TCU Surprises No. 7 Oklahoma, 17-10

His ankle injured and his team defeated, Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson had few words to explain what had just happened.

“Right now, I’m kind of shocked,” he said.

He wasn’t the only one.

Texas Christian came up with its biggest upset in 44 years, stifling Peterson and beating No. 7 Oklahoma, 17-10, on Saturday in the Sooners’ first home loss since 2001 and first loss in September under Coach Bob Stoops.

The Horned Frogs (1-0) came out with a plan to stop Peterson and make Oklahoma quarterback Paul Thompson beat them in his first career start.

Peterson, the Heisman Trophy runner-up as a freshman last year, was held to 63 yards in 22 carries. TCU’s Tye Gunn threw for 226 yards and a touchdown and Robert Merrill scored the decisive touchdown on a two-yard run with 11:56 to play.

The Horned Frogs took advantage of a fumble by Sooner backup quarterback Rhett Bomar. Bomar, who lost a quarterback competition to Thompson but did well enough to earn playing time, fumbled while retreating and trying to spin away from Jamison Newby. David Hawthorne picked up the ball at the TCU 17, and Merrill took an option pitch from Gunn and scored untouched four plays later. It was one of four turnovers, including four fumbles, by the Sooners.

“When we got the turnovers, their heads dropped,” Hawthorne said. “It wasn’t the same OU team that you saw last year.”

The Sooners had a final chance with 2:05 left, but Thompson, charged with replacing 2003 Heisman winner Jason White, fumbled on fourth down with 1:03 left. The Horned Frogs recovered and ran out the clock.

The Horned Frogs last beat a team so highly ranked on Nov. 18, 1961, when they defeated No. 1 Texas, 6-0.

“I think that nine times out of 10, Oklahoma wins this game,” TCU Coach Gary Patterson said. “Today was our one. We got a chance to show off on national TV and show America that TCU is not gone.”

Peterson left the game late in the third quarter because of a right ankle injury. He returned early in the fourth quarter after having the ankle heavily taped but lost yardage on three of his five carries. He said he didn’t know exactly what was wrong with the ankle, and team doctors would have to re-examine it.

But Peterson was ineffective long before the injury. He had five yards in eight first-half carries and gained seven yards on a pair of receptions.

“We just didn’t have good execution,” said Thompson, who completed 11 of 26 passes for 109 yards. “TCU did a good job of putting a stop to us, and we couldn’t execute as well as we needed to.”