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TCU opens its football season against SMU on Sept. 12 and could be without their starting quarterback Max Duggan. The sophomore out of Iowa started the final 10 games of the 2019 season for the Horned Frogs.
Head coach Gary Patterson was on a Zoom call with reporters, confirming the starting quarterback will miss some games this season. Patterson did not specify if it was due to COVID-19 reasons or not.
“Max has a condition that he’s had his whole life and we caught it,” Patterson said. Right now he’s in a good place and hopefully he’ll be getting back sometime during the season. Right now we’ll be going forward with the rest of the quarterbacks. It’s a thing he was born with and I’m just glad we found it; I can say that.”
Texas is scheduled to host TCU on Oct. 3, the week before the Red River Shootout against Oklahoma. Duggan had a career day against the Longhorns last season, going 19 of 27, 273 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.
Redshirt sophomore Matthew Downing is now expected to take over, starting against the Mustangs to open the season. A transfer quarterback from Georgia, Downing has yet to take a snap for TCU. However, he did play in four games in Athens during the 2018 season.
“Downing has been the guy that’s taking all the one reps. He just keeps getting better and better,” [Patterson] said. “The biggest thing is he’s a competitor just like his brother that played here. He’s smart, understands the offense and he’s a competitor.”
The Longhorns will be looking to get revenge against the Horned Frogs after last season’s embarrassing loss in Fort Worth. Quarterback Sam Ehlinger played his worst game of the season, going 22 of 48 for 321 yards, two touchdowns, and four interceptions.
Garry Patterson has Texas’ number, going 6-3 against them in his career. The Longhorns have only beaten TCU twice since their introduction to the Big 12 in 2012.
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