J.J. Watt Bashes TCU Head Coach For Not Running QB Sneak On Crucial Fourth Down In Overtime
TCU football is no longer undefeated after losing to Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship on Saturday and J.J. Watt is pointing blame at head coach Sonny Dykes. The 12-year NFL defensive end does not understand why the Horned Frogs did not run a quarterback sneak on a crucial fourth down in overtime.
It is a question that football fans, particularly those in Forth Worth, will ask for years to come.
No. 3-ranked TCU, which went 12-0 in the regular season, fell behind 28-17 early in the fourth quarter. Its Big 12 title hopes looked grim, but quarterback Max Duggan put the team on his back and led an incredibly gutsy performance to tie the game at 28 with 1:51 seconds left in regulation.
That score ultimately held, which sent the game to overtime.
The Horned Frogs got the ball first and three-straight runs set up 3rd-and-goal inside the Wildcats one-yard-line. They needed less than one yard to put the pressure on their opponents and had two opportunities to get it.
A handoff on third down was stuffed for no game. That left one last opportunity to gain half of a yard.
On 4th-and-goal, TCU lined up under center. Duggan handed the ball off once again, but Kansas State held strong and forced a turnover on downs.
Dykes' decision to give the ball to his running back on 4th down was baffling. Actually, the same also goes for third down.
Duggan should have been given two opportunities to sneak in for six. Instead, Dykes decided to hand the ball off not once, but twice.
Watt, who knows a thing or two about how to play defense, was baffled by the decision. He explained that a one-yard quarterback sneak is nearly impossible to stop.
Dykes should have run a quarterback sneak. He didn't.
TCU lost.
J.J. Watt doesn't understand. Nobody understands.