Best TCU Moments: Schlossnagle Region Round 1

So many of you voted on the Patterson Regional yesterday and this morning! Now the Schlossnagle Region is open for voting. Let’s jump right in!

#1 Feltman Thumbs Down vs. A&M vs. #16 Kurt Thomas 1st Triple Double

Feltman Thumbs Down vs. Texas A&M (2016)

For the second consecutive season TCU and Texas A&M met in the Super Regionals of the college baseball playoffs. For the second consecutive season the teams took it to a game three.

In game three, TCU watched A&M take a 1-0 lead, before the Frogs came back with four unanswered runs. They got help from the Aggies with a bases-loaded walk to score a run and another run scored on a passed ball, but once they had the lead TCU put a death grip on it.

Durbin Feltman, a freshman, had established himself as one of the most reliable bullpen arms rather quickly that season, and he entered game three in the eighth inning. He worked quickly through the first five outs, not allowing a hit, and struck out the final batter to send TCU to the College World Series.

It would probably be a moment on this list no matter what, but the savagery of his actions post strikeout make this a powerhouse 1-seed in this tournament.

As the Aggie batter stood in the box, and as his teammates poured out of the dugout and ran towards him, Feltman calmly backed off the mound and hit the Aggie fans with a thumbs down before launching his glove into the air and joining the celebration.

Watch a recap of the game here (with a great final shot of the thumbs down).

Kurt Thomas Records First Triple-Double in TCU History

There aren’t just a ton of TCU basketball memories out there (several are in this tournament, though), but this one definitely deserves a mention. For a long time the triple double has been a marker of a significant single-game performance. Most of the time a player reaches this marker with points, rebounds, and assists.

Kurt Thomas didn’t do it that way. Thomas dropped 23 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 blocked shots on Texas A&M in a 1995 regular season matchup. Eleven. Blocked. Shots.

TCU lost the game 85-80, but Thomas’ triple double stood as the only one in TCU program history until Kenrich Williams joined him with one in 2017.

#8 Davey O’Brien TD Pass to win Championship vs. #9 TCU VB Sweeps Texas

Davey O’ Brien’s 44-yard touchdown pass seals championship

There’s no video, but this moment was awesome. With the Frogs trailing Carnegie Mellon early in the second half of the Sugar Bowl, O’Brien hit Durwood Horner for a 44-yard touchdown to give the Frogs the 12-7 lead.

Later in the game O’Brien kicked a field goal to make the score 15-7, which would ultimately be the final.

Meanwhile Duke fell in the Rose Bowl to USC, and TCU was named National Champion.

TCU volleyball sweeps Texas (2015)

Beating Texas is always great, but doing it when they are ranked No. 2 in the nation to hand them their first conference loss makes it even sweeter.

That’s exactly what TCU volleyball did in October of 2015. Led by Sarita Mikals’ double-double (11 kills, 12 digs) the Frogs upset the Longhorns in shocking fashion, sweeping Texas 3-0.

#5 Andy Dalton Rose Bowl TD Run vs. #12 Josh Doctson Game-Winning TD vs. KSU

Andy Dalton beats JJ Watt to the edge for TD

TCU trailed Wisconsin 10-7 with just seconds left in the first quarter, but the Frogs were driving. Dalton used a QB draw the play before this one to get the Frogs inside the 5 yard line, and this zone read absolutely stopped JJ Watt in his tracks.

That moment of hesitation was all Dalton needed. He took off to the edge, and got to the corner of the end zone ahead of Watt for the touchdown.

I was in this corner of the stadium, and I’m fairly certain I lost consciousness for a brief moment after this score.

Josh Doctson scores game-winning TD vs. Kansas State (2015)

This game was absolutely wild. Aaron Green had a 93-yard touchdown run to open the game. Trevone Boykin ran for a 69-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

But this back and forth affair, one in which Kansas State did everything they could to upset the Frogs, Josh Doctson showed out when he was most needed. This whole play is perfect. The dime from Boykin, the catch and run and look back by Doctson, and the call by by Gus Johnson.

#4 Great White Hit vs. #13 Taldon Manton FG to defeat LSU

Great White Hit

This was the single loudest hit I have heard in person, at any level of football. I was sitting in the upper deck with my family, surrounded by Tech fans, when this hit happened.

Marvin White was a beast on the field, and this clean hit was the exclamation point on a defensive masterpiece from TCU.

#6 Bacak Suicide Squeeze vs. Pepperdine vs. #11 Okonkwo game winner vs. WVU

TCU never bunts. Ever. Schlossnagle has spoken at length about the reasons why they don’t bunt. But at a moment where a College World Series berth was on the line, ninth inning, tied at 5, with one out, Kyle Bacak stepped up in a massive way.

For a suicide squeeze to work everything has to go just right. The runner has to break at the perfect moment and trust the guy at the plate. The batter has to get the bunt down no matter what. In this moment, it worked, and TCU took a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Amy Okonkwo’s last-second OT three vs. West Virginia

TCU women’s basketball has had some fantastic moments in recent history, but this one sits near the top. The Frogs were coming off of an upset of Texas just days prior, and they traveled to #15 West Virginia hoping to string two quality wins together.

It was an insanely back and forth game that eventually went to overtime. With the Frogs trailing 74-73, the ball was inbounded to Okonkwo from the baseline, and she wasted no time in drilling a three-pointer with 3.4 seconds left in the game.

West Virginia’s desperation shot clanged off the rim, and TCU walked away the victors.

Check out video of Amy’s game-winner right here.

#3 Bane, TCU upset KU in Big 12 Tourney vs. #14 Scherer posts perfect 600

Bane hits three free throws to upset Kansas

The legacy of Desmond Bane has been finalized at this point, but in 2017 it was just getting started. As a freshman, Bane broke into the starting lineup midway through the season, with his physicality and long-range shooting bolstering the Frogs on both ends of the court.

By the time the Frogs reached the Big 12 Tournament they were an NCAA Tournament bubble team, but on the outside looking in. They needed to make a big run to make it in, and in their second game in Kansas City they made a big statement.

Bane put the Frogs ahead with three incredibly clutch free throws (as a freshman!!) and the Frogs upset the Jayhawks.

Sarah Scherer posts perfect 600

Admittedly, I don’t know very much about college rifle. But what I do know is that anytime someone achieves a perfect score, that’s something to be recognized. Sarah Scherer did that in 2011, shooting a perfect 600. It was just the fourth time in history that someone had shot a perfect 600 in competition, and it was the first time a Horned Frog had achieved the feat.

#7 Darius Anderson TD vs. Ohio State vs. #10 Daryl Washington runs down C.J. Spiller

Jet takes off against Ohio State

Darius Anderson had a slew of eye-opening runs during his time at TCU, and this one in Jerry World against Ohio State sits near or at the top of the list. He hit the hole hard, dashed 93-yards, and gave the Frogs a 14-10 lead over the Buckeyes.

Daryl Washington tracks down C.J. Spiller

In college Daryl Washington checked in at 6-foot-3, 234 pounds. Meanwhile, C.J. Spiller stood at 5-11, 200 pounds and ran a sub 4.4 40. Most of the time, when Spiller got the ball in his hands behind a defense, it was an automatic touchdown, but in 2009 that wasn’t the case.

Spiller did get behind the Frogs’ defense, but Washington tracked down the Heisman candidate, dragging him down at the four yard line.

It was a shocking moment to see Spiller actually get tracked down by any other human being, let alone a massive linebacker.

#2 Catch-22 vs. #15 Kenrich Williams poster dunk vs. WVU

Catch-22

We probably all remember where we were for this one. TCU and Texas Tech had absolutely dazzled us with an offensive back-and-forth competition that had both fanbases reeling. The two teams combined for 1,357 yards and 14 touchdowns.

And in the end, it looked like Tech was going to win. The Frogs had one last shot, and Boykin’s pass to Doctson was tipped. Tech fans rejoiced.

But then, Aaron Green swooped in and saved the day.

Kenrich Williams puts West Virginia on a poster

We like big dunks as a society. It’s fun to watch athletes leap through the air and slam a basketball home.

Kenrich Williams obliged us with this beauty of a dunk over West Virginia.