FORT WORTH — It was on the tip of his fingers, but he couldn’t bring it in. Somehow, the ball eluded Taye Barber’s grasp in the second quarter on a third-down play that could have gone for a mile.
In the fourth quarter, he snatched his moment.
Against tight coverage, the sophomore reached, twisted, turned and fell to the ground clutching a heave from Max Duggan on a third-and-14 that had to be converted — or his team might lose.
Instead, with the benefit of the 36-yard catch, TCU scored on the next play with Duggan’s 11-yard run and put the lid on a red-letter, red-trimmed 37-27 upset of No. 15 Texas at Amon G. Carter Stadium on Saturday.
“That’s routine,” receiver Jalen Reagor said of his teammate’s catch. “I see him do that all the time. All the time. All the time.”
He’s not far off there. In the third quarter, Barber had already done it with a 51-yard catch to the 4-yard line to set up a touchdown for a 20-20 tie.
By game’s end, Barber — playing in only his fourth contest because of hamstring troubles — had five catches for 94 yards.
What was that about a missed ball?
“It went right off my fingertips,” Barber said of the ball on a third-and-6 wheel route from the TCU 18 that could have gotten the first down and way more in a 10-10 game. “And then all my friends kept telling me to come on and they knew I could do better. So I just put the fuel in the tank and came up with some big catches.”
None bigger, of course, than the final one, tracking a skyward heave from Duggan, who released his pass just before a defender crashed down on him. Without his grab, TCU would have been punting from around midfield with two minutes left and holding only a 3-point lead against Sam Ehlinger’s Longhorns.
Instead, Barber’s clutch catch prompted an eruption from the Amon G. Carter Stadium crowd that sensed a fifth victory in six games against Texas.
“Just gotta have awareness,” Barber said. “Down and distance. Just gotta make your play when it comes.”
Same for Duggan. Same for the TCU defense.
Duggan had managed only 119 yards on 20 attempts when he got the ball back with 7:37 left in the third quarter and Texas leading 20-13 thanks to a field goal.
On the third play, he hit Barber on the 51-yard strike between the hashes. The play to the 4-yard line set up Sewo Olonilua’s tying touchdown.
Then the Frogs defense made a play — Ar’Darius Washington’s interception against the tight end on third down.
On the next snap, Duggan launched a perfect deep ball to Jalen Reagor, who caught it cleanly in stride at the goal line for a 27-20 lead.
Then, another play by the Frogs defense — Trevon Moehrig’s interception at the sideline on the last play of the third quarter. It turned into a field goal and a 30-20 lead.
When Duggan got the ball back, the lead was down to 30-27, 6:50 remained, and first downs were needed. The quarterback delivered on third-and-15, scrambled for another on second-and-7 and then, on third-and-14, made his fateful throw to Barber.
“He was aggressive,” Barber said of Duggan’s demeanor in the huddle on the game-sealing drive. “I can’t tell y’all word-for-word, but he was really aggressive. He just wanted to keep going and score to put them away.”
Team-wise, the significance of Duggan’s performance was unmistakable.
“Oh, yeah, I felt like it was coming. This game was just one of them games for him,” Moehrig said of Duggan. “It was a big game for him. I knew he could do it. Everybody knew he could do it. It just came with time.”
It’s like coach Gary Patterson had been saying. Everything’s a work in progress for the Frogs, now 4-3 for the season and 2-2 in the Big 12.
“I’m really proud of the kids. Really proud of Max, Taye Barber being back,” Patterson said. “Made a big play today. Almost made another play on a wheel route. Got to find ways to win. I was proud of them. Defense stepped up, got some picks. We’re capable of that.”
That reminder came in front of 47,660 watching the Frogs in a red-trimmed uniform that symbolized their mascot’s defense mechanism — a shot of blood from its eyes.
“Too fire,” Barber said of the look.
Same goes for his catch.
(Photos by TCU Athletics)