TCU Football: 3 takeaways from road win against Kansas State

1. TCU breaks the Big 12 mold of big offenses by winning with defense

Gary Patterson’s teams have always been solidly built around creating mismatches on defense. The Horned Frogs have struggled to contain teams through the air, giving up over 250 passing yards per game to rank outside the top 100 in the FBS.

But that is as much a result of facing pass-happy teams like Oklahoma State and West Virginia as it is any deficiencies in a secondary that ranks in the top 25 nationally with seven interceptions. Against Kansas State, that group showed why they are just fine in the race for a Big 12 championship.

The Wildcats were bound to struggle throwing the ball, since Alex Delton made his first career start after Jesse Ertz was ruled out with a knee injury. Delton finished with 146 yards on 11-of-29 passing. Whereas Ertz has been the best in the nation in terms of yards per completion, Delton struggled to even find his receivers.

Part of that was sheer inexperience, no doubt. But it certainly didn’t help that Delton’s first career start came against the swarming Horned Frogs defense. Whether he was at home or away, that was always bound to be a tough test against a championship-caliber group.