FORT WORTH, Texas – On the field where TCU has had so much success over a dozen seasons with Gary Patterson as coach, it was Oklahoma at the end of the day taking pictures to mark another Big 12 title.
The Horned Frogs will have to wait until next season for a chance to finally win a Big 12 home game.
Landry Jones threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns and the 12th-ranked Sooners clinched their eighth Big 12 title, and likely another BCS berth, with a 24-17 victory Saturday. The win was finally secure when TCU's fourth-down pass at the goal line in the final minute dropped incomplete.
"We had a chance to win the game, simple as that," Patterson said. "They have a good football team, they were playing for a BCS spot. We had them at home, and we didn't do a lot. We got some big plays, but we allowed them short fields."
TCU (7-5, 4-5 Big 12), the two-time BCS buster in its first Big 12 season, lost all four of its conference games at home despite winning four on the road.
In their last chance, the Frogs twice had one-play scoring drives and were still within a touchdown late after Mike Hunnicut missed a 42-yard field goal attempt for the Sooners (10-2, 8-1).
The Frogs then got to the Oklahoma 12. On third-and-10 from there, freshman quarterback Trevone Boykin got in the end zone on a keeper. But the play was called back because of a holding call — an obvious penalty that cleared the way for the score.
After throwing Josh Boyce for 7 yards, the Frogs had fourth-and-13 from the 15 when Boykin threw toward Boyce again. But he couldn't make the play between two defenders.
"We cannot blame this one anyone. We just have to move on," running back Matthew Tucker said. "OU's defense was good and made plays. We just needed to get more physical with them and we didn't."
The Horned Frogs' four-game home losing streak is their longest since five in a row from November 1996 to November 1997. Before this year, they hadn't lost consecutive home games in the same season since 1998.
Oklahoma has won the Big 12 in every even-numbered year since Bob Stoops became coach in 1999. The Sooners, who also won a conference title in 2007, have been to eight BCS games in that span.
Jones and the Sooners treated their regular-season finale like a championship game — and finished wearing caps and T-shirts declaring the 12th-ranked Sooners the Big 12 champions. Not long after the game ended, they went back on the field for pictures.
The Sooners won their eighth consecutive Big 12 game since a loss to Kansas State in late September. Their only other loss was to No. 1 Notre Dame.
Just a minute into the second half, Damien Williams took a handoff, shot through a gap on the left side of the line and sprinted untouched 66 yards to the end zone to put Oklahoma up 21-7.
"We gave up an easy touchdown when a couple of freshmen blew an assignment," Patterson said.
Jones, coming in off the first consecutive 500-yard passing games by a Sooners quarterback, completed 22 of 40 passes. Williams had his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season, with 18 carries for 115 yards.
After a 75-yard Oklahoma punt, the Frogs had their second one-play scoring drive of the game. Brandon Carter caught a pass behind the Sooners secondary and raced 80 yards for a touchdown.
Boykin fumbled later in the third quarter when he was sacked by R.J. Washington, a play that was initially ruled an incomplete pass until overturned on replay. That led to Hunnicut's 34-yard field goal.
Jaden Oberkrom kicked a 47-yard field goal for TCU with 7 minutes left, which came after the Frogs had lined up to go for it on fourth-and-4 from the 25 before a false start penalty.
Oberkrom was just wide right on a 32-yard attempt earlier in the fourth quarter, though the freshman kicker held his hands out in disbelief and replays showed the ball might have been inside the upright.
Oklahoma had a 14-7 lead at halftime after overcoming an interception by Jones that immediately led to a TCU touchdown, then a personal foul penalty that set up a third-and-23 play.
Sam Carter's interception and 42-yard return set TCU up at the 6. Boykin ran for a score on the next play for a 7-7 tie.
When Oklahoma got the ball back, Jones quickly completed five consecutive passes to the TCU 22. On the same play Kenny Stills dropped a pass near the goal-line, 303-pound lineman Tyrus Thompson was called for a personal foul after twice punching the helmet of Stansly Maponga while on top of the defensive end.
That made it third-and-23 from the 24, but Jalen Saunders caught a TD pass with Carter defending him.
"I didn't do my job. I felt I should have made a play right there," Carter said. "You never know what could have happened."
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