TCU Football: Horned Frogs Bring the Iron Skillet Back to Fort Worth With a 42-34 Victory
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Almost one year ago today, TCU hosted SMU for the 100th matchup between these two teams. Head Coach Sonny Dykes was at the helm for the Mustangs and SMU walked away with a 42-34 win in Fort Worth. One year later, Sonny Dykes is the head coach for TCU and the Frogs stormed into Dallas and came away with a 42-34 win and of course, the Iron Skillet. You can't make this stuff up.
TCU got off to a red hot start by opening up the game with a five play 74-yard touchdown drive capped off by a 19-yard touchdown pass from Max Duggan to Savion Williams. After a pair of punts, Abraham Camara came away with an interception which led to a 28-yard score by Kendre Miller to put the Frogs up 14-0.
Miller had a huge game finishing with 17 carries for 142 yards and a touchdown. That was a point of emphasis for the Frogs and Miller capitalized on the offensive line winning the battle at the line of scrimmage. Miller was excellent at reading the defense and finishing forward after each run.
The scoring frenzy continued in the first half for the Frogs. After a SMU touchdown by Tre Siggers, Duggan threw a touchdown pass to Jared Wiley. The defense forced a punt and on the first play of the next drive, Derius Davis flashed his speed for an 80-yard touchdown to give TCU a 28-7 lead. It was an incredible display of his quickness as he scampered up the right sideline and no one was going to touch him.
He also added a 57-yard kick return. Davis has been doing this all season and has given the Frogs an excellent weapon to change field position. He is an explosive player who makes big time plays. However, the Frogs offense did not have the same offensive firepower in the second half. After leading 28-7, the Mustangs crawled back into the game.
Quarterback Tanner Mordecai started to settle in and looked for his number one receiver Rashee Rice frequently. A 19-yard touchdown pass from Mordecai to Rice capped off an impressive 11 play drive. A pair of TCU punts led to another scoring drive from SMU. Mordecai found Jake Bailey for 45 yards and Tre Siggers punched it in from a yard out to shrink the lead to seven.
The Frogs responded with a huge interception by Josh Newton which resulted in an Emari Demercado touchdown to put the Frogs up 35-21. Demercado also added a 63-yard score which seemingly ended the game despite a valiant effort by SMU.
The running game for TCU was the big standout. Being able to run the ball effectively almost always yields good results on offense. Duggan continues to impress this season as he added three touchdowns and a high completion percentage. The play calling seemed to be on point which led to big plays and confused the Mustang defense. The TCU defense did a good job forcing turnovers and only allowed 2.8 yards per carry.
| Player Stats | TCU | SMU |
|---|---|---|
Passing | Max Duggan: 22-29, 278 yds, 3 TD | Tanner Mordecai: 27-49, 372 yds, 2 TD 2 INT |
Rushing | Kendre Miller: 17 car, 142 yds, 1 TD | Tre Siggers: 19 car, 60 yds, 3 TD |
Receiving | Derius Davis: 3 rec, 78 yds, 1 TD | Jake Bailey: 8 rec, 163 yds, 1 TD |
The offense fell a little flat in the beginning of the second half. They went with a pass first approach and that didn't seem to work. While the offensive line was terrific in the run game, they did give up several sacks including back to back in the first half. The secondary also struggled to contain SMU's receivers and had several pass interference calls and holding penalties. SMU was trailing for the entire game, but Rashee Rice seemed to win those one-on-one battles.
However, a win is a win and the positives far outweighed the negatives. In a sold out Gerald J. Ford stadium, it was all purple in the stands at the end of the game. Sonny Dykes has now won the last three Iron Skillet games with the last two coming with SMU. The Frogs now improve to 3-0 on the season for the first time since 2017. Dykes is also the first head coach to win his first three games at TCU since Francis Schmidt in 1929. SMU falls to 2-2 on the season.
For the Mustangs, they will take on UCF next Saturday at 2:30. The Frogs will head back to Fort Worth to host the #9 Oklahoma Sooners for their second home game next Saturday.
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