At the half: Oklahoma State 28, TCU 9
1. Cornerback remains a roll of the dice for TCU. As long as Gary Patterson continues to ask his corners to cover one-on-one down the field, they are at risk for what happened in the first quarter – two long throws on the sideline to James Washington. It was simply a matter of separation, and Washington got it both times. He beat Robert Mosley, who’s been hurt a lot of the year, the first time and Nick Orr the second time. They’re both two of TCU’s best athletes.
2. Apparently, OSU broke out a 3-4 defense for this game. It made yards hard to come by for the Frogs. Trevone Boykin started 8-for-15 with an interception. Aaron Green averaged 2.5 yards on his first six carries. By the end of the first quarter, the Frogs had a touchdown and a field goal, but only 164 yards and had punted twice.
3. The right things are happening for the home team. First, Boykin got intercepted. That has not happened a lot. Second, TCU gets an extra point blocked. That had not happened yet this year. On the first play of the second quarter, a muffed punt bounced around three TCU players, and none of them could recover it. About the only thing that didn’t go right for OSU was a replay review that overturned an Aaron Green fumble.
4. It looks like OSU is playing the best coverage of any team on Josh Doctson this year. He did draw a pass interference call, and he is still getting targets. But the Cowboys did force a breakup in the end zone. They have kept him from going over the top. He had six catches for 65 yards and no touchdowns in the first half before he went out with a wrist injury.
5. Three possessions is an awful lot to come back from. It can be done, and TCU has the kind of offense to do it. But it doesn’t help if the other team keeps scoring. The burden in this game is now on the TCU defense. The offense already knows it has to be just about perfect in the second half.
This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 4:23 PM with the headline "At the half: Oklahoma State 28, TCU 9."