FWST: TCU takeaways: 5 things from a good and bad day versus Iowa State

There was a comfortable win — 41-20 against Iowa State — but not without three injuries, two on a defense that had its best day of the season but continues to keep coach Gary Patterson nervous and the other to the offense’s top gamebreaker.

Five sacks and a turnover-free day from the offense were good things. But there were no turnovers forced by the defense. Still, at the end of the half-full, half-empty day, the Horned Frogs were winners, perhaps back on track in time for the first road game of the season Friday night at SMU.

But before we head east down the Tom Landry Freeway, here’s what we we took away from the Iowa State game:

1. KaVontae Turpin’s spark is going to be missed. He suffered an ugly-looking knee injury Saturday against Iowa State and had to be helped off the field. That he walked to the locker room later without help seems encouraging, but knee injuries are knee injuries. Even something mild likely still means weeks of recovery. Turpin’s game is built on cutting and darting and accelerating. He wouldn’t be the same at 75 percent, and it’s doubtful TCU would rush him back. But the Frogs have dealt with a lot of injuries the past two seasons. They know the drill. “We all know the risk. We could be injured at any moment,” teammate Deante Gray said. Bottom line, the offense’s most dynamic player is out of the picture for a while, and with him, the threat of a game-breaking punt return or short pass that can go the distance. That hurts an offense that moves more deliberately than the offenses of the past two years.