TCU survives another scare on the road, rallies against Kansas State
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) -- Trevone Boykin threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns, the second a 55-yard strike to Josh Doctson with 1:10 left in the game, and second-ranked TCU rallied from a big halftime deficit to beat Kansas State 52-45 on Saturday night.
Boykin also ran for 124 yards and two scores for the Horned Frogs (6-0, 3-0 Big 12), who trailed 35-17 at the break. Aaron Green added 124 yards and two touchdowns rushing, while Doctson caught eight passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns.
None was bigger than his catch-and-run just 30 seconds after Jack Cantele had connected on a 37-yard field goal for Kansas State (3-2, 0-2) to knot the game 45-all.
The Wildcats had won 49 straight games when leading at halftime before last week's loss at Oklahoma State. Now, coach Bill Snyder's crew has lost two in a row.
Joe Hubener ran for 111 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Wildcats. But he also threw an interception that was returned 60 yards for a score early in the second half, then fumbled in the final minute, when Kansas State was trying to drive for another tying touchdown.
Charles Jones finished with 75 yards rushing and two scores for Kansas State.
The Horned Frogs got off to the explosive start they wanted when Green took the opening handoff 86 yards for a touchdown. It was the fourth-longest run in TCU history, and the longest since LaDainian Tomlinson's 89-yard run against UTEP in 2000.
Kansas State marched 64 yards for an answering touchdown, the first of Hubener's scoring runs, before TCU regained the lead on Boykin's 32-yard toss to Doctson in the end zone.
The Wildcats refused to be rattled, though.
Hubener calmly led them the other way, twice converting third downs, before scampering in from 17 yards out. And after the Horned Frogs got a field goal from Jaden Oberkrom, Kansas State struck for two more touchdowns: Jones sprinted 28 yards up the middle for the first, and after Elijah Lee picked off Boykin, Hubener sneaked in from a yard out for a 35-17 halftime lead.
It was the most points TCU had allowed in a half since 2004.
Needing a spark to silence the third-largest crowd in Kansas State history, the Horned Frogs got it immediately out of the half. Derrick Kindred stepped in front of Hubener's pass and ran untouched for a touchdown, quieting what had been a roaring mob of 53,671 purple-clad fans.
The Horned Frogs trimmed the lead to 35-31 on Green's touchdown run, and 42-37 on Boykin's 14-yard run. After forcing a punt, they finally pulled ahead when Boykin took a read-option over the right side and raced untouched 69 yards for a touchdown with 6:07 left in the game.
The Wildcats quickly marched the other way, and TCU's defense was again on the ropes. But the drive stalled, and Cantele's 37-yard field goal knotted the game 45-all with 1:52 left.
Plenty of time for Boykin and Doctson to do their thing.
