After a first half that was anything but a picture of how major college football should be played by both squads, TCU got their collective act together at half time and rolled over SMU by a final score of 48-17. The Frogs held a slim 10-7 half time after the Ponies squandered a blocked punt chance which they recovered on the TCU 1 yard line late in the half, but after a fumbled snap turned into one of the seven sacks of Mustang QB Garrett Gilbert, SMU had to settle for a field goal before heading into the locker room.
TCU came out strong in the 2nd half as has been their M.O. this season. After an early field goal, the Frog’s offense quickly scored again on an over-the-shoulder catch in the corner of the end zone by true freshman Ty Slanina from QB Trevone Boykin to give TCU a 17-10 lead which they would never relinquish. Boykin picked up his game after completing just 7 of 16 passes in the less then stellar first half, when he connected on 8 of 10 in the 2nd half and ultimately finished the day with 228 yards passing and 2 TD’s.
The Frog’s defense held a Mustang offense which was averaging 461 yards a game to just 292, and had 4 interceptions of Gilbert to accompany the seven sacks. “We played with more emotion (in the 2nd half). The first half we were pretty flat. Things weren’t going right for us. We had drops. We were killing ourselves with personal fouls and offsides.” TCU QB Trevone Boykin on the slow start by the offense. “But we got it turned around”.
The 2nd half was all TCU, including a 31-point fourth quarter. No team in college football had scored that many points in the fourth quarter this season. The Frogs are hoping they can continue to ride the momentum into next weekend’s game in Norman against the Sooners, fresh off a big win in South Bend. The Mustangs, who scored first to take a 7-0 lead, lost for the first time in their last 17 games after scoring first.
