TCU notes: Doctson’s one-handed touchdown catch highlights win

The chatter on social media during and after TCU’s 30-7 win over Minnesota had little to do with the Horned Frogs’ win over the Big Ten foe.

It had everything to do with senior wide receiver Josh Doctson’s one-handed touchdown catch in the second quarter.

From 7 yards out, TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin tossed a jump ball to Doctson in man coverage, leading the 6-foot-4 receiver to go up and get it.

Doctson, a junior from Mansfield Legacy, snagged the ball and pulled it to his side with one hand before stomping a toe down in bounds for the score.

“We had one-on-one battles all over the field and somebody has to win,” Boykin said. “He went up and made a great play. He has great ball skills. It’s something we see during the week all the time. Seeing stuff like that is like nothing new for us. It’s just crazy it happened in a game.”

A humbled Doctson said it was just a play that needed to be made and anyone on the team could have done it. But the reaction on the sideline spoke differently.

“Everyone was like pumping me up and making my head big when it could have been anybody. It was good, though,” Doctson said with a laugh.

It was one of two touchdown catches for Doctson, the first a 13-yard fade from Boykin into the back of the end zone. He finished as TCU’s leading receiver with 64 yards on six catches.

All that was left for Doctson and his teammates was to tune in to ESPN, because late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, Doctson’s catch was the No. 1 play on SportsCenter’s Top 10.

“It was just crazy,” Boykin said. “We knew it was going to eventually probably be ESPN Top 10, we just don’t know what number. That’s the only thing we’re really waiting on for tonight is what number it’s going to be.”

Penalty frustration

TCU’s offense moved much faster between plays Saturday than in its season opener against Samford.

However, it wasn’t always clean. TCU was penalized eight times for 72 yards.

It came to a head in the third quarter when penalties turned a first-and-10 on the Minnesota 11 into a second-and-22 on the Minnesota 23.

Boykin had enough and spiked the ball after the flags, pushing TCU back to the Minnesota 38.

“We were basically shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties and stuff basically we can control,” Boykin said. “It was nothing Minnesota did, even though they are good quality team, we just shot ourself in the foot with most of the things we did.”

Boykin said that spiking the ball in the middle of the field is not the way to voice his opinion.

“Stuff like that shouldn’t be shown,” he said. “I would like to really apologize about it because me, at the position that I’m in, I shouldn’t be doing things like that.”

Fashion statement

If you didn’t notice Boykin from his play, his tall white socks and white cleats might have done the trick.

Every other player on the field wore black socks and cleats.

Asked about the fashion choice, he was quick to fire a question back to the media.

“Did you like them?”

More concerning than the media’s opinion was coach Gary Patterson’s after the game.

“I think he needs to wear the same color shoes everybody does. Get on the program,” Patterson said somewhat jokingly.

Boykin said it was a tip of the cap to the fans who wore white shirts as a part of a white-out.

“Basically we were supposed to have a white-out game and [Patterson] switched the uniforms on us last minute, and I felt like we needed just a tad bit more white, so I just left the white cleats on,” he said.

However, Patterson’s message to Boykin on the fashion statement was clear before the game began.

“If you are going to wear them, you better play good, because if you don’t, you’re not going to wear them again,” Boykin said Patterson told him before the game.

Listenbee connection

Boykin made a point to force a few deep passes in the direction of wide receiver Kolby Listenbee throughout the game, but to no avail.

“That’s going to be an every-week thing,” Boykin said. “He’s probably one of the fastest guys you’ll see playing on Saturday. We’re going to take a couple shots with him every time. Either you win or you lose on it.”

This story was originally published September 13, 2014 at 8:28 PM.