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Why TCU's playoff run will be must-watch TV -- just like Saturday
Down by four points and down to a fourth-and-goal to avoid suffering the season’s biggest upset to date, TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin threw his 54th pass of the day into the end zone … and a bit too high. The ball deflected off Horned Frogs receiver Josh Doctson’s hand -- about the only thing he did not catch Saturday -- but it never reached the ground. Aaron Green swooped in to save the play and save the day -- though not before one last wacky scare from Texas Tech.
This has to be #The1! Game-winning TD for #TCU. https://t.co/kYMaIxUILW
— FOX Sports Live (@FOXSportsLive) September 27, 2015
Yep, it’s going to be that kind of season again in the Big 12.
A year ago, TCU’s 61-58 loss to Baylor -- the Horned Frogs’ only blemish on the season -- ultimately proved to be its playoff undoing. For the most part, however, TCU was a strong defensive team that blew people off the field. In fact, Boykin and crew hung 82 on the Red Raiders in their 2014 meeting.
But TCU in 2015 is likely going to have to win a lot of games like this one to fulfill its lofty preseason expectations. Gary Patterson’s already inexperienced defense is a full-on MASH unit, with five starters out for the season with injuries and other contributors either suspended or, in one case, on a leave of absence. And it showed Saturday. Kliff Kingsbury’s offense is full of playmakers, and Horned Frogs defenders repeatedly could not tackle them. It’s actually a wonder they managed to stop Tech’s crazy last-ditch series of laterals.
And yet I wouldn’t go counting out TCU just yet. Because it’s still got its own record-shattering Air Raid offense, led by Heisman contender Boykin, who put on his most remarkable performance yet Saturday.
Consider: TCU’s No. 2 receiver, Kolby Listenbee, missed the game with an injury sustained last week, and two other pass-catchers, Ty Slanina and Emanuel Porter, went down midgame. (Patterson said afterward Slanina will likely miss the rest of the season, Porter extended time.) Yet the Horned Frogs still managed to rack up 750 total yards.
Credit Boykin, who did a little bit of everything in completing 34 of 54 passes for 509 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions; rushing 14 times for 42 yards; and catching a two-point conversion on a trick play. Time and again he found Doctson, who amassed a staggering 18 catches for 267 yards and three TDs. Green, with 28 carries for 138 yards and two TDs and one all-important touchdown catch, came up huge, too.
Texas Tech is just one of several Big 12 teams that look considerably improved. West Virginia, 3-0, torched Maryland 45-6 on Saturday. Oklahoma State pulled out a thriller at Texas, which itself is now potent offensively but can’t get out of its way on special teams. Baylor, which hung 70 on Rice, is still Baylor. Oklahoma can score points, too.
TCU is not going to get through that gauntlet unscathed. That’s a given. But despite what happened in 2014, a one-loss Big 12 champ still has a better chance of making the playoff than missing it, and Boykin is fully capable of delivering 11 wins.
Even if it takes a few more miraculous endings.
