The number 4 ranked TCU Horned Frogs kept their undefeated streak alive and avoided catastrophe after an early scare from DFW Metroplex rival SMU in the “Battle for the Iron Skillet” Friday night at Ford Stadium in front of a record crowd of 35,481.
“That was an emotional rivalry,” TCU head coach Gary Patterson said. “We came here and took SMU’s best shots, we outscored them in the 2nd half, and I’m very happy with my team.”
SMU head coach June Jones was proud of the support the Mustangs received from fans, as a sea of red pilled in to see one of SMU’s biggest games in recent history which was nationally televised on ESPN.
“It was fun to see the energy from the boosters and the fans in the stadium that hasn’t been here in a long time and that was worth all of it,” he said.
Unfortunately, the Mustangs came up short of pulling a monumental upset but Jones felt his team played well.
“I thought we did some good things but they’re [TCU] a very good team,” Jones said. “When you play against that team you have to make plays when you have chances to make plays, they kind of wore us down.”
SMU quarterback Kyle Padron and wide receiver Aldrick Robinson picked up right where they left off last week. The dynamic duo connected on a 23 yard touchdown to give the Mustangs a shocking 7-0 lead over the Horned Frogs midway through the 1st quarter. SMU running back Zach Line was a real work horse on the 88 yard scoring drive as he contributed two big runs of 15 and 21 yards respectively.
The Horned Frogs answered back with a 1st quarter touchdown of their own as running back Matthew Tucker plunged in from 2 yards out to tie the game, 7-7. Quarterback Andy Dalton finally got his rhythm going after finding tight end Evan Frosch on a 31 yard pass play to get the drive started. Dalton also had a 25 yard completion to wide receiver Jeremy Kerley to set TCU up for the score.
Early in the 2nd quarter, the stingy Horned Frog defense wrecked havoc when defensive end Stansly Maponga injured Padron on a 3rd down sack. Padron appeared to have suffered a shoulder injury and received immediate attention on the sideline.
“He [Padron] took a lot of hits tonight,” Jones said. “He showed his toughness, he’s tough enough to play against the big boys.”
The TCU offense returned the favor by taking nearly seven minutes off the clock with a 70 yard touchdown drive that included two 4th down conversions. Running back Waymon James plowed in from 4 yards out to give the Horned Frogs their first lead of the game, 14-7, with just over four minutes till halftime. Fellow running back Ed Wesley was taken down hard on the turf by SMU defensive back Chris Banjo, allowing James to see some action. Banjo had a season high 9 tackles which tied for the team lead.
“We lost Wesley to a concussion and then we got Waymon James,” Patterson said. “When back up guys have to come in and play that’s how you win championships and James came in and did that tonight.”
Padron valiantly returned to the field on the Mustangs’ very next offensive possession but was ultimately ineffective, misfiring on two passes as SMU was forced to punt.
However, the Mustang defense was able to get the ball right back to their offense when defensive back Ryan Smith recorded his 2nd interception of the year. Smith made a great play on the ball and was able to pick off a deep Dalton pass.
Momentum returned to the Mustang sideline when Padron regained his old form and found wide receiver Darius Johnson, who made a spectacular one handed grab in TCU territory. The 50 yard pass play set up a 26 yard field goal by kicker Matt Szymanski, cutting the Horned Frog lead to 4, heading into halftime.
Jones believes Johnson, who finished the game with 5 catches for a career high 72 yards receiving and 1 touchdown is “a real gamer”.
The TCU offense opened up the 2nd half with yet another turnover as SMU defensive back Sterling Moore was able to intercept a Dalton pass on the 2nd play of the 3rd quarter. Moore returned the ball 32 yards to the one yard line.
The Mustangs capitalized on the turnover as Padron dumped the ball off to wide receiver Bradley Haynes for his 2nd touchdown pass of the night giving the Mustangs the lead back, 17-14.
On the ensuing kick off, the ever so dangerous Kerley returned the ball 83 yards to the SMU 13 yard line. Dalton wasted no time and connected with wide receiver Bart Johnson from 11 yards out as the Horned Frogs recaptured the lead, 21-17.
“I thought that was the biggest turning point of the game,” Jones said of Kerley’s return. “It took the wind out of everything, not only the sideline but the crowd, the energy of the game disappeared right there, it was a big play.”
Later in the 3rd quarter, TCU extended their lead 28-17, when James found daylight up the middle and scampered 9 yards for his 2nd touchdown of the night capping a 12 play 58 yard scoring drive.
It appeared as if the Mustangs had lost all life when they were forced to punt late in the third quarter down by 11, but Szymanski who also doubles as a punter saved the day. Szymanski bobbled the long snap but alertly picked up the ball and ran 12 yards for the first down giving SMU new life.
SMU, however, was not able to score on the drive and an illegal kick by Szymanski on a punt resulted in a 15 yard penalty giving TCU great field position.
Dalton took advantage and completed a 41 yard pass to wide receiver Antoine Hicks. Dalton then used his legs to hurt the Mustang defense as he dashed 14 yards to the SMU 6 yard line. Fullback Luke Shivers from 4 yards out to give the Horned Frogs their largest lead of the game, 35-17, early in the 4th quarter.
Pony Pride never died as SMU responded quickly with a 76 yard touchdown drive that took less than three minutes off the clock. Line darted 29 yards up the gut to cut the 4th quarter deficit to 11 and make the score 35-24.
The 24 points scored against TCU is the highest total for SMU in the rivalry since a 27-24 win in 1996.
“They [SMU] scored more points on Texas Tech than Texas did, they scored 28 in Lubbock,” Patterson said. “We knew we were going to have to play 4 quarters and they were going to come back. We knew what we had to do and found a way to win.”
Line finished with a career high 139 yards rushing and 1 touchdown. He is the first 100-yard rusher TCU has allowed since Harvey Unga of BYU on Oct. 29, 2009.
“He’s got a little inside quickness and can take on a defensive end if he has to,” Jones said of Line. “He’s a real physical player.”
It appeared as if the Mustangs were about to close the gap even more when they took over on offense again, but TCU defensive back Tejay Johnson spoiled any chance of an SMU comeback when he intercepted a Padron pass and returned it 19 yards to the end zone giving the Horned Frogs a permanent 41-24 lead.
Padron had a subpar night completing only 14 of 35 passes for 169 yards and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception.
“He had a lot of opportunities,” Jones said of Padron. “He’s a young kid going against the best defense in the country and it’s obviously frustrating for him, hopefully as he looks at the film he’ll get better and better.”
The Mustangs will travel to Houston on Saturday to take on the Rice Owls on October 2nd at 6 p.m.
“SMU played hard, they’re going to win a lot of football games, you’ll see,” Patterson said.
