By Will Martin
Last Saturday was a whiteout affair at Amon Carter Stadium for Family Weekend get with the TCU Horned Frogs and Golden Gophers of Minnesota.
It was also the first time these two teams had met since a meeting 40 years ago in Minneapolis.
A game TCU lost 9-7. Lots of history to speak of with one time coach Jim Wacker having been at both places (1983-1991 and 1992-1996).
You also had the dynamic of two coaches from Kansas who have a long and storied friendship.
With a crowd of 43,958 at Amon Carter Stadium TCU wasted no time getting on the board after a beautiful return of a punt 46 yards by Cameron Echols-Luper to place the Horned Frogs in great field position on the Gophers 18.
It only took three plays for Trevone Boykin to find Josh Doctson for a 13-yard touchdown to get TCU on the board first 7-0. A three play drive that took all of 35 seconds.
That lead would increase to 10-0 when Jaden Oberkrom would connect from 45 yards out .
While Minnesota stiffened somewhat defensively the rest of the first quarter TCU absolutely gave no mercy to Gophers Quarterback Mitch Leidner or to David Cobb on the ground.
After an interception by Derrick Kindred again put TCU in great field position, Trevone Boykin would then fire a seven yard pass toward the right corner of the end zone. Josh Doctson did the unthinkable when fully extending himself to make a spectacular one handed grab for another touchdown for a Horned Frog lead of 17-0.
The reaction from the student section was enough to drown out the opposition as Gophers fans who were well represented in the north end of Amon Carter Stadium.
Another turnover by way of a David Cobb fumble (recovered by Paul Dawson) led to another scoring drive. 39 yards away from paydirt Trevone Boykin connected with Josh Doctson for 17 yards. Two rushes by Aaron Green moved TCU all the way to the goal line where B.J. Catalon pushed the nose of the football across for a Horned Frogs score and a 24-0 lead.
Total yards after 30 minutes favored TCU by a 219-111 count as the route was on.
Jaden Oberkom would connect from 37 and 45 yards in the third period to make it a 30-0 lead before the Gophers got on the board with 10:56 left in the game when backup quarterback Chris Streveler found Maxx Williams for a 12-yard touchdown and 30-7 was your final score.
Defensively TCU created four turnovers which led to scoring opportunities. Paul Dawson was in beast mode with 15 tackles (six assisted) to lead all Horned Frogs players. Derrick Kindred had eight tackles while Marcus Mallet added another eight.
Trevone Boykin did it in the air and on the ground. 12 carries for 92 yards and another 258 yards on a 27 for 46 night passing. Josh Doctson led all receivers with six catches for 64 yards.
Minnesota’s Mitch Leidner was a paltry 12 for 26 for 151 yards and three interceptions. David Cobb was the leading rusher for Minnesota with 44 yards on 15 carries.
Stay tuned for video visits in the next 24-48 hours as TCU improves to 2-0 and enjoys another Bye week before taking on SMU in Dallas on September 27th.
Noteworthy
TCU is now 63-14 at Amon G. Carter Stadium with Patterson as head coach.
TCU wore purple helmets, purple jerseys and black pants.
TCU has opened the season with a 2-0 record for the eighth time in the last 12 campaigns.
Trevone Boykin had a team-high 92 yards rushing on 12 attempts, leaving him eight yards short of his second career 100-yard game on the ground. He completed 27-of-46 passes for 258 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
Paul Dawson had a team-best 15 tackles, including four for loss, for his sixth career game in double figures. All six of those efforts have come in the last nine contests. He also had a second-quarter forced fumble as well as the recovery to go with a pass breakup and quarterback hurry.
Sam Carter had his first interception of the season. His 10 picks over the last three seasons are the most in the Big 12.
