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Horned Frogs Edged by Mountaineers - TCU Athletics
The TCU football team dropped a 29-17 decision to West Virginia on Saturday night in Amon G. Carter Stadium.
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GoFrogs: Horned Frogs Edged by Mountaineers
FORT WORTH - The TCU football team dropped a 29-17 decision to West Virginia on Saturday night in Amon G. Carter Stadium.
TCU started fast as Derius Davis returned the game's opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. It was his fourth career special teams touchdown. His three career punt returns for touchdowns are tied for second in program history. It was the first time TCU returned the game's opening kickoff for a touchdown since at least 1996.
West Virginia utilized its ball control offense in the first quarter to take a 10-7 lead, scoring on its two possessions. In the opening 15 minutes, the Mountaineers held a 23-7 edge in plays from scrimmage and an 11:36 to 3:24 advantage in time of possession.
Trailing 13-7 in the second quarter, TCU went for it on 4th-and-3 from the West Virginia 5 and regained a 14-13 lead as a scrambling Max Duggan found a wide open Taye Barber in the end zone with 5:17 left in the second quarter.
Duggan passed for 244 yards on 16-of-26 attempts to give him 5,465 in his career, moving him past Casey Pachell (5,415, 2010-13) into fifth place in TCU history.
After West Virginia went back on top, Griffin Kell's 24-yard field goal with 14 seconds left in the second quarter cut TCU's deficit to 20-17 at the half.
TCU's Quentin Johnston had five receptions for 113 yards to top the 100-yard mark for the second straight game and fourth time in his career.
Dee Winters led TCU defensively with a career-high 12 tackles, while Corey Bethmyley had a sack.
Up Next
TCU will be on the road for the third time in four games when it travels to Kansas State next Saturday, Oct. 30, for a 2:30 p.m. contest on ESPNU.
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TCU – WEST VIRGINIA POSTGAME NOTES
TCU 17, WVU 29
Team Notes
* TCU scored on both its red-zone opportunities and remains the nation's leader at 100.0 percent (25-of-25) on the season. The Horned Frogs have 18 touchdowns and seven field goals on their red-zone chances.
* TCU scored for the 362nd consecutive game. It's the nation's second-longest current streak and moves past BYU (361, 1975-2003) for third-longest in NCAA history. The Horned Frogs haven't been blanked since Nov. 16, 1991, at Texas (32-0).
* A sack by Corey Bethley gave TCU at least one sack in 92 of its last 98 games.
* TCU played its first conference home night game since a 31-24 victory over Oklahoma State in the 2018 regular-season finale.
* TCU's captains were Emari Demercado, Max Duggan, Ochaun Mathis and Dee Winters. Duggan, Mathis and Winters have been captains in each game this season.
* TCU wore a black jersey, white pants and a white helmet.
Individual Notes
Offense
* Max Duggan passed for 244 yards on 16-of-26 attempts to give him 5,465 yards in his career, moving him past Casey Pachell (5,415, 2010-13) into fifth place in TCU history.
* Quentin Johnston had five receptions for 113 yards for his second straight 100-yard effort and fourth of his career, tops among current TCU players.
* Taye Barber's 5-yard second-quarter touchdown catch on a 4th-and-3 from the West Virginia 5-yard line was his second receiving touchdown of the season and sixth of his career, trailing only Johnston (seven) among current Horned Frogs.
* Wes Harris returned to the starting lineup at right guard after being sidelined the previous three games due to injury.
Defense
* Fifth-year senior safety Michael Onyemaobi made his first career start and totaled a personal-best five tackles.
* Dee Winters had a team-best and career-high 12 tackles. His previous best was 10 stops on two occasions.
* Corey Bethley recorded his first sack of the season, giving him 10.5 for his career. It's second-most among current Horned Frogs (Ochaun Mathis, 14.5).
Special Teams
* Derius Davis returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. It was his fourth career special teams touchdown as his three punt returns for scores are tied for second in program history.
* Davis had TCU's first kickoff return for a touchdown since KaVontae Turpin went 99 yards against Oklahoma in 2018.
* It was the first time TCU returned the game's opening kickoff for a touchdown since at least 1996.
* The 100-yard kickoff return tied for second-longest in TCU history (105 yards, Charles Casper versus Texas, 1933) and was the Horned Frogs' longest since B.J. Catalon went 100 yards against LSU in 2013.
* Griffin Kell's 24-yard field goal made him 8-of-10 on the season and 23-of-31 in his career.
* Kell has made his last seven field-goal attempts.
* Ochaun Mathis had TCU's first block of a field goal since current TCU graduate assistant Chris Bradley versus SMU in 2017.