SMU was down 17-10 entering the fourth quarter against archrival TCU, but SMU collapsed in the fourth, being outscored 31-7 in Ft. Worth on Saturday in the Battle for the Iron Skillet to lose 48-17.
The loss marks the second straight year SMU has lost to TCU, but even worse is that SMU has won just two of the last 14 meetings between the two rivals.
Neither team played exceptionally well, but SMU quarterback Garrett Gilbert continued to struggle against TCU, throwing four interceptions.
TCU was able to score 17 points off of turnovers and also returned an onside kick for a touchdown to put the game out of reach.
While Gilbert struggled, he did not get much help from the offensive line and running game. Gilbert was sacked seven times and the combination of Prescott Line and K.C. Nlemchi totaled just 56 yards on the ground.
TCU was able to get consistent pressure on Gilbert even without defensive end Devonte Fields, the reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, who was out with a foot injury.
The offensive line started well, but TCU overmatched the SMU linemen for the rest of the game.
In his two games against TCU, Gilbert has thrown nine interceptions to just
three touchdowns.
Gilbert will have to cut down on the turnovers if conference play is going to go any better than the first four games have.
SMU receiver Jeremy Johnson had a good game against TCU, totaling 159 yards on 11 receptions and a touchdown. Aside from Johnson, SMU continued to work the short passing game and found some success, but there weren’t enough big plays from the SMU offense yet again.
TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin had a solid game, throwing for 228 yards and
two touchdowns.
Boykin also had the burden of running the football taken away from him with Waymon James and B.J. Catalon, combining for 99 yards on the ground.
The SMU secondary played well for the first half, with Kenneth Acker having three passes broken up on deep balls and Hayden Greenbauer totaling 10 tackles including 2.5 for loss.
The entire defense did not play particularly well though, missing plenty of tackles and looking overmatched in the second half.
The loss drops SMU to 1-3 on the season going into American Athletic Conference play, with Rutgers coming to Dallas Saturday for Family Weekend.
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