Good thing TCU stuck with Trevone Boykin at quarterback
Kiehl Frazier. Brock Berglund. Michael Eubank. Jimmy Laughrea.
Four dual-threat quarterbacks from the 2011 recruiting class, all ranked ahead of Trevone Boykin.
It’s hard to imagine any quarterback from that class — minus Oregon’s Marcus Mariota — being rated ahead of Boykin now. But in that class, Boykin was the 24th-best dual-threat QB.
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Let that sink in after watching Boykin on Saturday lead TCU past Kansas State, 41-20.
A week ago, Boykin fell way down the Heisman charts with a 12 for 30, 166-yard performance against West Virginia — albeit a victory.
What he did Saturday against Kansas State not only erased memories of that outing, it clearly thrust his name up the list — high up the list — in Heisman talk. And that means one very important thing for the Horned Frogs: They’re smack in the middle of the playoff discussion.
Boykin was one highlight after another Saturday night against the Wildcats. He completed 22 of 33 passes for 212 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. But it was his runs — did you see that Heisman moment? — that separated TCU from K-State. He opened the scoring with a 2-yard run. He scored from 19 yards out to open the second half when he sprinted toward the goal line, leaped, was hit and flipped into the end zone. He added a 23-yarder to ice the game in the fourth quarter.
“I just went airborne with it,” Boykin said after the game of the flipping touchdown. “It was just instinct.”
And to think: Boykin nearly ended up at receiver this season. Yeah, seriously.
In 2012 as a redshirt freshman, he threw for 2,054 yards, 15 TDs with 10 interceptions. But last season, he threw for 1,198 yards — mostly in the first seven games of the season — before Casey Pachall regained the starting spot. Boykin slid over to receiver and caught 23 passes in the final six games for 179 yards.
With Matt Joeckel arriving from Texas A&M, it looked like Boykin’s 2014 season would be spent running routes and catching passes, not throwing them.
But that wasn’t part of Boykin’s plan. Instead, he won — he earned — the starting quarterback job and the TCU offense has become one of the nation’s most prolific behind his arm and legs.
Against Kansas State on Saturday — the Wildcats entered the game 12th in scoring defense (18.6 points per game allowed) and 16th in total defense (allowing 321.0 yards per game) — Boykin was unstoppable.
He led TCU to 557 yards of total offense, including 345 on the ground (Boykin accounted for 123 of those). For the season, he’s thrown for 2,684 yards, 23 TDs, four picks, has 546 rushing yards and seven more scores.
Not bad for the 24th-best dual-threat quarterback-turned-receiver returned to quarterback.
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