FORT WORTH — The TCU Horned Frogs football team got back on track with a 41-6 victory over Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponent Nicholls at Amon G. Carter Stadium on Saturday night.
It wasn’t pretty, but the Horned Frogs were sharp enough on offense to put the game out of reach and got the necessary defensive stops as Nicholls fought to stay in the game into the second half.
“I thought we did some good things, but we need to do better finishing drives,” TCU quarterback Chandler Morris told the media after the game. “Obviously, that’s going to be an emphasis this week. Last week, we struggled with it as well. We’ve got to eliminate turnovers in the red zone as well, but I thought we did some really good things.”
Both teams started slowly, but a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown put TCU on the board first. The Horned Frogs’ offense got a jolt late in the first quarter as a 28-yard completion from Morris to wide receiver Warren Thompson seemed to light a fire, and Morris ripped off a 32-yard touchdown run four plays later.
The Horned Frogs took control from there. They scored another touchdown and answered a Nicholls’ field goal drive — which started with a Morris turnover — with a field goal of their own as Griffin Kell nailed a 57-yard kick as the first half expired.
Nicholls added a field goal on the first drive of the third quarter to cut into the lead but never managed another score. TCU rediscovered its offensive momentum in the fourth quarter, adding 17 points to turn the game into an official blowout.
Morris finished with 263 passing yards, two touchdown passes, a rushing touchdown, and only four incompletions, while TCU’s defense held the Colonels to just 86 rushing yards on the night.
Quarterback Pat McQuaide threw 177 yards for Nicholls in a losing effort.
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WHAT TO KNOW
– TCU won its first game of the season after losing a 45-42 nail-biter to Colorado last week.
– Saturday was the first time Nicholls and TCU have faced each other in football.
– Kell’s 57-yard field goal in the first half was a new career-long, besting his 54-yard make from last season against Iowa State. The kick also tied Kell with Chris Manfredini for the fifth-most field goals made in school history, and he passed Manfredini with a 42-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
– TCU did not allow its opponent to score a touchdown for the first time in two years.
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BY THE NUMBERS
— TCU improves to 14-0 under current head coach Sonny Dykes when being ahead or even in turnover margin.
— A week after allowing Colorado to gain 541 yards, TCU held Nicholls to 263.
— Nicholls had the ball longer than TCU and ran more plays.
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WHO SAID
— Dykes on his team’s response from a season-opening loss: “I would say it’s still far from what we need, but it was better. [I] thought we played with some excitement today. There were some times, especially defensively, where the guys were excited and played with some enthusiasm. I thought we played more physical. We started hitting… We didn’t really play very physical last week.”
— TCU safety Mark Perry on holding Nicholls without a touchdown: “Being able to do that is huge, especially coming out with the mindset that we have. I think it just does nothing but build confidence for us. Nobody’s harder on us than we are, so I think it builds confidence for our side of the board.”
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NEXT UP
— TCU (1-1) opens Big 12 play on the road against Houston (1-1) at 7 p.m. next Saturday.