurts the most is that you’ve been so down before, so low. To get so close and it falls short, that’s where it’s coming from.”

Duggan wasn’t alone in coming to grips with TCU’s first defeat.

“I’m not the best right now, obviously,” receiver Quentin Johnston said. “We’ve been winning all season, and we just took our first loss of the season.”

Duggan still might have achieved his goal in losing, even if things seemed bleak afterward, with the verdict due Sunday.

“We got beat today, and now it’s out of our hands,” Duggan said.

Asked if TCU should be in the playoff, Duggan pointed to TCU’s resiliency, which fueled six second-half comeback wins this season.

“If we got in, we would give one heck of a fight,” Duggan said, “and I think our competitiveness would take over and things of that sort. I don’t know. I wanted that one really bad.”

Despite battling through a bad interception in the red zone and several drops, Duggan finished 18-of-36 passing for 251 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 110 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown.

The performance probably won’t hurt his Heisman chances, where he may be a co-favorite now with USC’s Caleb Williams.

“He’s the consummate winner and a guy that, again, raises the expectations of every single person around him,” Dykes said.

K-State forged a 14-10 lead at halftime with quarterback Will Howard directing drives of 63 and 59 yards.

TCU took an early advantage on its first possession, driving 92 yards in 13 plays and taking 6:57 off the clock. Looking sharp early, Duggan found Taye Barber for a 1-yard touchdown pass.

The Horned Frogs had a chance to go up two scores early. Griffin Kell’s 55-yard field goal try was wide left and the momentum seemed to switch with the miss.

K-State scored on two of its next three possessions for a 14-7 lead. Kell (Arlington) connected on a 42-yard field with 29 seconds left in the half to draw TCU closer at 14-10.

Vaughn named MVP: K-State’s Deuce Vaughn was named the game’s most outstanding player. The junior running back ran for 130 yards on 26 carries, including a 44-yard touchdown that left a TCU defender grasping at air.

Packing them in: Announced attendance was 69,335, the most for a Big 12 championship game since 2018, when Texas and Oklahoma staged a rematch of the Red River Showdown.

No Knowles: The Wildcats played the second half without standout receiver Malik Knowles, who was injured in the first half. Before being hurt, Knowles (Mansfield Lake Ridge) had 88 total yards (48 rushing, 40 receiving). He watched the remainder of the game from the sidelines in street clothes.

Johnston returns: After sitting out the Iowa State game with a nagging ankle injury, TCU’s Johnston had four catches for 139 yards. But he also had a drop on a deep pass and fumbled after the catch on another. “Quentin really played well,” Dykes said. “I think there was probably a little bit of a rust. He just hasn’t played that much. He’s been banged up.”

Projecting the CFP

The Dallas Morning News college writer Chuck Carlton projects the College Football Playoff rankings Sunday and the CFP semifinal matchups.

PEACH BOWL

Dec. 31, Atlanta

1. Georgia (13-0) vs. 4. Ohio State (11-1)

FIESTA BOWL

Dec. 31, Glendale, Ariz.

2. Michigan (13-0) vs. 3. TCU (12-1)

Twitter: @ChuckCarltonDMN

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