By: D. Scott Fritchen – K-State Athletics
FORT WORTH, Texas – Dillon Duff, in his third career appearance and his second start at quarterback, delivered a workmanlike performance by throwing for 244 yards — third most passing yards by a Kansas State quarterback in a game this season — but his spark couldn’t save the Wildcats in a 20-10 loss at TCU on Saturday.
Duff, a sophomore who is one of four quarterbacks to start for K-State this season, completed 22-of-33 passes for 244 yards and one touchdown — a 53-yard connection with wide receiver Jaron Tibbs, who was wide open down the right side of the field and trimmed the Wildcats’ deficit to 17-10 late in the third quarter.
But that was as close as K-State would get against the No. 1 scoring defense in the Big 12 Conference, as the Wildcats lost their fourth-straight game and dropped to 4-6 overall and 1-6 in the Big 12. TCU, 5-5 and 3-4, bounced back nicely after a heartbreaking 29-28 loss at No. 22 Arizona. Seven TCU games have been decided by 10 or fewer points this season.
Meanwhile, K-State, which endured a scoreless first half for the first time this season before pulling together a 10-point third quarter, continues to work toward earning another victory.
“I told them, ‘Listen, in this conference, you can’t sleepwalk through a half on either side of the football and expect to win a game,'” K-State head coach Collin Klein said. “We didn’t even get into the red zone. We didn’t even give ourselves red zone chances. We can’t do that and give ourselves a chance to win.
“There are so many things in our control. There were steps taken. I told them, ‘We can’t get tired or weary of this growth process, as painful as these are. It’s a zero-sum game. Losing is unacceptable. We have to hunker down and improve on the process we’ve made, and we have to make progress in other areas and keep our heads down right now.”
The game that began with a fumble ended with a fumble for the Wildcats.
Running back Rodney Fields lost a fumble on the Wildcats’ second possession, which moments later resulted in a Kari Ashley 19-yard touchdown run for TCU and a 7-0 lead.
On K-State’s final play from scrimmage, a pair of TCU defenders took turns hitting Duff, and he lost the ball and the Horned Frogs recovered with 1:58 remaining in the fourth quarter to secure their 20-10 victory at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
“You’re not going to win games in this conference when you turn the ball over, have penalties, have simple assignment errors, and have an abysmal start on offense,” Klein said.
After TCU scored the first points in the first quarter, K-State was unable to move the ball, and Duff suffered two sacks in a span of three plays. A punt gave TCU the ball at its own 27 and TCU quarterback Jaden Craig instantly went to the air and found Jordan Dwyer on a fade route for 41 yards, keying a 7-play, 62-yard drive that resulted in a Kyle Lemmermann 29-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead heading into halftime.
TCU opened the second half with an offensive statement on a 9-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Craig throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jacobe Hayes. The Horned Frogs simply imposed their will and chipped away with 4 and 5-yard gains before reaching the end zone for the second time in the game.
As for K-State’s offensive performance in the second half?
“The staff made good adjustments, we woke ourselves up,” Klein said, “and we had more passion and fire about ourselves offensively.”
K-State managed just 90 yards of total offense in the first half before finishing the game with 302 total yards. TCU had 324 total yards with a quality start by Craig, who completed 20-of-34 passes for 225 yards and one touchdown. Neither team ran the ball effectively. K-State had 25 carries for 58 yards (2.3 yards per rushing attempt), and TCU had 35 carries for 99 yards (2.8).
After a battle, K-State finally got onto the scoreboard in the third quarter. Luis Rodriguez gave K-State reason to celebrate as one of the most accurate kickers in the FBS nailed a career-long 55-yard field goal and was quickly swarmed by teammates. K-State’s first points of the game were keyed by a 24-yard rush by running back Joe Jackson. Unable to convert on third-and-10 at the TCU 36, Klein opted to give Rodriguez a chance to make the longest field goal of his career with the wind to his back, and K-State finally broke the ice and trailed 17-3 with 6:43 left in the third quarter.
“We had the wind at our back in the third quarter for that reason,” Klein said, “so if we got into range, we could take a chunk out of it. Credit to Luis, he went out and banged it.”
Moments later, it was game on.
That’s when Duff winded up and hurled a pass to a wide-open Tibbs down the right side of the field for a 53-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 17-10 with 48 seconds left in the third quarter. It marked K-State’s second pass completion of 50-plus yards, and the sixth play from scrimmage of more than 50 yards, this season. And this explosive play through the air, the longest reception of Tibbs’ career, arrived when K-State sought any kind of spark.
“They did a great job,” Klein said. “Dillon made an adjustment at the line of scrimmage based on the coverage we were getting and both guys were on the same page. Credit Tibbs and Dillon, who got hit as he delivered it right on the money.”
However, TCU bumped its lead back to 10 points as the Horned Frogs capped an 11-play, 57-yard drive with a 36-yard field goal by Lemmermann with 10:15 to go in the fourth quarter.
Trailing 20-10 and with 3:55 left to play, K-State attempted a late rally. Duff completed passes of 10 yards to Tibbs, then 23 yards to wide receiver Derrick Salley Jr., and then 17 yards to Tibbs, before the drive started to fizzle. On third-and-6 at the TCU 27-yard line, Duff went back to pass and was hit by one defender before Kaden McFadden hit Duff and forced Duff to lose the ball. Markis Deal recovered the fumble for the Horned Frogs with 1:58 left.
Klein was pleased with the fight of Duff in his second career start, as the Wildcats now look to finish out their regular season against Arizona and at Iowa State.
“He’s making progress,” Klein said. “He did some nice things going through progressions, in particular a couple third-down plays. We had penalties and got behind the sticks and put him in some really tough spots. He’s a young quarterback in a two-minute drill in field goal range, and it’s third down and you have to get rid of the football and secure points on that drive when you’re down two possessions.
“Those are some learning lessons that are painful, but Dillon took a step forward.”
