TCU football’s Quentin Johnston wants nights like he had at Oklahoma to become the norm

Drew Davison
·4 min read

Quentin Johnston would’ve been the favorite most weeks to earn Big 12 offensive player of the week honors. He had 185 yards receiving and three touchdowns at No. 4 Oklahoma on Saturday night.

Johnston’s career game happened to come in a 52-31 loss, though, and the opposing quarterback stole the show. It came as no surprise Monday when the league awarded the offensive honors to OU quarterback Caleb Williams, who accounted for five touchdowns against TCU.

But Johnston would like what he did on Saturday to become more of the norm. That’s the type of receiver he views himself as on a daily basis.

“I just feel like I should’ve, as I did, go out there and do the best I can to help out not only myself, but my team,” he said.

Johnston, a sophomore who joined the program as a four-star prospect out of Temple High School, did just that. His big plays helped TCU stay within striking distance as OU appeared on the verge of a complete blowout in the second half.

After OU extended its lead to 31-14 in the third quarter, Johnston hauled in a 75-yard TD pass to make it 31-21. Then, once the Sooners jumped in front 45-24 in the fourth quarter, Johnston had another highlight-reel play by grabbing a 25-yard TD pass in the end zone.

Johnston pulled the ball away from OU’s Joshua Eaton on the fourth-quarter TD, something that drew praise from Pro Football Focus as a “Mossed” play. Being “Mossed” is in reference to Hall of Fame receiver Randy Moss, who routinely made highlight plays over defensive backs.

Fittingly, Johnston’s catch was chosen as the best “You Got Mossed” catch of the week on ESPN’s Monday Night Football pregame show.

Asked about winning those 50/50 balls, the 6-foot-4, 201-pound Johnston said it’s something he worked on this offseason.

“Especially coming off last year, because that wasn’t particularly the best part of my game,” he said. “As a big receiver, that should be almost a no-brainer — you throw it up, I should be able to go get it.”

Nobody was more fired up when Johnston came down with those catches than TCU receivers coach Malcolm Kelly. The OU game carried added significance for Kelly, who had a standout career at the school.

As Johnston put it, “He wants to come back and show that he can coach some receivers that can do to his school what he did when he was here. We didn’t get the win, but obviously we were excited about the catches. We were fired up about that, just something we talked about all week.”

Johnston, who missed the Texas Tech game with a knee injury, is now leading TCU in receiving with 355 yards and five TDs on 19 receptions. He entered the OU game with 170 yards receiving combined in four games.

The 185-yard night ranked as the ninth-most yards in a game by a receiver in program history. Josh Doctson owns the program record with 267 yards on 18 catches at Texas Tech in 2015.

“He was great,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said. “He made a couple of fantastic catches. He took one away from them, which was unbelievable, and he caught one coming through the guy.”

TCU (3-3, 1-2 Big 12) hosts West Virginia (2-4, 0-3) on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

Briefly

▪ The Big 12 announced kickoff times for the games on Oct. 30. The TCU-Kansas State game in Manhattan is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU.

▪ Along with Williams, other weekly winners from the Big 12 included Oklahoma State’s Jason Taylor II (defensive), Iowa State’s Andrew Mevis (special teams) and Oklahoma State’s Jaylen Warren (newcomer).

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