TCU beat No. 12 Baylor
FORT WORTH, Texas – Chandler Morris threw for 461 yards and two touchdowns in his first start for TCU and the Horned Frogs beat No. 14 Baylor 30-28 on Saturday in their first game without Gary Patterson on the sideline since 1997.
The Horned Frogs (4-5, 2-4 Big 12) snapped a threegame losing streak six days after the school and Patterson mutually agreed to immediately part ways before completing his 21st season as head coach. They had lost five of their previous six games and were 21-22 since the start of 2018.
Baylor (7-2, 4-2) was driving and past midfield after the Frogs missed a field goal attempt when linebacker Shadrach Banks intercepted a pass thrown by Gerry Bohanon with 1:03 left.
Bohanon finished 14 of 20 for 214 yards with three TDs and two interceptions, and Abram Smith ran for 125 yards for Baylor, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. Tyquan Thornton had five catches for 121 yards and two TDs.
Morris, a redshirt freshman who transferred from Oklahoma and is the son of former Arkansas and SMU head coach Chad Morris, completed 29 of 41 passes. He also led the Frogs with 70 yards rushing and a TD on 11 carries. Morris had taken over in the second half last week for Max Duggan, who had been playing with a fractured bone in his foot since getting hurt Oct. 9 at Texas Tech.
Patterson got to TCU as the defensive coordinator in 1998, then was promoted to head coach before the Mobile Alabama Bowl at the end of the 2000 regular season after Dennis Franchione left for Alabama. Patterson became TCU’s winningest head coach with his 181 wins.
Jerry Kill, the former Minnesota coach who was the best man in Patterson’s wedding and in an off-field role on his staff, took over as interim head coach.
After TCU had a field goal blocked and got the ball back on an interception in the end zone, the Frogs went 80 yards on 12 plays to go ahead 30-21 on Morris’ 19-yard TD to Quentin Johnson with 11:59 left. Johnston had five catches for 142 yards.
TCU took the lead for good on Griffin Kell’s third field goal, a 24-yarder a minute before halftime that made it 16-14.
UP NEXT
Baylor: The Bears are back home next Saturday against fourth-ranked Oklahoma (9-0, 6-0), which will coming off its open date.
TCU: The Horned Frogs play its second game in a row against a ranked team, at No. 11 Oklahoma State