FORT WORTH — The most elementary part of this information gathering we do as writers and journalists is best known as the five W’s, the who, what, when, where and why.
As Darius Anderson sat taking questions in the immediate aftermath of TCU’s 51-14 knockout of Kansas on Saturday at Amon G. Carter Stadium, one couldn’t help but get stuck on the “where,” the hard drive in the brain pan frozen.
Such as, where would this TCU team, now 3-1 with a game at Iowa State next on the schedule, be without Anderson, the Horned Frogs’ steady Eddy who has provided both stability and big-play ability to an offensive unit still trying to sort through the matter of getting a freshman quarterback properly seasoned?
Through TCU’s first four games, Anderson has been the Horned Frogs’ best, most consistent offensive player. At crucial times, he has made the offense functional.
Those issues in the quarterback room – that insider term now being the fashionable and industry standard when talking about that position — are well-documented.
Freshman quarterbacks, like infused vodka, aren’t made in a day.
Both freshman Max Duggan and senior grad transfer Alex Delton were better, combing for 306 yards on 19-of-27 passing and no interceptions. Duggan was 8 for 11 for 100 yards and two TDs.
“I thought Delton looked a lot more comfortable,” Patterson said. “The first touchdown, probably shouldn’t have thrown into double coverage. [Dylan Thomas] just made a good play. [Duggan] just has to keep progressing.
“You can’t force the offense. one of the things about being a great quarterback is you let the offense run itself. He’s got to calm down. You don’t need great plays. You just need to make the plays you’re supposed to make. And he will. He’s just going to keep getting better.”
On this day against Kansas, TCU’s offense found both a TxDot Express Lane and a gas pedal. The five first-half touchdowns, and the 625 yards and 88 plays, almost double the number the Jayhawks ran, attest to that. On the ground, TCU had 319 yards on 61 plays.
The best play was handing the ball to Anderson, who is running the ball as strong and confidently as he ever has. He was the juice for TCU’s longed-for fast start. Last week’s 15-0 hole to start an eventual loss to SMU might as well have been to China.
On his team’s first series, Anderson set the tone with positive running plays of 5, 22 and 3 yards to get into Kansas territory. On TCU’s second possession, Anderson carried five times for 24 yards. The Frogs were up 14-0 and treating the Jayhawks like they do opposing basketball teams. Anderson’s 11-yard scoring run in the second quarter had TCU up 28-0.
Against SMU, he put the jumper cables on a lethargic beginning. Down 15-0 and showing no signs of life, TCU went to its senior, hard-charging running back to get back in the game. He delivered, scoring on a 14-yard run and a bit later went 77 yards to set up first-and-goal from the 3, which he finished off with a second TD.
In victory over Purdue, Anderson went for 179 yards, with a long of 37, and two touchdowns.
The Kansas game marked the third consecutive 100-yard game for the senior from Richmond, Texas, going for 115 on 18 carries against the Jayhawks.
It’s all the more striking when you consider where – there that word again – Anderson sat after this same game a year ago in Lawrence.
It was alone afterward in a small room – a form of solitary confinement — appearing in desperate need of a Zig Ziglar conference on positivity.
Though there was plenty of blame to share in the Hindenburg-esque disaster of a one-point loss to the lowly Jayhawks, Anderson’s mistake was the most glaring, a fumble on a handoff on first-and-goal from the 9 that sealed the Horned Frogs’ fate and Kansas’ first Big 12 victory in two years. It was a freak play. Anderson bumped into his own offensive lineman, popping the ball onto the playing surface and into the waiting arms of a grateful Jayhawk.
He sat solemnly, obviously disappointed while answering questions about it. He took full responsibility, but he was emphatic about what mattered most at that moment: There was nothing to be done about what had happened. This was not a time to tear down, but rather a time to build.
Maybe he didn’t need Tony Robbins after all.
The Frogs practiced better and harder this week – with “a chip on our shoulder,” Anderson said – attending to every detail after that embarrassing loss to SMU. Anderson has been working like that for a year.
Leaner and stronger this season, No. 6 broke into the school’s top 10 in career rushers on Saturday with better than 2,000 over his three-plus seasons on Stadium Drive.
With eight, probably nine, games to go, he will continue to climb.
“I cut fat and gained muscle,” Anderson said. “I lost weight. It’s about getting stronger and faster. I went into the season feeling stronger and faster, knowing I could do more.”
Having answered the bell on Saturday, TCU can again ponder where it can go moving forward with their senior running back out front, pulling a couple of quarterbacks along until they more fully gather their feet.
(Photos: TCU Athletics)