At halftime, I talked about West Virginia keeping themselves within shouting distance of unbeaten and fifth-ranked TCU. Over the last two quarters, the Horned Frogs ensured they weren’t even in the same zip code as the visiting Mountaineers.
In the last 30 minutes, and with Dana Holgorsen‘s seat heating up with each passing second, the carnage was real and ofttimes spectacular as TCU turned a 23-10 halftime lead into an impressive 40-10 cruise. The Mountaineers had closed to 17-10 with five minutes left in the first half, but the Horned Frogs’s firepower was simply too much for the overmatched visitors to handle.
It’s become a broken record, but, once again, it was Trevone Boykins who was the maestro of the Horned Frogs’ dynamic offensive orchestra. The senior did nothing but add to his Heisman résumé, totaling 472 yards of offense (388 passing, 84 rushing), three passing touchdowns and tossing in a rushing score for good measure.
How good was/is Boykin? Even the opposing coach wants to give you a high-five after leaving three or four of his defensive player’s jocks strewn about the playing field.
When you're this good even the opposing coach wants to shake your hand.
— FS1 (@FS1) October 30, 2015
TREVONE. BOYKIN. #WVUvsTCUhttps://t.co/kEtcUbIJfn
(After that, you could see Holgorsen seemingly mouth, “g*****n, never seen that before.”)
Add up all the numbers -- I’d be remiss if I didn’t throw in wide receiver Josh Doctson‘s line of 11-183-2 -- and you’re left with TCU winning its 16th straight game, the second-longest streak in the country behind Ohio State’s 21. You’re also left with just three games until what would be an epic showdown with unbeaten and second-ranked Baylor in Fort Worth.
There are, though, potential potholes on both ends of that collision course. TCU still has to travel to No. 12 Oklahoma State (7-0) and No. 14 Oklahoma (6-1) wrapped around a bye week -- OK, they get winless Kansas at home, but you get the point -- before the Nov. 27 game that could serve as the de facto Big 12 championship game. Baylor, after Kansas State in Week 9, will face the same two teams, but at least gets Oklahoma at home before traveling to Stillwater. The Bears will also have a potentially tricky game against Texas to close out the regular season.
As for WVU? Holgorsen’s record dropped to 3-4 on the season and, even more distressingly, 0-4 in Big 12 play -- by an average of 20-plus points. Some will point out to those putting Holgorsen on the hot seat that he’s 0-fer in the conference against teams that were and are currently ranked. My response? “So what you’re telling me is that, after nearly four years, Holgorsen’s teams still can’t even compete with, let alone beat, the best the conference has to offer?”
That’s not a particularly ringing endorsement, especially for a coach whose athletic director and president weren’t around when he was hired in the first place.