After a week where is seems like nothing else could go wrong for TCU football, the Horned Frogs lost to a team they haven’t suffered a loss to since 1997—the Kansas Jayhawks. This was Kansas’ first win in October since 2009.
The loss caps off a week to forget for the Horned Frogs. Monday, it was announced that TCU quarterback Shawn Robinson would undergo season-ending surgery. Tuesday, news broke that former TCU wider receiver and kick returner KaVontae Turpin would be dismissed from the team because of his recent arrest for assault with bodily injury to a family member.
From the start, Kansas looked undeterred by their status as underdogs. On their first drive, the Jayhawks picked the Frogs’ defense apart. Marching 75 yards down the field, Kansas struck first with a one-yard touchdown run by running back Khalil Herbert with 9:24 left to go in the first quarter.
After placekicker Jonathon Song’s 31-yard field goal put TCU on the board, quarterback Michael Collins found wide receiver Jalen Reagor deep down the middle of the field for a 55-yard touchdown late in the first half.
In Collins’ first game as a starter, he completed 23 of 33 passes with 351 yards and a touchdown.
Reagor had a career day, hauling in eight passes for a career-high 177 yards and a touchdown.
At halftime, the Horned Frogs held a 10-7 lead.
TCU lost their lead midway through the third quarter after Kansas quarterback Peyton Bender threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to running back Pookah Williams.
From there, the game went back-and-forth, as Collins and the Frogs answered quickly with a touchdown of their own to make the score 17-14. The young quarterback took it himself for the first of his two rushing touchdowns on the day, this one from two yards out.
After Kansas tied the score with a field goal, Collins threw his first interception of the day on the TCU 15-yard line. Although the Frogs were able to hold the Jayhawks to a field goal, TCU again lost the lead.
In desperate need of a late-game spark, Collins lead his team down the field on an 11-play, 75-yard drive, highlighted by a 40-yard pass to Reagor. The second rushing touchdown of the day from Collins put TCU up 24-20 with 10:38 left in the game.
The Jayhawks responded again, as Williams took a screen pass to the house for his second score of the day. The 28-yard touchdown included several missed tackles by the Frogs.
Down three with just 6:13 left to go, TCU got all the way down to the 7-yard line of Kansas, looking to take the lead for good. In line with the way their week had gone, the Horned Frogs solidified their defeat with running back Darius Anderson fumbling the ball with just 1:10 to play.
Kansas took a sack for a safety on the final play of the game, but it didn’t matter. The Frogs lost 27-26.
Next Saturday, the Horned Frogs will return home to play Kansas State. Kickoff is scheduled for Nov. 3 at 2:30 p.m.
