At the half: TCU 24, Iowa State 21

1. TCU’s defense made things very difficult on itself. Corry O’Meally made two mistakes in coverage, but he committed a bigger sin on a third-and-24 play when he was called for holding. Result: automatic first down on a play that was not going to gain enough for the first down. Later that same drive, safety Denzel Johnson put his helmet to Iowa State’s Allan Lazard, who had just dropped a pass on third down. Result: automatic first down and Johnson’s ejection for targeting.

2. It can’t feel good for TCU to see No. 9 and No. 25 lying on their back on the field. But it happened within a span of three plays in the first quarter. First, Josh Doctson took a hard hit on a catch and stayed down for a while. He finally got up and ran off the field. But two plays later, KaVontae Turpin was hurt. Turpin went to the locker room immediately. Doctson went to the locker room, returned at the start of the second quarter and got back in the game for a play.

3. Which was good news for TCU, because the formula remains the same: Have Trevone Boykin throw the ball to Josh Doctson. It’s worked all year, and it worked again on the first possession of the game for the Horned Frogs. The first possession of the game already had a must-score feel to it, and the Boykin-to-Doctson connection helped the Horned Frogs keep up their end in a game that apparently is going to require lots of offense.

4. Another good formula: Have Trevone Boykin throw the ball to Kolby Listenbee. It resulted in a touchdown on the second drive. Boykin aired out the ball and let Listenbee do what he does best – run under it. He did it effectively, which shows that he is at full health or close to it. He only practiced one day last week, but he had a full week ahead of this game. It showed early.

5. TCU coach Gary Patterson was right: Iowa State would try things. The Cyclones used a fake punt to keep their first possession alive and go up 7-0. They tried an onside kick, but that didn’t work in their favor because of offsides. The Cyclones rolled up 310 yards by late in the second quarter. They probably haven’t looked in their bag for the last time.

This story was originally published October 17, 2015 at 7:49 PM with the headline "At the half: TCU 24, Iowa State 21."