TCU opens season with rout of Jackson State

Gary Patterson during Jackson State game

Texas Christian University’s fans celebrated a convincing season opening victory at home against Jackson State on Saturday night at Amon G. Carter Stadium. They also celebrated the long term success of head coach Gary Patterson.

Patterson earned his 150th victory as Horned Frogs head coach as TCU routed Jackson State 63-0 before an announced crowd of 42,709 at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

Patterson, who became TCU’s head in 2000, is TCUs all-time winningest coach. All in all, Patterson has a 150-54 record as TCU’s head football coach.

Patterson came to TCU in 1998 as the defensive coordinator. He became head coach at the end of the 2000 season when the Horned Frogs played on the GMAC Mobile Alabama Bowl. He first full year as the head coach was 2001.

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During his 19 years on campus, which includes the three years as defensive coordinator, Patterson has seen TCU make 17 bowl appearances. TCU is 11-6 in bowl games with Patterson on staff and 9-6 with him as head coach.

Prior to Patterson’s arrival at TCU in 1998, the Horned Frogs had only four bowl wins in their history.

Patterson earned victory No. 150 in dramatic fashion on Saturday night.

Though he reached a milestone, Patterson said his goal is a have a successful season overall.

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“I’ll be excited if I can get to 160 this season,” he said.

TCU quarterback Kenny Hill said Patterson is highly determined to succeed.

“He’s self-motivated,” Hill said. “He doesn’t need much to get him going.”

Patterson’s 150 wins rank second nationally, behind Kansas State’s Bill Snyder (203), for head coaches at their current school.

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Patterson earned victory No. 150 in dramatic fashion on Saturday night and dominated the entire game.

The only time that Jackson State showed promise was on the game’s opening drive when the Tigers drove to the TCU 7. But on third and goal from the seven, Jackson State quarterback Brent Lyles was sacked for a 28-yard loss. Jackson State went for it on fourth-and-goal from the 35, but turned the ball over to TCU after a failed pass attempt in which the Tigers were penalized for intentional grounding.

Senior quarterback Hill passed for four touchdowns. He completed 18 passes on 23 attempts for 206 yards, but he had one interception.

The Horned Frogs scored three touchdowns in the first quarter. TCU first put together a 7-play, 65-yard scoring march. Running back Kennedy Snell scored on a short pass from Hill from 13 yards out and Jonathan Song kicked the point after to give TCU a 7-0 lead with 8:10 remaining in the first quarter.

TCU scored on its next possession, a 36 yard, 2-play drive that that took only 36 seconds. Hill hit Emanuel Porter on a 4-yard touchdown pass to put the Horned Frogs up 14-0 with 5:33 remaining in the first quarter.

TCU scored a third first quarter touchdown with 1:35 remaining in the opening period. KaVontae Turpin scored on a 39-yard touchdown run to cap a three-play, 51-yard scoring drive, to give the Horned Frogs a 21-0 lead.

After that, TCU’s offense slowed, but the Horned Frogs’ defense did not. TCU’s next score came on an interception return for a touchdown. Strong safety Ridwin Issahaku intercepted Jackson State quarterback Jarrad Hayes and ran for 53-yards for a touchdown to give the Horned Frogs a 28-0 lead with 7:24 remaining in the second quarter.

But TCU’s offense took off again on the Horned Frogs’ next possession as TCU put together a 9-play, 64-yard scoring drive that concluded when Hill hit Desmon White on a 13-yard TD pass with 2:13 remaining in the first half.

The Horned Frogs led 35-0 at half time.

But the Horned Frogs began the second half far from the way they wanted to. Hill threw an interception on the first play. Jackson State’s Ryan Theyard picked off a long Hill pass that had a little much air time and returned it to midfield.

Hill found redemption on TCU’s next offensive possession, a 10-play, 90-yard scoring drive. Hill hit White with a sharply thrown 37-yard touchdown pass to put the Horned Frogs up 42-0 with 10:20 remaining in the third quarter.

After that, TCU freshman Shawn Robinson came in as quarterback and saw immediate results. Robinson hit TreVontae Hights on a 56-yard touchdown pass with 6:15 remaining in the third quarter to give the Horned Frogs a 49-0 lead.

TCU soon scored again, this time on a fumble recovery run by linebacker Arico Evans. Evans made a 32-yard TD run with 4:43 remaining in the third quarter to give the Horned Frogs a 56-0 lead.

TCU’s next score came with 6:15 remaining in the game when Robinson hit Dylan Thomas with a 10-yard touchdown pass. That capped a 5-play, 77-yard drive that featured a 40-yard run by Robinson that put the Horned Frogs at the Jackson State 10. That gave TCU a 63-0 lead.

The Horned Frogs had 542 yards in total offense compared to Jackson State’s 65.

The Horned Frogs had 300 passing yards and the Tigers were held to 41. TCU had 242 yards rushing and Jackson State ended up with 24.

Jackson State was 1 of 14 on third down conversions. TCU was 7 of 11.

ROBINSON IMPRESSES

Shawn Robinson, a true freshman, completed 5 of 7 passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns in his collegiate debut. He also had three carries for 43 yards. Robinson was an early enrollee at TCU in January after he led DeSoto to a Texas High School state championship in Class 6A, the state’s largest division, in December.

UP NEXT:

JACKSON STATE: The Tigers return to FCS play against Tennessee State in the Southern Heritage Classic.

TCU: The Horned Frogs travel to Arkansas for a rematch with the Razorbacks, who won the 2016 meeting in 41-38 in double overtime.. The Associated Press contributed to this report.