At the half: TCU 23, West Virgina 10
1. Pass interference has hurt the Frogs this year. Thursday night, it helped. A lot. Three times on third-and-long, the Frogs got their first down thanks to a pass interference. Josh Doctson drew two. Kolby Listenbee drew one. Without them, the Frogs might have bogged down early. Instead, they led 17-0 after the first quarter.
2. Trevone Boykin and Josh Doctson got a potential showcase night off to a good start. Doctson opened the scoring with a 17-yard touchdown, his 13th of the season, adding to his single-season school record. He blew by the defender on the sideline and caught the pass from Boykin with ease. Boykin put on his own highlight a drive later, keeping on an option play and flipping into the end zone at the goal line.
3. The injuries continue to happen for TCU. Linebacker Montrel Wilson went out in the first quarter with what looked like a shoulder injury. In the second quarter, left tackle Hala Vaitai went down and left the field with the help of the trainers, looking like his right knee was hurt. Ty Summers replaced Wilson. On the line, right tackle Joseph Noteboom went to the left side, and Matt Pryor came in at right tackle.
4. KaVontae Turpin played, as coach Gary Patterson promised. And the freshman receiver made an early impact. He had four catches by early in the second quarter, and he was on his normal return duty. Already the second-leading receiver on the team, he gave the Horned Frogs a scare when he got hurt against Iowa State.
5. West Virginia dared TCU to make big plays. Sometimes, the Horned Frogs did. But other times, Boykin was pressured and hit. He was sacked to end a second-quarter drive. Another second-quarter drive reached West Virginia territory, but a corner blitz on third down forced Boykin to release the ball early. The way to get to any offense is to pressure the quarterback, and Boykin has seen pressure come from unexpected places.
This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 8:19 PM with the headline "At the half: TCU 23, West Virgina 10."