10 thoughts from Week 11 of the college football season

An incredible turnaround: TCU parted ways with long-time head coach Gary Patterson during the 2021 season. Dykes wasn’t a sexy choice. His only stint at a Power Five program ended in disaster at Cal. He was passed up in favor of Steve Sarkisian for the Texas job when Tom Herman was fired. His SMU teams faded late in the season. No one predicted a Big 12 championship run for the Horned Frogs, much less a flirtation with the College Football Playoffs. 

Yet, TCU is two games away from running the table in the regular season and three wins away from clinching a spot in one of the two national semifinals. Dykes is the first coach in Big 12 history to start his career with 10 wins. None of it was pretty on Saturday against the Longhorns. The offensive line struggled. Duggan was pressured throughout the night. Even the quick passing game went nowhere for much of the contest. But it was the Horned Frogs that came up with winning plays in crunch time.