Texas Tech football: Why the Red Raiders lost to TCU

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Nov 7, 2020; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; TCU Horned Frogs quarterback Max Duggan (15) scores a touchdown against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the second quarter at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Dieb-USA TODAY Sports /

Tech couldn’t stop Duggan on the ground

Prior to this game, we talked about the importance of keeping Max Duggan from running wild as he did in Lubbock last year. Unfortunately, Tech was unable to do that as Duggan had a career game on the ground.

Rushing for 154 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries, he was the game’s biggest weapon for either team as he averaged 8.4 yards per carry. It was his two long second-half TD rushes that broke this game open for the Frogs.

His 47-yard TD scamper in the third quarter gave his team a 27-10 lead. Meanwhile, his 81-yard gallop was the game-sealing score in the fourth quarter.

Both runs appeared to come on breakdowns by the Red Raiders as there was no one in the middle of the field to account for Duggan once he broke through the line. That was disappointing given how much emphasis the Red Raiders had placed on corraling him after he ran for 75 yards and a TD last year in Lubbock.

When we look at what the actual TCU running backs did, Tech was actually effective against them. The rest of the TCU roster managed to run for a mere 116 yards on 30 carries, an average of 3.8 yards per carry.

But for the second-straight year, Duggan ran wild on Tech and that was what proved to be TCU’s best offensive strategy. In fact, had it not been for the QB ground game, the Frogs would have had almost no offensive punch at all.

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