FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Kendre Miller scored on a 2-yard run in the second overtime and 13th-ranked TCU beat No. 8 Oklahoma State 43-40 in a matchup of the Big 12’s last remaining undefeated teams Saturday.
Fans stormed the field after Miller got into the end zone for the Horned Frogs (6-0, 3-0 Big 12), who had gone into the fourth quarter trailing by two touchdowns.
“Great win for our program,” first-year TCU coach Sonny Dykes said.
The teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime, with receivers getting wide open for big plays.
Max Duggan threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Quentin Johnston on the second play of overtime for TCU. The Cowboys were then facing fourth-and-9 when Spencer Sanders found Braydon Johnson by himself for a 23-yard gain to the 1, setting up Dominic Richardson’s tying TD run.
“It shows the culture of this team,” Duggan said of the comeback.
Oklahoma State (5-1, 2-1) got the ball to start the second overtime, but after a holding penalty and three incomplete passes in a row, the Cowboys had to settle for Tanner Brown’s fourth field goal, a 52-yarder.
Miller finished with 104 yards rushing on 22 carries, including another TD on a 3-yard run in the fourth quarter. Duggan completed 23 of 40 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns, while Johnston had eight catches for 180 yards.
“He has a burning desire to be a great player,” Dykes said of Johnston. “He’s not an Instagram guy. He just likes to play football.”
Sanders ran for touchdowns on Oklahoma State’s first two drives of the game, but was only 16-of-36 passing for 245 yards with a touchdown and an interception after not practicing all week. He dinged his right (throwing) shoulder late in their win over Texas Tech last week, but insisted he was fine and that the lack of practice wasn’t the problem.
“It’s just football at the end of the day,” Sanders said after gaining 68 yards on 11 carries. “I just had to physically come out and play better.”
The Cowboys jumped out to a 24-7 lead only five minutes into the second quarter on an incredible 22-yard TD catch by John Paul Richardson, who was tangled with cornerback Josh Newton, reached out his right hand and pulled the ball into his chest.
TCU used a little trickery to tie the game at 30-30 with 1:57 left in regulation. After a shift in the backfield for running back Emari Demarcado to take the shotgun snap, he handed the ball right back to Duggan, who found tight end Jared Wiley wide open in the right flat for a 10-yard touchdown. Wiley had a 13-yard catch two plays before that on that eight-play, 94-yard drive.
That followed a sequence when Sanders threw an interception with 7:18 left on a deep ball to Johnson, who appeared to get pushed by Bud Clark before the safety came down with the ball on the TCU 8. The Horned Frogs went three-and-out, but then Oklahoma State did the same before TCU’s tying drive.
THE TAKEAWAY
Oklahoma State: After taking the big lead in the second quarter, the Cowboys managed only two more field goals by Brown and didn’t score another touchdown until the overtime. … Oklahoma State had won six games in a row since their loss in the Big 12 championship game, and had won 11 of 12 overall.
TCU: Duggan, the senior who lost his starting job going into the season with the new coaching staff, has thrown for a Big 12-best 16 touchdowns in his five starts since taking back over after Chandler Morris sprained his left knee in the season opener.
“Max Duggan continues to play as good as football as any quarterback I’ve ever been around,” Dykes said.
UP NEXT
Oklahoma State hosts No. 22 Texas (5-2, 3-1) next Saturday in its only home game in a four-week stretch. The Cowboys play back-to-back road games after that.
TCU is home again next Saturday night to play No. 17 Kansas State (5-1, 3-0), which had an open date this weekend.
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