TCU Horned Frogs vs Portland State Vikings Football Recap

TCU 55, Portland State 13

There’s reason for concern deep in the heart of Texas. The defending Rose Bowl champion, a team that quickly jumped on opponents last season, is developing a chronic habit of playing somnambulant first halves and allowing grossly inferior teams to remain much more competitive than they should be.

Perhaps the Texas Christian Horned Frogs know that they can get away with a minimal amount of intensity; perhaps a young team is cognizant of the fact that it is not playing big-league foes, and can therefore marshal its mental resources for the heart of a Mountain West season that is only just beginning. Nevertheless, the cultivation of bad habits can and will come back to bite a football team if it doesn’t find its identity in the month of October. The time for drifting and coasting is over in the land of the Frogs.

Last week, TCU allowed over 200 yards to Louisiana-Monroe in the first quarter and trailed 17-14. So this past Saturday, when Portland State held a 3-0 lead after the first quarter over TCU, things were looking oh-so-familiar once again for a team with a pedigree that should not allow such slow starts to become the norm. Eventually, as one would expect, TCU exploded to run past Portland State 55-13 on Saturday afternoon in Fort Worth.

It wasn’t quite as disconcerting this week, however. The field goal surrendered in the first quarter was nothing nearly as bad as the long pass plays given up the week before against Louisiana-Monroe. By the end of the first quarter, TCU was about to wrap up a 51-yard field goal drive, making the score 3-3 early in the second. It took a bit longer for the Horned Frogs to get going then they would have liked, as Casey Pachall threw an interception with six minutes left in the half and the score still tied at 3-3. However, the Frogs broke through when Pachall hit Josh Boyce on a 66-yard touchdown catch and run with two minutes left to start a flurry of TCU scores to end the half. It was as though a bunch of Frogs chastened by their horrid start began to make up for lost time and missed opportunities.

On the very next play from scrimmage following TCU’s first touchdown, Tank Carder intercepted Portland State’s Drew Hubel and returned the pigskin 26 yards for another touchdown. Then, after holding Portland State to a three-and-out, TCU pounced again, as return man Skye Dawson ran the Vikings’ punt to the 11, which set up a Pachall to Dawson 10-yard touchdown pass three plays later. In just two minutes, TCU posted 21 points to make a frustrating struggle into the expected blowout with the Frogs taking a 24-3 lead into halftime.

Pachall ended the day going 14-20 for 214 yards and three touchdowns. Waymon James rushed for 136 yards on 10 carries, and Matthew Tucker added 62 to TCU’s total of 248 rushing yards.

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By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer