Boykin’s heroics lift No. 2 TCU to stunning rally past Kansas State

Trevone Boykin faced his biggest challenge of the season.

He delivered his biggest, ahem, “moments” yet.

The senior quarterback ran 69 yards for a touchdown, then found Josh Doctson with a 55-yard pass for a touchdown, both times to give TCU the lead in a stunning rally for a 52-45 victory against Kansas State.

“That’s what happens when our back’s against the wall,” Doctson said. “We’re just ready to execute. He’s going to make big plays. And I’m going to try to make big plays along with him, along with the rest of the offense. Make big-time plays in big-time games. That’s what he did.”

Boykin, who also stuck the ball inside the pylon to finish a silky-smooth 14-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, finished with 301 yards passing and 124 yards rushing to keep the No. 2 Horned Frogs undefeated. He produced four touchdown drives in the second half, which began with TCU trailing 35-17.

The plays and drives were the biggest statements yet for Boykin’s status as a Heisman Trophy candidate. He completed 20 of 30 passes and was not sacked. He was intercepted twice, once once when he was hit on the arm as he threw and once on a miscommunication.

His long touchdown run gave TCU its first lead since it was 17-14 in the second quarter.

“I just feel like it was a routine play,” Boykin said. “That’s just what we do on our side of the ball. Des (Desmon White) had a great block that sprung me. Only thing I could do was try to breathe, open up, and just run as fast as I could.”

Boykin finished with 124 yards rushing and two touchdowns and 301 yards passing and two touchdowns. Doctson had eight catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns.

“I keep telling you guys you should enjoy Josh Doctson, and you should enjoy Trevone Boykin because they love pressure, and they do great things,” TCU coach Gary Patterson said.

Boykin and TCU (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) overcame his two interceptions —the first he has thrown in Big 12 action this year — and a Kansas State offense that controlled the ball for 23 minutes of the first half to keep alive their hopes for a Big 12 championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff.

For the second time in two road games, it was a narrow escape.

“I’m not trying to be the No. 1 team in the nation, I’m just trying to be an undefeated team,” Patterson said. “I can’t control the voters. I’m tired of hearing about style points. ... We’re just trying to win.”

The Wildcats (3-2, 0-2) scored touchdowns on their last four possessions of the first half to take a 35-17 lead at halftime. They converted six of seven third-down opportunities before halftime, and quarterback Joe Hubener had three of his four touchdown runs.

“We pretty much knew what we had to do,” Boykin said. “Coach P laid it out on the table. Only thing left was for us to perform. That’s what we try to do to the best of our ability. K-State, they put up a fight like we knew they would.”

The Frogs’ comeback began with safety Derrick Kindred’s 60-yard touchdown return on the first possession of the second half by Kansas State. His play cut the lead to 35-24.

Boykin led an 88-yard drive to get TCU closer. Aaron Green’s 8-yard run cut the lead to 35-31 with 7:14 left in the third quarter.

The momentum ended with Boykin’s second interception when he and freshman receiver KaVontae Turpin were not on the same page on an inside route.

Hubener’s fourth touchdown run of the game gave K-State a 42-31 lead with 12:21 left.

The next two scores belonged to TCU, and they were all Boykin — his sweeping run to the end zone, when he stayed inbounds and touched the pylon with the ball, and his long run on an zone-read keeper.

They produced a 45-42 lead with 6:07 left, but K-State tied it with a 37-yard field goal with 1:47 to go. K-State, which had run for 237 yards, opted for the kick with a fourth-and-1 inside the 20.

“When we saw they kicked the field goal, and we saw how much time there was, we just smiled,” Doctson said. “We knew what was about to happen.”

The winning play to Doctson came on the second snap.

“I saw I was in man coverage, I had a good route called, and I just tried to sell the fade route,” Doctson said. “He flipped his hips, and I cut underneath him.”

He scored with 1:10 left, and with Kansas State out of timeouts. (He said he never considered going down short of the end zone).

Kansas State had one last chance. It lasted two plays. After an incompletion, freshman linebacker Montrel Wilson sacked Hubener, forced the ball out, and Davion Pierson recovered for the Horned Frogs, allowing the offense to run the clock out.

The scoring margin in the second half was TCU 35, Kansas State 10.

“I feel like as an offense, we understood what was going on,” Doctson said. “We understood that a holding penalty, a false start, things like that were killing the drives. So we kind of relaxed, calmed down and just executed in the second half.”

And delivered big moments.

This story was originally published October 10, 2015 at 11:06 PM with the headline "Boykin’s heroics lift No. 2 TCU to stunning rally past Kansas State."