FORT WORTH, Texas — TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin didn’t have to look far to find a receiver for the touchdown that put the Horned Frogs ahead to stay Saturday against Kansas.
On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, David Porter was just a few yards downfield when Boykin threw to him. Porter squeezed between two defenders, the Jayhawks ran into each other and Porter was free for a tie-breaking 75-yard touchdown.
TCU (3-3, 1-2 Big 12) went on to win 27-17 for its first-ever home victory in the Big 12. The Frogs joined the conference last year.
Kansas (2-3, 0-2) took its 23rd consecutive Big 12 loss dating back to 2010.
Boykin is close to Porter in other ways.
“I guess you could say (the chemistry) is pretty good since he is my roommate,” the quarterback said.
“It motivates us when we have guys who can step up and make big plays. DP hasn’t played much, but he came in and made some big plays that boosted our confidence.”
Porter has no career starts in three years, but he had career highs of four catches and 118 yards against Kansas. The touchdown, which broke a 10-10 tie, was the third of his career, and his first since 2011.
Boykin carried 12 times for 71 yards and a touchdown, and completed 14 of 22 passes for 173 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
He was able to shake off the interceptions.
“You have to have a short memory and get over (turnovers) quickly, especially before the next play or the next drive.
“It was just the first play, and we were over it, so we just needed to get past it.”
The Horned Frogs did a lot of getting past turnovers Saturday, when they also fumbled the ball away three times. Both interceptions and a third-quarter muffed punt resulted directly in all of Kansas’ scores.
“Give Kansas credit, they played hard on defense and got some turnovers,” TCU head coach Gary Patterson said. “We didn’t hold on to the ball. We had about four or five balls that should have been caught and you can’t leave the ball on the ground.”
The Frogs stretched their lead to 24-10 with 53-yard drive to B.J. Catalon’s 2-yard touchdown run with 9:31 remaining in the third quarter.
Following the muffed punt barely two minutes later, KU quarterback Jake Heaps threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jimmay Mundine.
Matthew Wyman’s 37-yard field goal followed Isaiah Johnson’s interception of Boykin’s first pass for a 3-0 lead.
Boykin then finished a 63-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to give the Horned Frogs a 7-3 lead with 6:50 remaining in the first quarter. He also made a 25-yard gain while guiding TCU over 42 yards to Jaden Oberkrom’s 44-yard field goal, his first of two.
The Jayhawks tied the game on JaCorey Shepherd’s 32-yard interception-return touchdown.
TCU turned the ball over again on the first play after Shepherd’s touchdown. Shepherd forced Waymon James to fumble, and Victor Simmons recovered the ball at the 34. A third-down sack pushed the Jayhawks out of field goal range.
The Horned Frogs’ defense held Kansas to 198 yards. TCU sacked Heaps four times.
“They got a good amount of pressure,” Heaps said. “They did a good job disrupting some of our passing stuff.”
Kansas played a low-risk offense, especially with wide receiver Andrew Turzilli injured after a 50-yard catch in the second quarter.
Jayhawks head coach Charlie Weis said, “We knew we were going to be conservative. We would run 2 yards and 3 yards, and we figured we’d punt the ball a bunch of times.”

COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Big 12 Conference

Saturday

At Fort Worth, Texas

Texas Christian 27, Kansas 17
Kansas    3    7     7     0  —  17
TCU         7    3    14    3  —  27

SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
KU—FG Wyman 37, 10:01.
TCU—Boykin 10 run (Oberkrom kick), 6:50.
Second Quarter
TCU—FG Oberkrom 44, 11:44.
KU—Shepherd 32 interception return (Wyman kick), 8:55.
Third Quarter
TCU—Porter 75 pass from Boykin (Oberkrom kick), 14:47.
TCU—Catalon 2 run (Oberkrom kick), 9:31.
KU—Mundine 27 pass from Heaps (Wyman kick), 7:28.
Fourth Quarter
TCU—FG Oberkrom 37, 2:34.
A—41,894.

TEAM STATISTICS
                                    KU    TCU
First downs                      7    17
Rushes-yards            34-46    41-207
Passing                        152    173
Comp-Att-Int          13-26-1    14-22-2
Return Yards                  34    55
Punts-Avg.             10-46.2    7-38.4
Fumbles-Lost                2-1    3-3
Penalties-Yards           6-44    3-20
Time of Possession    26:55    33:05

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Kansas, Sims 23-81, Bourbon 1-3, Sizemore 1-3, Miller 4-(minus 2), Heaps 5-(minus 39). TCU, Catalon 12-91, Boykin 12-71, A.Green 14-37, James 2-9, Team 1-(minus 1).
PASSING—Kansas, Heaps 13-26-1-152. TCU, Boykin 14-22-2-173.
RECEIVING—Kansas, Sims 5-40, Bourbon 4-22, Turzilli 1-50, Mundine 1-27, Matthews 1-8, Parmalee 1-5. TCU, Porter 4-118, L.Brown 3-17, C.White 2-13, Echols-Luper 2-10, B.Carter 1-14, Slanina 1-6, James 1-(minus 5).