2019 TCU Player Spotlight: Jalen Reagor

By Pat Carrigan

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There was a point, late in the 2018 season, when TCU’s offense looked like a goner. The Horned Frogs fell down to their fourth-string quarterback against Baylor in desperate need of a win to keep the hope for bowl eligibility alive.

The Horned Frogs faced 4th-and-1 in the third quarter of a 9-9 deadlock against the Bears. In that moment, offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie knew he had to call his best player’s number. The ball was snapped to running back Emari Demarcado, who flipped the ball up to wide receiver Jalen Reagor. Suddenly, in the midst of a defensive bloodbath, Reagor was completely free.

“Once he hit the edge, I knew no one was catching him,” running back Sewo Olonilua said.

Just seconds later, he scampered through the end zone — untouched — for what would become a game-winning 34-yard rushing touchdown.

“My first thought was, get a first down,” Reagor said. “But when I turned the corner and just saw the corner, I was like, that’s a touchdown. That’s something you dream about when you’re sleeping at night, seeing the open field like that. That’s something you dream about.”

If that’s what Reagor dreams about, he’s been living his dreams a whole lot lately. Despite cycling through the injured quarterbacks, Reagor set a program record with a receiving touchdown in seven consecutive games and posted the No. 2 receiving season in TCU history.

But down the stretch, being a traditional receiver wasn’t good enough. To counter teams bracketing and selling out to take him away, TCU lined him on the edge, in the slot, in the backfield — really anywhere they could.

Reagor just leaned on his experience back in high school, where he played quarterback, running back and every receiver spot on the field.

“When they’re taking things away, how do you get the ball in the hands of your best players?” Gary Patterson said. “I think we probably should have been doing that since the start of the season.”

The results were impressive. In the final four games of the regular season, Reagor dominated with 26 receptions, 330 all-purpose yards and six touchdowns. Even he was a little surprised at how easy the game was, no matter where he lined up.

“It low-key shocked me,” Reagor said. “You have to do everything a little faster, but it was like, dang, I’m doing the same thing [as high school].”

Despite the success, Reagor isn’t satisfied. His promise heading into year three was to keep improving and be twice as good next year. If his last half of 2018 is any indication, expect him to do exactly that.

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