TCU receivers make big plays in Horned Frogs’ 49-28 dismantling of Arizona

In its final home game of the regular season, TCU handled Arizona 49-28 behind a number of big-time performances from its talented wide receivers.

The trio of Savion Williams, JP Richardson and Eric McAlister combined for 290 total yards and the Horned Frogs led wire-to-wire against the Wildcats.

Arizona briefly made things interesting in the second quarter, scoring 13 unanswered points to make it a 14-13 game, but TCU went on a 21-0 run to pull away from Arizona. Williams and Richardson scored two of the touchdowns while Trent Battle scored the other.

“You’ve got to give Arizona credit, we jumped out fast and those guys kept battling,” coach Sonny Dykes said after the win. “We had two three and outs in a row offensively and we were on our heels a little bit. They were capable of scoring fast and yeah I was concerned at that point.

“We had two series there where it didn’t look very good, but the last drive of the first half and the first drive of the second half were the two pivotal moments of the game.”

The Wildcats made one last surge to start the fourth, cutting TCU’s lead to 35-21 with a touchdown pass from Noah Fifita to Chris Hunter on fourth down. However, TCU quickly marched down the field with both McAlister and Williams having 20-plus yard gains during the drive.

Cam Cook’s six-yard touchdown with 10:23 remaining was enough to ice the game for the Horned Frogs. TCU (7-4, 5-3) has won four of its last five games.

Savion strikes again

Earlier in the week, Dykes compared Savion Williams to San Francisco 49ers star receiver Deebo Samuel due to his effectiveness in the backfield just like Samuel has shown in the NFL. Williams showed why it was such a good comparison with another strong game in the backfield against the Wildcats.

“It (felt) really good,” Williams said. “Any time you’re getting compared to somebody in the NFL, you’re doing one heck of a job.”

After scoring a touchdown in the first quarter, Williams came up with another score when TCU was reeling before halftime. With the Horned Frogs only leading 14-13 with roughly 25 seconds remaining in the half, TCU could have kicked a field goal on fourth down to extend the lead. Instead they trusted Williams, who took a direct snap 20 yards around the right side of the offensive line for a touchdown.

Williams had another prolific run in the fourth when he raced to the right, but then cutback to his left and nearly outran the Arizona defense for a 30-yard gain that would lead to Cook’s touchdown. Williams finished with 96 total yards (80 rushing, 16 receiving) and two touchdowns.

JPR’s acrobatics

Every week there’s a different TCU receiver that takes over a game and this time it was JP Richardson. The slot receiver was electric against Arizona, making a handful of acrobatic catches throughout the game. In the third quarter, Richardson helped break the game open with a pair of 20-plus yard receptions.

His first of the quarter came on a trick play during a flea flicker as Josh Hoover lobbed a pass to the endzone that was nearly intercepted. Instead Richardson made a twisting, diving catch at the one-yard line. His catch would lead to a touchdown that made it 28-13. It was first of the season.

“It’s been a little bit of a challenge for me to get into the endzone,” Richardson said with a smile. “I don’t really care about that stuff. Touchdowns can happen at any given moment, but it definitely felt good to get into the endzone and celebrate.”

Later in the quarter, Richardson nearly returned a punt for a touchdown as his 33-yard return set TCU up at the Arizona 34-yard line. After a sack, Hoover connected with Richardson over the middle on a slant and Richardson made his defender miss with a nice move before strolling into the end zone. Richardson finished with 107 yards on six receptions and added 42 punt return yards.

Matching McMillan

TCU got off to a strong start trying to slow down Tetairoa McMillan, arguably the nation’s top receiver. On Arizona’s first play of the game, Bud Clark intercepted a pass intended for McMillan that would eventually lead to a TCU touchdown. Three of the first four passes to McMillan resulted in incompletions, but the future top-10 draft pick began to settle in during the second quarter.

McMillan had 61 yards in the second quarter including a 32-yard reception against double coverage on the sideline that led to an Arizona field goal. McMillan added another 27-yard reception in the third quarter and finished with 115 yards on 13 targets. McMillan got his yards, but considering how dominant he’s been this season, 115 yards is a number TCU was comfortable living with.

“McMillan is every bit as good as advertised,” Dykes said. “He’s just a really good football player and makes all the plays.”

Back-and-forth half

The Horned Frogs got to an ideal start jumping out to a 14-0 lead. After Clark’s interception on Arizona’s first drive, the Horned Frogs had no issues turning the mistake into points. Two impressive runs by Trent Battle got TCU on the scoreboard first and then the defense would get another stop on Arizona’s second possession.

TCU’s second touchdown was set up by Eric McAlister, who took a slant 40 yards to the Arizona 10-yard line. Savion Williams would score a few plays later on a direct snap in the backfield. TCU controlled most of the first quarter, but things began to change once Arizona got the ball back.

Arizona cut it to 14-13 with scores on their next three possessions as the Horned Frogs were on their heels. However, right before halftime TCU got some much needed momentum in the face of adversity. Facing a 3rd-and-25 at the Arizona 44 after an intentional grounding, Hoover took a hard hit, but was still able to float a pass out to JP Richardson for 24 yards. It would end being a huge play as it would result in a touchdown and give TCU a 21-13 lead at halftime.

“I thought the biggest play of the game was Josh Hoover scramble on that third down (during the drive),” Dykes said. “He stayed in bounds, tucked his shoulder and got a first down and kept that drive alive. We went down and scored with Savion’s run at the end of the half.”