Big 12 Football: Impact of TCU QB Max Duggan likely missing 2020

The Big 12 football conference will now be without another one of their more recognizable names possibly for the 2020 season, now with TCU QB Max Duggan.

There’s now two big names out of the Big 12 Football conference that are looking like they will miss the entirety of the 2020 college football season in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic. For star Oklahoma Sooners running back Kennedy Brooks, he opted out of playing in the altered 2020 season due to the restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic. But TCU Horned Frogs rising redshirt sophomore quarterback Max Duggan is out indefinitely for another reason.

Duggan had a solid freshman campaign down the stretch, and looked to have a very bright future ahead under head coach Gary Patterson with the Horned Frogs. But some indicators are pointing to him missing much or all of the 2020 campaign.

Apparently what is ailing Duggan is a heart condition that he might’ve dealt with since birth. Patterson, Duggan, and Duggan’s father have briefly discussed what’s making his status uncertain for the looming 2020 season in the past few weeks and months.

The complete details of the health condition for Duggan are not really known. But he reportedly could be uncertain as far as his status goes for the 2020 season, and he hasn’t fully participated in any practice yet in fall camp.

If Duggan is out for the 2020 season, it brings yet another big name around the Big 12 that won’t play in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. He and Brooks would be by far the biggest names out of the Big 12 to miss the impending season.

But this wouldn’t necessarily come just because Duggan won’t play in the midst of the pandemic. The ramped up testing and medical precautions put in place by both the TCU athletic department and the football program more specifically is what helped to find this health condition of Duggan.

This might be more and more common as we get closer to kickoff of this season. Any players that might be at greater risk of contracting serious and/or life threatening symptoms of COVID-19 could have announcements of sitting out of the 2020 season. We’ve already seen a handful of other players around the Big 12 opt out of the 2020 season.

Losing Duggan will also have a big impact for the Horned Frogs on the field. He looked to be their set in stone starting quarterback for the 2020 campaign, as his play was trending up heading into the offseason. As a freshman, he registered more than 2,000 passing yards, 15 passing touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 5.7 adjusted yards per passing attempt, 53.4 completion percentage, and a 113.6 passer efficiency rating.

Duggan also added more than 550 rushing yards and six scores on the ground, while averaging well over four yards per carry, last season.

TCU is now likely to turn to rising redshirt sophomore and former Georgia Bulldogs transfer Matthew Downing as their next best option as the starting quarterback. Downing had to sit out of the 2019 season after putting his name into the NCAA Transfer Portal and landing in Fort Worth last offseason.

He’ll have a large weight to take upon his shoulders to replace the talented former four-star dual-threat quarterback recruit and Iowa native Duggan as the starter in the backfield.

But this is a season that will continue to have its various twists and turns as we get closer to kickoff and try to move through the regular season slate. The Texas football program itself is one that will surely face it’s fair share of hurdles entering the season, and largely already has throughout the offseason.

The Longhorns are supposed to open up the 2020 season on Sep. 12 at home against the UTEP Miners out of Conference-USA. Meanwhile, TCU is supposed to open up their 2020 season on the same day at home against the SMU Mustangs out of the American Athletic Conference. Texas and TCU are scheduled to meet up on Oct. 3 in Austin.