After a lackluster performance to start the season, Texas Christian University (2-0) went on the road and took down Purdue (1-2) and halted their highly-touted offense, 34 to 13 in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Entering the game, the question was whether or not the TCU defense could stop the passing attack of the Purdue Boilmakers, an offense ranked second in the nation with a deadly receiving threat in Rondale Moore. The Horned Frogs answered the question by putting on a defensive shutdown of the Boilmakers offense.  To be fair, Purdue didn’t play their starting quarterback due to a concussion, but it was still an impressive performance.

The defense held Purdue to just 181 yards passing, way below the average of 466 passing yards through two games. TCU also was dominant in stopping the run, only allowing 23 yards on just 25 carries.  They also forced two turnovers in the process.

On the offense side, the Horned Frogs had decent quarterback play from sophomore Max Duggan, who threw for 70 yards and a touchdown.  The real star was senior running back Darius Anderson, who ran for a career high 179 yards on just 16 carries.  He also had two touchdowns as well, averaging 11.2 yards-per-carry.  Fellow running back Sewo Olonilua also rushed for 106 yards on just 16 carries with a score as well.

It was a dominating performance for a team that’s looking to make some noise in a very contested conference. If TCU can stick with one quarterback and gets the passing game on par with both the defense and rushing attack, this team could challenge for the role of spoiler this season.

Up next for the Horned Frogs is a home match up with metroplex rival SMU, Saturday.