GoFrogs: No. 13 TCU pulls away from South Dakota State

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GoFrogs: No. 13 TCU pulls away from South Dakota State

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FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) Kenny Hill kept smiling Saturday night, even after interceptions on consecutive throws in his TCU debut.

The junior transfer was just trying to keep the team’s spirits up despite an early deficit.

Coach Gary Patterson had a slightly different view before the 13th-ranked Horned Frogs rallied and pulled away late in a 59-41 victory over South Dakota State on Saturday night.

”I told him it wasn’t that funny,” Patterson said. ”Then after they scored a couple of touchdowns, then it wasn’t that funny.

”Their job is, I don’t care how many touchdowns, how many yards they throw for, as long as they don’t throw it to (the other team).”

Hill eventually came around, accounting for five touchdowns after KaVontae Turpin sparked the Frogs with an 81-yard punt return in their 15th straight home-opening win since losing to Northwestern State – another lower-division team – in Patterson’s first year as head coach.

”I was just trying to let everybody know, like, `Hey man, I got you, I’m not going to make any more mistakes,”’ said Hill, the son of former major league pitcher Ken Hill and a former high school standout not far from the TCU campus. ”I made a mistake, but we’re about to bounce back right here.”

Hill was 33 of 49 for 439 yards with two touchdown passes, ran for three scores and converted a critical third down with a 13-yard scramble while the Frogs were up four points in the fourth quarter.

That drive ended on a 46-yard scoring pass to Taj Williams for a 52-41 lead. Williams, who had 11 catches for 158 yards, made the grab after the ball deflected several yards forward off the hands of TCU receiverDesmon White and South Dakota State linebacker Dallas Brown.

Hill’s consecutive interceptions led to a 10-point lead for the Jackrabbits of the Football Championship Subdivision.

Turpin started the recovery from the surprising second-quarter deficit with his return, sparking the Frogs to their 14th straight home win, third among Power Five schools behind Florida State and Clemson. The 5-foot-9 speedster added a 33-yard run and finished with 177 all-purpose yards.

Taryn Christion threw for 333 yards and three touchdowns – two to Jake Wieneke, who had eight catches for 196 yards.

Isaac Wallace had an 87-yard touchdown run after Makiah Slade intercepted Hill at the South Dakota State 1. Wallace finished with 112 yards rushing. Christion’s 12-yard run put the Jackrabbits ahead 17-7 after Hill’s second interception.

”I told you on Tuesday they were good players. Now they’re still good players,” Patterson said of the Jackrabbits. ”We didn’t do a very good job.”

Kyle Hicks ran for two touchdowns, including a 3-yarder that put TCU ahead for good in the third quarter.

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TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson Opening Statement…

“First off, I think you have to give a lot of credit to South Dakota State. We knew coming in that the tight end and wide receivers were good players. It’s really my fault. We didn’t do a good job handling their shifts. We changed some things around and settled down, and better things happened to us. “Offensively, I think it was a great first game. Kenny [Hill] managed the game after the early two turnovers, but we have to do a better job of getting in shape up front. We got tired. We had some holding penalties because we couldn’t move our feet. Again, one of the things I think you need to do is give South Dakota State’s coach and his group a lot of credit. I thought they did a great job – especially on offense.”

On the offense…

“We’re going to play better athletic groups on defense, so we’re going to have to play better. I thought they did a great job of executing what we’re trying to get accomplished. We have to play better across the board. It’s not about how many yards or touchdowns you get. It’s about winning.”

On Kavontae Turpin…

“They wouldn’t kick it to him on kickoffs, but they punted to him. The guy got off a great punt. That’s one of the reason’s we had a chance. He’s going to make a couple guys miss. He’s just one of those players.”

TCU defensive end James McFarland On how it felt to be back on the field…

“It felt really good, it’s been a long time. I feel like an old man, but it felt pretty good to be back out with the team. There’s still a lot more work to be done, but it felt good to get the “W.” On SDSU and the game they played…

“They’re a really good team. I think they’re really going to do some damage to the rest of their season. They’re strong, and we knew that going in. We were able to come out and win, but by the skin of our teeth, but a win is a win. You’ve got to give credit to them, though. They’re a really good football team and they’re really strong.”

On the sack he got late in the game…

“If it wasn’t for the corners, the safeties, the defensive tackles, everybody else, you know those other 10 guys, I wouldn’t have been able to get that sack. So, big credit to our whole entire defense for stepping up, I was just lucky enough to get the sack.”

TCU defensive tackle Aaron Curry On concern with big plays…

“I’m not [concerned]. There were just communication problems, and once we get those aired out we’ll be good. I was telling guys to talk and don’t worry about what is going on in the stands and we started to do that in the second half.

“It was the first game so everyone was probably too hyped up and worrying about the wrong things, but as the game kept going everyone calmed down. We just need to start off earlier.”

On James McFarland being back…

“It was good to have James back. He’s a good asset to our line and he played well out there.”

TCU quarterback Kenny Hill On throwing two interceptions…

“It’s something we can improve on and something we will watch on film and get better at so we don’t make the same mistake next week.”

On running in the second half…

“In the first half I thought we had good protection and I could sit back and throw it, but then they started covering things up in the second half so I was just trying to make a play and ended up running a little bit more.”

On his return to football…

“It’s a year and a half worth of hard work and prayers that are all coming to fruition so it’s a big deal for me.”

South Dakota State Head Coach John Stiegelmeier Opening Statement…“I am proud of our football team; I am disappointed in not being able to play in the same level for the whole game. We played a really great football team, with great tradition. We walked out onto the field with confidence and that says something about our program. In the end, we made some errors that made it tougher for us. Not to take anything away from the team that beat us, because TCU is a great football program, but we just needed to play better and give ourselves a chance and we talked about that, but did not execute it.”

Message for the team after the game…

“We will build on the positives, eliminate the negatives, there are no moral victories. And we love them, the coaching staff loves them and we need to let this hurt, then go in correct things and move on to the next opponent.”

Offensive performance…

“I am very pleased with the offense. Coach Patterson was very complimentary of our offense. I thought Taryn did a good job and made some very good checks. Jake is a phenomenal football player and Dallas is special.”

Punt return play…

“It was a huge momentum shift, followed up by a fumble. But that’s football. We crushed some numbers. A long touchdown and then another score, so we are going to look at that, watch the film and ask where was your heart, where was your belief, and go out there and make another play.”

Building a team confidence…

“We as coaches can take the positives and make sure we correct the negatives, and make sure that we do not dwell on them. This loss obviously hurts, but we had the chance to put ourselves on the map by potentially beating a team like TCU, and we thought we had a chance. ”

SDSU junior defensive lineman Kellen Soulek On struggling defensively…

“Yeah, they had really good athletes, and their tempo really got to us, especially late in the game. But we’ve just got to tackle better as a defense and get the calls and get our assignments down.”

On whether they will be proud of the game or disappointed…

“You can’t really expect to win a game when you give up 59 points, so it hurts as a defense, because the offense put up enough points to win the game.”

SDSU junior wide receiver Jake Wieneke On how SDSU will take a loss like this…

“There are definitely some good things we did in this game, and then some things we could have done better. So we’ve just got to watch the film and get better.”

On coming up short…

“I mean, first game of the year, it was fun to get back out there and play again, but we came up short of our goal. We played a great team—TCU’s a great team—it was fun to compete with them. We just wish it’d turned out a little better.”

SDSU sophomore quarterback Taryn Christion On SDSU’s chances of winning after TCU early mistakes…

“Oh yeah, we felt like that the entire game. There was never a doubt in my mind that we could win that football game. We had chances the entire game, we just missed something. We couldn’t capitalize, but like Jake said, TCU’s a great team, credit to them, they played a great game. We just came up a little short.”

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Post-Game Notes
No. 13 TCU 59, South Dakota State 41
Amon G. Carter Stadium

Team Notes
*TCU extended its home winning streak to 14 games, third-longest in the nation behind Florida State (21) and Clemson (16).

*The Horned Frogs won their 15th-straight home opener for the fifth-longest active streak in the nation.

*TCU improved to 15-1 in home openers under head coach Gary Patterson.

*The Horned Frogs are now 12-4 in season openers under Patterson.

*The Horned Frogs improved to 24-3 over the last three seasons.

*A first-quarter sack by Aaron Curry extended TCU’s school-record streak to 31 games with at least one sack. It is the second-longest active streak in the nation, behind only Ohio State with 36.

*The Horned Frogs scored a first-quarter touchdown for the 26th time in their last 27 games. TCU did not score a touchdown in the first quarter of the Valero Alamo Bowl, snapping a run of 25 consecutive games that set school and Big 12 records while tying for the nation’s longest streak since 1996 (Stanford, 2009-11).

*TCU scored for the 294th consecutive game. It’s the nation’s second-longest current streak and fourth all-time in NCAA history. The Horned Frogs haven’t been blanked since Nov. 16, 1991 at Texas (32-0).

*TCU’s team captains were Josh Carraway, Kyle Hicks, Travin Howard and Austin Schlottmann. All four players represented the Horned Frogs at Big 12 Media Day.

*TCU wore a purple jersey and white pants with a white helmet.

Individual Notes
*Kenny Hill became the first player with 400 yards passing, two touchdown passes and three rushing scores in a game since Michigan’s Devin Gardner against Indiana in 2013.

*Hill completed 33-of-49 passes for 439 yards while adding 45 yards rushing on seven carries.

*Hill’s 439 yards passing and 484 yards of total offense both rank seventh for a single game in TCU history.

*KaVontae Turpin’s 81-yard second quarter punt return for a touchdown was the second of his career. He had a 49-yard punt return for a score against Kansas last season.

*Turpin’s 81-yard effort tied for the sixth-longest punt return in TCU history. It was the Horned Frogs’ longest since LaVar Veale went 85 yards versus Nevada in 2000.

*Turpin’s two punt returns for touchdowns leave him one shy of tying TCU’s career record of three, held by Linzy Cole (1968-69) and Blanard Spearman (1930-32).

*Turpin’s seven receptions for 62 yards tied a career-high set on two occasions last season.

*Turpin totaled 177 all-purpose yards (82 punt returns, 62 receiving, 33 rushing).

*Taj Williams, in his TCU debut, had 11 catches for 158 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown. The 11 catches were the most by a Horned Frog since Josh Doctson had 12 grabs for 184 yards versus West Virginia last season.

*Jaelan Austin’s 60-yard third-quarter touchdown catch was the longest reception of his career. It was also his third career scoring grab.

*Kyle Hicks had the first two-touchdown game of his career with scoring runs of 15 yards in the first quarter and 3 yards in the third quarter. He now has five career rushing scores.

*Isaiah Graham’s first career reception was a 22-yard grab.

*Graduate transfer John Diarse had two receptions for 36 yards in his TCU debut.

*Aaron Curry totaled 2 1/2 tackles for loss, including 1 1/2 sacks, among five stops while forcing a fumble.

*James McFarland, playing his first game since he was the 2014 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Defensive Most Valuable Player, had a fourth-quarter sack.

*Travin Howard, who led TCU last season with 105 tackles, had a team-high 10 stops.

*Ryan Graf made a 32-yard field goal on his first collegiate attempt.

*Defensive tackle Joseph Broadnax, cornerback Jeff Gladney, safety Niko Small and wide receiver Taj Williams made their first career starts. Quarterback Kenny Hill made his first start as a Horned Frog.