Josh Newton celebrates during TCU’s convincing win over Iowa State (TCU Football).
By Jamie Plunkett
Frogs Today staff writer
FORT WORTH — TCU throttled Iowa State underneath the bright lights of Amon G. Carter Stadium on Saturday night, getting the emphatic win the Horned Frogs needed on a day that saw the college football world thrown into chaos.
No. 2 Ohio State lost by multiple scores at home to No. 3 Michigan, No. 8 Clemson blew a big lead against rival South Carolina, and No. 9 Oregon fell to Oregon State. Meanwhile, the No. 4 Frogs simply took care of business, scoring 24 points in the first quarter and never looking back.
Kendre Miller extending his rushing touchdown streak to 13 games, scoring twice in the first half as the Frogs built a comfortable 34-7 halftime lead. Miller now has 16 rushing touchdowns on the season, fifth most in a single season in TCU history.
Miller is two games behind LaDainian Tomlinson’s streak of 15 consecutive games with a rushing touchdown.
Meanwhile, Max Duggan eclipsed the 3,000-yard passing yard mark for the season and added three more passing touchdowns to his resume, giving him 29 on the year. Duggan has 34 total touchdowns and only three turnovers, and should be in the mix to go to New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation.
Duggan found three different receivers for his passing touchdowns, with the first one going to Geor’Quarius Spivey on the first drive of the game. His next two went to Savion Williams and Jordan Hudson.
Quentin Johnston was active for the game, but did not play as he works through multiple ankle injuries.
TCU jumped on Iowa State right away, using a nine play, 73-yard touchdown drive to take a 7-0 lead. Duggan found Spivey for a 19-yard touchdown on a well-designed fourth-down play-action pass. The Frogs didn’t look back, forcing two three-and-outs for Iowa State.
Miller ran in from 25 yards out, and a Millard Bradford pick-six to extend the TCU first-quarter lead while Iowa State floundered on offense.
Josh Newton got in on the defensive fun late in the game, recording TCU’s second pick-six of the day. It’s the first time since 2009 the Frogs have returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the same game. Rafael Priest and Darryl Washington accomplished the feat during TCU’s 51-10 win over New Mexico, which helped the Frogs move to 12-0 on that season.
The Frogs are 12-0 now and awaits the result of Kansas State-Kansas to see who they’ll play in the Big 12 championship game. A Wildcats win sets up an all-purple rematch in Arlingon, while a Jayhawks win means the Frogs will get a second look at Texas.
Jamie Plunkett, jamie@frogstoday.com
