Oklahoma football: Nothing close about this; Sooners by 19 over TCU
By Chip Rouse
Close games have been the norm in Oklahoma football games with TCU, but not this year — not by a long shot.
Sooner redshirt quarterback Spencer Rattler threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns and true freshman wide receiver Marvin Mims accounted for 193 all-purpose yards and a couple of TD receptions as Oklahoma posted its seventh straight win over TCU, 33-14.
Saturday’s game at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas, was billed as a classic chess match between Lincoln Riley’s high-powered Oklahoma offense and the TCU defense, which has always been fundamentally solid under head coach Gary Patterson.
The Sooners scored first on a six-play, 73-yard opening drive, capped off by a 12-yard touchdown run by T.J. Pledger. Oklahoma scored in every quarter and never trailed in the game.
Pledger rushed for 122 yards and averaged 5.5 yards per carry. It was his second straight game rushing for more than 100 yards. True freshman running back Seth McGowan added 41 rushing yards.
Rattler finished the day 13 of 22 passing for 332 yards and averaged almost 26 yards per completion. Most importantly, he had no interceptions. It was a clean game turnover wise. Neither team committed a turnover.
Mims, who for the second game in a row was playing near his home in the north Dallas suburb of Frisco, burned the TCU secondary on a pair of long touchdown passes, one for 50 yards in the second quarter that put the Sooners up 17-0 and another in the third quarter on a 61-yard catch and run from Rattler.
The Sooners amassed 498 yards of offense (332 passing and 166 on the ground).
Oklahoma played its first complete game since the season-opening win over Missouri State, with a sold performance both offensively and defensively. The Sooner defense held TCU to just 76 yards rushing, nearly 100 yards below the Horned Frogs’ season average. The defense also held the Frogs to just 4 of 14 on third-down attempts and forced eight TCU punts. The Sooners punted three times in the game.
Rattler and the OU offense did a good job controlling the ball and the clock. For the fifth straight game this season the Sooners won the time of possession. OU had the ball almost seven minutes more than TCU.
The Horned Frogs were never able to get their offensive rhythm going, in large part because of a solid defense game play by defensive coordinator Alex Grinch and the Sooners. TCU hurt itself with 10 penalty flags totaling 94 yards.
TCU quarterback Max Duggan completed 25 of 35 passing for 276 yards and a touchdown.
The Horned Frogs scored their first touchdown of the game five minutes into the second quarter, completing an eight-play, 75-yard drive to cut OU’s lead to 17-7. Their second touchdown didn’t come until just a little over three minutes remained the game and the contest well in hand for Oklahoma. OU led 30-14 at that point.
Gabe Brkic, who missed a 54-yard field goal try for the Sooners right before halftime when the ball bounded off the crossbar, added the final OU points with a 30-yard field goal with 26 seconds left in the game.
The Sooners improved their record against TCU to 9-1 since the Horned Frogs came into the Big 12 in 2012.
With the victory, Oklahoma has now won 25 of its last 27 true road games, and the 33 points makes it a school-record 57 straight games in which the Sooners have scored at least 28 points in a game.
Next up for the 3-2 Sooners is a road trip to Texas Tech next Saturday. It will be OU’s fourth consecutive game away from home. TCU season record fell to 1-3.