Oklahoma’s defense was torched by a mobile quarterback in a loss to Kansas State last week.
The season might not get any easier for the No. 18 Sooners (3-1, 0-1) when they face QB Max Duggan and host TCU (3-0, 0-0) on Saturday in a Big 12 game at Fort Worth, Texas.
“Max is a great quarterback, looking a lot more athletic than he has in the past,” Oklahoma linebacker DaShaun White said. “We’re gonna go over there, and they’re gonna try to put up whatever they’re gonna try to put on us. Most important thing is that we come ready to play and stop the run. That’s where it starts.”
Kansas State quarterback Adrian Martinez ran for 148 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-34 win over the Sooners.
Duggan has three career games with more than 100 yards rushing and ran for 92 against Oklahoma in 2019.
This season, though, Duggan has just 33 rushing yards after being sacked five times in last week’s 42-34 win over SMU. But he has excelled through the air, completing 77 percent of his passes for eight touchdowns and no interceptions.
TCU enters the game ranked No. 9 nationally in total offense, averaging 510 yards per game. The Horned Frogs are averaging more than 215 yards on the ground, with Kendre Miller and Emari Demercado leading the way.
“We feed off each other’s energy really well,” Demercado said.
Oklahoma is No. 7 in the nation in total offense, averaging 513 yards a game.
“We’re getting ready for a fight,” Horned Frogs linebacker Johnny Hodges said.
Though the Sooners have posted big numbers, they’ve fallen behind early in each of their past three games.
“I just think we have to have a better mentality as far as coming out,” Oklahoma tight end Brayden Willis said. “We have to all be ready to make a play. I think that’s the biggest thing, just everyone be ready to make a play when an opportunity comes to you.”
The game will be a major step for a pair of first-year coaches.
For Oklahoma’s Brent Venables, it’s a test of how his team responds to its first loss of the season.
Venables said he liked what he saw from his team in the immediate aftermath of the setback to Kansas State.
“It’s been a very committed team,” he said. “A team that has bought into everything we’ve asked them to do. It’s a very close team. It’s a team that has taken accountability and responsibility.
“They haven’t run away from that. And the coaches are right there with them.”
The Sooners have lost back-to-back games in the regular season just once since 2000. In 2020, Oklahoma fell to Kansas State and Iowa State on consecutive weeks to start Big 12 play.
For TCU coach Sonny Dykes, Saturday’s game will be the first against a ranked opponent after the Horned Frogs started the season with wins over Colorado, Tarleton State and SMU.
“To be the best, you have to beat the best,” Dykes said.
The Sooners have won eight consecutive games in the series, with the Horned Frogs’ most recent victory coming in 2014.
–Field Level Media
