College Football Stories

Remember the time that Gary Patterson changed from his black shirt to his purple shirt at halftime and the Horned Frogs won the Alamo Bowl? Mack Brown sure does! The former Texas and North Carolina head coach was on the call for ESPN, along with play-by-play man Dave Flemming. The two were in for a fantastic bowl match-up, although it did not appear that way for more than half of the game.

On January 2nd, 2016, TCU’s 31-point comeback victory over Oregon in the Valero Alamo Bowl tied the largest comeback in college football bowl game history. Previously, the record was held by the 2006 Insight Bowl, when a Mike Leach-led Texas Tech squad trailed Minnesota 38-7 with under 8 minutes left in the third quarter. The Red Raiders stormed back to beat the Golden Gophers 44-41.

2015 Oregon Ducks

Head coach Mark Helfrich’s Ducks looked to follow up a national championship appearance in 2014 by getting back to the College Football Playoff in 2015. All hope for a special season was lost almost immediately, as the pre-season No. 7 Ducks started the year 3-3. Among these losses was an embarrassing 62-20 beat down by the Utah Utes at home in Eugene.

Oregon rallied after the sluggish start to the year, winning six games in a row to finish the regular season 9-3 and were ranked No. 15 in the country. This stretch included wins against No. 7 Stanford and No. 22 USC in back-to-back weeks. The Ducks offense was averaging almost 45 points per game during the six-game win streak. Quarterback Vernon Adams led a high-scoring offensive attack with weapons like running back Royce Freeman and wide receivers Darren Carrington and Bralon Addison. Oregon needed this bowl win for their eighth consecutive season of 10+ wins.

2015 TCU Horned Frogs

Coming into the 2015 regular season, the Horned Frogs were ranked No. 2 in the country in both the AP and Coaches Polls. TCU narrowly missed out on a playoff berth the prior year after going 12-1 and splitting the Big 12 championship with the rival Baylor Bears. The Gary Patterson-led Horned Frogs started the year 8-0 and were ranked 8th in the initial College Football Playoff Rankings in early November.

The Saturday after those rankings came out, the Horned Frogs lost focus and were beaten soundly by Oklahoma State on the road in Stillwater, 49-29. Two weeks later, another trip to the Sooner state produced a similar result. The Horned Frogs dug themselves into a 30-13 hole against Oklahoma in Norman. A failed two-point conversion overshadowed a valiant comeback attempt, as the Sooners held on 30-29. TCU finished the year 10-2 as the Big 12 conference runner-up.

First Half

The 11th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs started fifth-year senior Bram Kohlhausen at QB in place of Trevone Boykin, who was serving a suspension after a recent arrest. Star receiver Josh Doctson was also unavailable due to a wrist injury. For much of the first two quarters, Kohlhausen played like a seldom-used back-up QB. The Horned Frogs could not get anything going on offense early on, running 13 total plays in the first quarter to include three punts.

Each team’s first drive ended in a quick three-and-out and a punt. Oregon then went 81-yards in 8 plays to start the scoring in San Antonio. Adams hit WR Darren Carrington for a 37-yard strike on third-down to put the Ducks on the board first. The next TCU drive included one first down before an apparent sack fumble on third-and-four was overturned to an incomplete pass. The Horned Frogs punted and the Ducks started scoring drive number two at their own 21-yard line. Running back Taj Griffin exploded for a 28-yard run on the first play of the possession. Later in the drive, Adams found tight end Evan Baylis for 30-yards to get deep inside Frogs territory. Four plays later and RB Royce Freeman found the end zone from four yards out to put Oregon up 14-0.

TCU finally showed signs of life on their third drive of the game, as Kohlhausen completed a pass to WR KaVontae Turpin for 29-yards past midfield into Duck territory. On the next play, a 12-yard run by RB Aaron Green was wiped out due to a penalty. All momentum was lost, and TCU was forced to punt yet again. With 2:21 left in the first quarter, Adams and the Ducks offense began their third scoring drive at their own 16-yard line. Adams hit Carrington for 44-yards on third-and-long and later found Dwayne Stanford for a big 15-yard gain. Freeman capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to make it 21-0 in favor of the Ducks.

The Frogs went backwards on their next possession. A two-yard loss on a first down Turpin run was followed up by a DeForest Buckner sack of Kohlhausen on third-and-12 to force another TCU punt. Three plays and 43 seconds later, Oregon went up 28-0 after a Tony Brooks-James rushing score. The Horned Frogs started their most successful first half drive early in the second quarter. Kohlhausen completed passes of 19- and 24-yards to Tony James and Turpin, respectively. The 8-play, 45-yard drive stalled out after back-to-back incomplete passes deep in Oregon territory.

The TCU defense stiffened for the remainder of the second quarter, forcing the Ducks to punt, turn the ball over on downs, and kick a 47-yard field goal on their next three drives. The Horned Frogs offense could not turn any of those stops into points. The score going in to halftime was 31-0 Oregon. The most surprising part of this shutout was the Oregon defense, which had entered the game ranked 113th in scoring defense and 115th in total defense. In the first 30 minutes, TCU had 102 total yards of offense. In eight first-half drives, the Frogs punted five times. Oregon ran 52 plays for 386 yards and scored five times.

Two very key plays occurred, starting with 5:29 remaining in the half. TCU’s defense forced the Ducks to punt from deep in their own territory. Horned Frogs linebacker Garrett Kaufman ran untouched to block the Ian Wheeler kick. Unfortunately for the Frogs, the ball bounced directly to Oregon’s DeForest Buckner, who advanced the ball for a Ducks’ first down.

Two plays later, Adams kept the ball on the read option, taking a big hit from TCU safety Derrick Kindred in the process. Adams exited with an injury and would not return. Back-up QB Jeff Lockie replaced Adams for the remainder of the game.

Second Half

After Gary Patterson made a well-publicized T-shirt change, the Horned Frogs looked like a different team. TCU went on a 10-play, 69-yard drive to start the second half. Although they were forced to kick a 24-yard field goal, the shutout was finally over. Down 31-3, the Frogs defense continued their efforts from late in the second quarter and forced an Oregon three-and-out. The Ducks would not touch the ball on offense again until under a minute remaining in the third quarter.

Kohlhausen led the offense on an 11 play, 64-yard touchdown drive, highlighted by a 25-yard third-down pass to Emanuel Porter and a 26-yard scoring strike to Jaelan Austin on fourth-and-five. On the ensuing kickoff, Frogs LB Arico Evans forced Oregon’s return man Charles Nelson to fumble. The Horned Frogs took over at the Ducks 16-yard line. It took the Frogs seven plays and almost four minutes, but Kohlhausen improvised and scored on fourth down from a yard-and-a-half out. With 36 seconds left in the third quarter, TCU trailed 31-17.

Oregon was forced to punt on their next drive after a low snap resulted in a five-yard loss on third down. Taking over at their own 7-yard line after a Wheeler punt, Kohlhausen and the Frogs offense went on a 76-yard scoring drive. Kohlhausen hit Aaron Green for 36-yards and WR Jarrison Stewart for a gain of 21. After suffering a sack on third-and-eight, TCU had to settle for three. Kicker Jaden Oberkrom made good on his second attempt of the day, this time from 34-yards out. The Ducks’ lead was cut to 31-20 with 7:45 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Lockie and the Ducks took over after recovering TCU’s onside kick attempt. After three plays and three yards, TCU forced another Oregon punt. Beginning at their own 9-yard line, the Frogs went 91-yards in just over three minutes. Aaron Green ran it in from two yards out and the Frogs converted the two-point conversion to make it a 31-28 ball game. On their next possession, Oregon once again went three-and-out, gaining just one yard.

With 2:17 left, TCU took over at the Oregon 36. The Horned Frogs picked up two first downs but could not punch it in the end zone. Oberkrom made his third field goal of the day and his biggest one yet, as TCU completed the comeback to tie the game at 31 with 19 seconds left in regulation. Oregon went nowhere on their next two snaps and time expired.

Overtime

The two teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime. First, Kohlhausen tossed one to Porter, giving the Horned Frogs their first lead of the day. Oregon battled back and forced a second extra period after a Freeman touchdown run. In overtime number two, the Ducks and Frogs exchanged field goals to make the score 41-41. Kohlhausen’s 8-yard touchdown run in the third OT would prove to be the game winner, as TCU’s defense held off Oregon’s offense one more time. Patterson and the Horned Frogs prevailed 47-41 in one of the more thrilling bowl games of all time.

Kohlhausen’s provided a gutsy performance, going 28 for 45 for 351 yards and 2 TD’s. He added 11 carries for 45 yards and two more scores. Green added 101 yards on the ground with a score, while Austin and Porter each had four receptions and a touchdown catch. The Horned Frogs scored on all nine possessions of the third and fourth quarters and three overtimes.

Prior to his unfortunate injury and abrupt exit, Vernon Adams was 13 of 19 for 197 yards and a score. His back-up Lockie finished with only 36 yards through the air. Carrington led all Duck’s receivers with 7 catches and 107 yards. Freeman rushed for 130 yards and three scores. The offense had nearly 350 yards and 28 points when Adams went out. They finished with only 419 yards and 41 points, including the three overtime periods.