TCU receiver John Diarse, a graduate transfer from LSU, has taken part in only four games for the Horned Frogs.
But he showed some grit and delivered some postgame insight worth embracing by his new teammates after Friday's 33-3 rout of SMU.
Diarse, who leads the team in receiving yards (290), reflected on the time he spent Friday night in the south end zone of Gerald J. Ford Stadium trying to clear his head after a blindside hit from SMU safety Darrion Millines. The hit drew a targeting penalty and resulted in Millines' ejection.
"He knocked the breath out of me," Diarse said. "That just happens. We always talk about how, if you get hit, it's about how you get back up and how you finish. So that was my whole mindset for the rest of the game: finish, finish, finish to make up for it."
Diarse finished in grand style. Limited to a single catch for four yards before the big hit, he came back to grab five passes for 135 yards and a touchdown. Diarse's resiliency while posting career highs for catches (6) and receiving yards (139) drew praise from coach Gary Patterson, who noted that many players who absorb comparable hits don't return to the game.
"But he did," Patterson said. "He's very mature."
In many ways, Diarse's mantra of "finish, finish, finish" offers a blueprint for what No. 21 TCU (3-1, 1-0 in Big 12) needs to do in Saturday's showdown against Oklahoma (1-2, 0-0), the defending Big 12 champ and preseason favorite, if the Frogs plan to finish atop the final league standings.
TCU, defeated in double overtime by No. 20 Arkansas (3-1) the last time it faced a name-brand opponent in Fort Worth, must avoid the mistakes that surfaced that night when facing OU in Amon G. Carter Stadium. This is TCU's first opportunity since that Sept. 10 loss to show it can rebound from a big letdown on the big stage and not let it ruin the team's Big 12 title dream.
TCU receiver John Diarse, on his ability to rebound from an illegal targeting hit in the first half to produce career-best numbers against SMU.
At this juncture, every team in the Big 12 looks vulnerable on any given week. That includes No. 13 Baylor (4-0, 1-0), the league's highest-ranked team in Sunday's Associated Press poll and the Big 12 co-leader with TCU in this week's conference standings.
It certainly includes Oklahoma. The Sooners have dropped two nonconference games, albeit to Top 10 opponents, and coach Bob Stoops admits he's seeking answers.
"We have to be sharper in our execution. Those are two excellent teams that we lost to," Stoops said of No. 2 Ohio State (3-0) and No. 6 Houston (4-0). "They don't leave much margin for error to beat them. For us to be as good as we can be, we've got to execute better. It's my job as a coach to get that done."
Likewise, it is Patterson's job to help the Frogs push past the slow starts and mistakes that have marked the team's September outings.
TCU begins preparations for OU ranked No. 84 among the nation's FBS teams in turnover margin, at minus-2, despite recording two interceptions against SMU. The Frogs rank 68th in total defense, allowing 384.8 yards per game, despite having faced no offense that ranks higher than 54th among the nation's 128 FBS schools (SMU, at 448 yards per game).
Oklahoma, by comparison, is No. 33 at 478.7 yards per game. And those numbers were compiled primarily against two elite defenses.
The bigger concern is the slow starts. TCU scored zero points in the first half of its 41-38 loss to Arkansas and no touchdowns in the first half against SMU. In the opener against South Dakota State, an FCS school, TCU was deadlocked 24-24 at intermission before pulling out a 59-41 victory.
In its only matchup this season against a team that compares to OU, the Frogs could not protect a 28-20 lead during the final two minutes against Arkansas because of crunch-time penalties, defensive lapses and a blocked field goal from chip-shot range that should have won the game in regulation.
That brings us back to Diarse's strong finish against SMU despite physical complications. Patterson hopes that mindset and follow-through rubs off on Diarse's teammates. Some of them, the coach acknowledged, will be new to the limelight because of mounting injuries to key players. The list includes receiver/kicker returner KaVontae Turpin and center Austin Schlottmann.
"We're going to have to pull some guys off the shelf and they're athletic," Patterson said after the SMU game. "We're going to give them an opportunity to go play. They'll make us a better football team."
The anticipated improvement will be even more pronounced if they follow Diarse's mantra of "finish, finish, finish" that he showed against SMU.
