SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 24, 2011
No. 20 TCU scored 21 unanswered points in the final two minutes of the first half to break open a tight game and blow out Portland State 55-13 on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Horned Frogs won their 22nd consecutive home game, which is the third longest streak in the nation behind Oklahoma (37) and Boise State (32).
The overmatched Vikings hung with TCU and were tied 3-3 late in the second quarter, but it all unraveled when starting quarterback Connor Kavanaugh went out with an apparent hand injury.
With 1:55 left in the second quarter, the Horned Frogs scored on a 66-yard touchdown pass from Casey Pachall to Josh Boyce to go up 10-3. Then Portland State backup Drew Hubel threw an interception on the following possession that was returned by Tank Carder 26 yards for a score.
After a 42-yard punt return by Skye Dawson set the Horned Frogs up at the 11-yard line, Pachall connected with Dawson two plays later on a 10-yard touchdown that gave TCU a 24-3 lead with 37 seconds left in the half.
Kavanaugh returned after the break, but by then it was too late.
Portland State is now 2-27 against FBS opponents and has lost its last three games against such teams by a combined score of 178-22.
Junior linebacker Tanner Brock, TCUกฏs leading tackler a year ago, will miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury. Brock hurt the ankle in the Horned Frogsกฏ season-opener at Baylor and missed the past three games.