Duggan 5 TD passes and TCU 2-0 under Dykes after 59-17 win
FORT WORTH, TX - SEPTEMBER 10: TCU Horned Frogs wide receiver Jordan Hudson (7) celebrates scoring a touchdown during the game between the Tarleton State Texans and the TCU Horned Frogs on September 10, 2022 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, T
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Max Duggan completed 23 of 29 passes for 390 yards and five touchdowns as TCU won its home opener 59-17 over lower-division Tarleton State on Saturday night, making Sonny Dykes the first new Horned Frogs coach to win his first two games since Dutch Meyer in 1934.
Duggan set career highs for yards and TDs while playing less than three full quarters in his 30th career start for the Frogs (2-0). It came a week after former Oklahoma transfer Chandler Morris started their season-opening 38-13 win at Colorado before suffering a sprained left knee late in that game.
TCU led 28-0 when Duggan tossed a 2-yard score to Quincy Brown early in the second quarter. Duggan found receivers wide open for TDs on each of TCU’s first two drives of the game — Derius Davis from 19 yards out, then Jared Riley on a 6-yarder.
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Dykes is the 11th full-time head coach for the Frogs since Meyer, who won 109 games over his 19 seasons (1934-52). His tenure included the school's only national championship, an undefeated season in 1938 with Heisman Trophy winner Davey O'Brien.
Beau Allen threw for 210 yards with a TD and two interceptions for Tarleton, which is in the third season of a four-year reclassification period from NCAA Division II to the FCS level as a member of the Western Athletic Conference.
Darius Cooper had an acrobatic 21-yard TD catch from Allen, leaping up and reaching back before getting a foot down in the front corner of the end zone. Cooper had six catches for 117 yards.
THE TAKEAWAY
Tarleton: The Texans played a Power Five program for the first time in school history, two seasons after beating New Mexico State 43-17 in their only previous game against an FBS team. They still had zero total yards when they fell behind 21-0 against TCU, and finished with 295 yards.
TCU: The Frogs' 10 offensive drives before a lost fumble into the end zone midway through the fourth quarter resulted in eight touchdowns, a field goal and a missed field goal. They finished with 630 total yards, and didn't punt until 1:44 was left in the game.
This was the Frogs' first home opener without Gary Patterson as head coach since 2001, when they lost to FCS team Northwestern State in that game. They have since won their last 15 games against lower-division teams by an average margin of 43 points. Patterson went on to be the school's winning coach with 181 wins. That included an undefeated 2010 season capped by a Rose Bowl victory before his departure eight games into last season.
UP NEXT
Tarleton: Hosts Eastern New Mexico from the Division II Lone Star Conference next Saturday night.
TCU: An open date before playing Sept. 24 at SMU, where Dykes was head coach the past four seasons. It will be the 101st meeting overall between the former Southwest Conference rivals.