Big fourth quarter helps No. 7 TCU turn back Texas Tech

FORT WORTH — TCU has built an undefeated season on the back of an explosive offense and one come-from-behind victory after another. Texas Tech joined the list of victims on Saturday.

Kendre Miller ran for a go-ahead touchdown and Max Duggan threw for two TDs, all in a 21-point fourth-quarter salvo, as No. 7 TCU slipped past the Red Raiders 34-24 in front of a full house at Amon Carter Stadium, the setting for the Fox Big Noon Kickoff show.

Miller's 2-yard run with 13:25 left put TCU (9-0, 6-0 in the Big 12) ahead for good at 20-17. Duggan, sacked four times and not particularly effective for much of the day, connected on touchdown passes of 23 yards to Derius Davis and 16 yards to Emari Demercado, the latter making it 34-17 with 5:46 remaining.

"We played a really good team today," Tech coach Joey McGuire said. "TCU did a good job in the second half. That's something they've done all year long."

The Horned Frogs have trailed in the second quarter or later in each of their past five victories and were behind in the second half in four of the five.

Tech (4-5, 2-4) led 17-13 going to the fourth quarter after Tyler Shough connected with J.J. Sparkman on a 33-yard touchdown midway through the third. The Red Raiders extended the upset bid when Jaylon Hutchings sacked Duggan on fourth-and-4 at the Tech 12 on the following series.

Miller finished with 158 yards on 21 carries, his sixth 100-yard performance in seven games. He extended his streak of games with a touchdown to 10.

"I thought they ran the ball better the second half," McGuire said. "I thought that had a lot to do with their conversions."

Tech (4-5, 2-4) played the second half without Behren Morton, who aggravated a left ankle injury that originated four weeks ago in a game at Oklahoma State. Morton had the ball on an option keeper around end when defensive lineman George Ellis tackled his lower legs. Morton hobbled off and eventually was taken to the locker room.

He came back out after halftime in shorts, a pullover and with an orthopedic boot on his lower left leg.

"He fought through against Oklahoma State," McGuire said. "We didn't feel like he could go today. Man, he wanted to. He was really upset on the sideline and at halftime when he couldn't. We'll evaluate him tomorrow and go from there."

The Shough-to-Sparkman touchdown capped a series that included two fourth-down conversions: a 5-yard quarterback run by Donovan Smith on fourth-and-1 from the Tech 32 and a 9-yard pass from Shough to SaRodorick Thompson on fourth-and-4 from the TCU 42.

On the next play, Sparkman was well covered as he ran down the left sideline, but he came down with Shough's throw into the end zone.

On the subsequent series, Miller bolted 50 yards to the Tech 18. The defense stiffened, though. On fourth down at the Tech 12, Red Raiders defenders Vidal Scott and Krishon Merriweather squeezed Duggan up the pocket and Hutchings sacked him.

TCU erupted after that, though, scoring touchdowns on its next three possessions. The last two were set up on failed fourth-down attempts by the Red Raiders in their own territory. TCU stopped Smith for a loss on fourth-and-2 from the 36 and broke up Shough's pass for Myles Price on fourth-and-4 from the 45.

On the play Smith was stuffed, McGuire said he had an option to throw and apparently didn't recognize he had a play to receiver Nehemiah Martinez.

"You go back and look at that, it might have been a touchdown," McGuire said.

Duggan finished with 195 yards on 12-of-23 passing.

Tech had 10 tackles for loss, 2 1/2 apiece credited to defensive ends Tyree Wilson and Jesiah Pierre. Pierre had 1 1/2 sacks.

Shough completed 9 of 22 for 78 yards and ran in a 3-yard touchdown with 1:46 left.

TCU got off to a fast start with an 82-yard punt-return touchdown by Davis less than two minutes into the game, but Tech answered midway through the first quarter with Morton throwing a 47-yard touchdown pass to Jerand Bradley. Bradley ran a deep slant, dodged a tackler and had a clear path to the end zone.

Griffin Kell kicked two first-half field goals for TCU, the second coming nine seconds before halftime and giving the Horned Frogs a 13-10 lead at intermission.

Quick hits

TCU star receiver Quentin Johnston, who played through an ankle injury last week at West Virginia, started Saturday but didn't play after the first series. TCU coach Sonny Dykes said Johnston was withheld as a precaution to not make the injury worse. ...

Trey Wolff's 29-yard field goal on the last play of the first quarter gave Tech a 10-7 lead. The kick came four plays after Tech was awarded a first down when it should not have been. On a first-and-10 with the ball snapped from the TCU 14, Morton connected with Sparkman along the left sideline.

The next play was snapped with the ball squarely on the TCU 5, but after a reset to first down. Sparkman stumbled at the TCU 2 after a reception, and then a false start, a tackle for a loss and an incomplete pass made the Red Raiders settle for the field goal.

"We just went by what they said," McGuire said. "There's a lot of things happened in this game that I'm still scratching my head. That's probably one of them. We just went by what (the officials) were saying. They awarded us a first down. The guy pointed to move the sticks, and so we went with what the officials did." ...

Kendre Miller's touchdown capped a 10-play, 81-yard drive on which Tech was flagged three times. That included a pair of personal fouls: a facemask penalty on Tyree Wilson as he sacked Duggan and a horse-collar tackle on Dadrion Taylor-Demerson. Rayshad Williams was flagged for pass interference in the end zone.

McGuire bit his tongue when asked about the facemask call.

"You saw a lot of stuff today that I still don't understand," he said. "Without getting my tail fined and putting us in a bad situation, it's really frustrating. I can't explain that right there." ...

Tech redshirt freshmen Ty Buchanan and Jacoby Jackson made their first and second career starts, respectively, at right tackle and right guard. Regular right tackle Monroe Mills missed his third game in a row with a knee strain, and regular right guard Landon Peterson was out with a shoulder injury he suffered the week before against Baylor.

Buchanan went down with an injured left leg on the Red Raiders' last possession and came out of the game. ...

Tech's receiver corps was depleted before and during the game. Trey Cleveland (concussion protocol) missed the game, and Jerand Bradley left the game after taking a shot to the head. TCU linebacker Dee Winters was ejected for targeting in the third quarter when he hit Bradley right after an incomplete pass over the middle.

Myles Price, a usual starter at slot receiver, started on the outside. ...

Tech defensive tackle Tony Bradford left the game with a shoulder injury and didn't return.

"He couldn't get strength back in it," McGuire said. "Expecting him to play (next week). If we put him back in there, he's almost like with one arm. We weren't going to do that to him." ...

Because of tornadic storms Friday afternoon in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Tech's team flight was delayed more than seven hours. Originally scheduled to depart Lubbock at 12:30 p.m. Friday, it finally left at 8:05 p.m. and touched down at 8:52 p.m. The Red Raiders then bused to their hotel in Irving. ...

TCU coach Sonny Dykes improved to 80-63 in his 13th season as a college head coach. He needs two more wins to tie his father Spike Dykes, who was 82-67-1 in 13-plus seasons as head coach at Tech.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech falls to TCU after Horned Frogs' big 4th quarter