TCU earns bowl eligibility by taking down the reeling Cowboys
Cowboy Down
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What in the world has happened to the Oklahoma State Cowboys? Following an appearance in the 2023 Big 12 Championship, Mike Gundy’s squad entered the 2024 season as one of the top contenders for the Big 12 title and were ranked 17th in the preseason AP Poll. The Pokes were returning a ton of talent, including seventh year QB Alan Bowman and unanimous All American RB Ollie Gordon II. There was no foreseeable world wherein OK State was winless in conference play and eliminated from bowl contention after 10 games. It’s even more surprising that OSU is fully uncompetitive in these games, with five of the seven conference losses coming by double digits. Mike Gundy is unquestionably a great coach – perhaps the best Stillwater has ever had – but he has built a standard to which he is falling woefully short this season. It carries similar to the feeling in the final seasons of the Gary Patterson era at TCU; while it may not be likely the Cowboys move on from Gundy after this one poor season, if there are no signs of life in 2025 there will be some tough conversations to be had. There are plenty of takeaways from the action on the field of this game, and TCU – amidst a disappointing season of its own – did plenty to take advantage, but it was impossible to ignore how far things had fallen for Oklahoma State.
Ground Attack Alive
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Big grain of salt here that Oklahoma State is the worst P4 defense vs. the run and ranks 132nd nationally in rush yards allowed per game. Even with that caveat, it was encouraging to see the diverse ways TCU found to run the ball on Saturday. The Horned Frogs found the end zone four times on the ground with two coming from Cam Cook who showed some real vision and decisive running to average 6.7 yards per carry. TCU spread the wealth of carries around to its stable of ball carriers, with each proving a solid level of efficiency with Trent Battle contributing 6.5 yards per carry while Trey Sanders and Jeremy Payne each had a pair of solid runs. Jordyn Bailey took an end-around 59 yards to the house, aided by a block from Josh Hoover and a hold block from Eric McAlister. All this in addition to the threat of do-everything weapon…
Super Savion
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The Senior from Marshall, TX continues to impress, deploying his immense physical tools to lethal effect to tear defenses to shreds. On Saturday he was a threat from the backfield with 19 yards and a rushing touchdown, making life miserable for the defense in trying to diagnose what play may be coming when he is back there. As a pass catcher by trade, Savion continues to show out with a size, speed, strength portfolio that defensive backs cannot handle for a full game. On Saturday OK State DBs didn’t handle for any of the game as Savion reeled in all seven of his targets, including a 6-yard touchdown strike.
Turnover Battle Won
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The Horned Frogs remain one of the worst in the country at protecting the football and creating turnovers, ranking 128th nationally with a -11 turnover margin. However this is now two straight games without the TCU offense giving the ball away as Josh Hoover in particular has cleaned up the fumble & interception woes that have plagued much of the season. On Saturday, the TCU defense became the turnover-creating force the team has needed all year. True freshman defensive lineman Travis Jackson had a coming out party, making his first career sack and grabbing his first interception on Saturday. Senior safety Bud Clark also had a standout day, intercepting Alan Bowman and forcing a fumble that would be recovered by Abe Camara. Those three turnovers were the most TCU created in a single game this season and equals the number created over the previous four games combined.