Box Score
Boxscore

Fort Worth, TX - A three-touchdown flurry by TCU in final two minutes of the first half turned a tie game into a Horned Frog runaway. TCU went on to score 38 points in the space of 13 minutes, finally winning 55-13, at Amon Carter Stadium.

Portland State had an impressive opening drive, holding the ball for nearly half of the first period. Zach Brown converted a 22-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.

That lead held the entire period as the Vikings forced a three-and-out on TCU's first possession. PSU outgained the Frogs, 96-65, in the quarter.

The Frogs' Ross Evans tied the game with a 35-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter. But, PSU controlled the ball and the time of possession throughout the half. In fact, late in the second quarter the Horned Frogs had managed just 118 yards of offense.

Then, TCU made three big plays at the end of the half to take control of the game. First, Casey Pachall hit Josh Boyce on a 66-yard touchdown pass. Following the kickoff, TCU linebacker Tank Carder picked off a Drew Hubel pass and returned it for another touchdown. The Horned Frogs then forced a Viking three-and-out, using timeouts wisely to get the ball back. Skye Dawson made 42-yard punt return, and a few plays later caught a 10-yard TD pass from Pachall. With just seconds to go in the half, the 3-3 tie had transformed into a 24-3 TCU lead.

It got worse in the second half, as Waymon James took the opening play for another touchdown. He was going down after about a four-yard gain, but rolled off a defender without his knee touching down. Both teams stopped on the play thinking he was down, but James kept running and raced 65 yards for the score. That made it 31-3 early in the third.

PSU's Brown tacked on a 42-yard field goal early in the fourth period. It hit the left upright, but deflected through. It was Brown's 10th straight made field goal, dating to last season.

PSU added a 15-play, 87-yard drive in the fourth quarter, with Shaquille Richard scoring on a one-yard run.

After managing just 118 yards through the first 28 minutes, TCU exploded, finishing with 462 yards.

Portland State had 295 of total offense. Richard gained 90 on 28 carries. Connor Kavanaugh threw for 103 yards and Hubel passed for 73 yards.

Ryan Rau led the Viking defense with nine tackle.

The Vikings dropped to 2-1 on the season, while the 20th ranked Horned Frogs improved to 3-1.

GAME NOTES: SR RB Cory McCaffrey did not play in the game due to a sore knee. FR RB Shaquille Richard got the start and played well… TCU now has a Mountain West Conference record 22-game home winning streak… PSU is 2-28 all-time against FBS schools... the Vikings have lost six in a row on the road… Portland State will return to Big Sky Conference play on Oct. 1, traveling to Idaho State. Kickoff is 12:35 p.m. PT. There is no television, but it can be heard on Freedom 970 AM and www.970.am.