KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Josh Hoover threw for 356 yards and three touchdowns, JP Richardson returned a second-half punt 89 yards for the go-ahead score, and TCU pulled away to beat Kansas 38-27 on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium.
Jack Bech had 131 yards receiving and two touchdowns, and Cam Cook had a touchdown run, helping the Horned Frogs (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) improve to 11-1 against the Jayhawks (1-4, 0-2) since they became conference rivals 12 years ago.
Jalon Daniels was 15 of 34 for 179 yards with a touchdown and a pick for Kansas. Daniel Hishaw and Devin Neal had TD runs.
The Jayhawks, who have lost four straight, are playing their home Big 12 games at the home of the Kansas City Chiefs. And their current losing streak may have been a big reason why there were plenty of empty red and yellow seats.
Kansas was fortunate to be within 21-17 at halftime thanks to a couple of TCU turnovers — a fumble on the opening series that Daniels turned into a touchdown pass to Luke Grimm, and a pick by O.J. Burroughs that turned into a field goal.
Otherwise, the Jayhawks were unable to slow down Hoover and the Horned Frogs.
The prolific sophomore was 21 of 26 for 227 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone. His favorite target was Bech, who had seven catches by that point, including a 35-yard TD reception and a 7-yard scoring strike with 12 seconds to go.
The teams swapped scores to start the second half — Hishaw had a TD run for Kansas, Richardson answered with his punt return to retake the lead for TCU. But ultimately, mistakes and missed opportunities doomed the Jayhawks once again.
Their biggest missed chance came early in the fourth quarter, when the Horned Frogs were clinging to a 28-24 lead. Kansas had to settle for a field goal, rather than take the lead with a touchdown. Two plays later, Hoover hit Eric McAlister near the sideline, and he slipped tackles by Burroughs and Mello Dotson on his way to a 59-yard touchdown reception.
Kyle Lemmermann atoned for an earlier miss with a 29-yard field goal with 3:02 remaining to put the game away.
Reviews go to TCU
Kansas coach Lance Leipold spent most of the second half livid with referee Michael VanderVelde. The officials first overturned a long third-down reception by the Jayhawks after discussing the play, and the on-field call stood upon review. A few minutes later, Hoover was hit from behind and fumbled, but VanderVelde overturned that call and gave TCU the ball back.
The takeaway
TCU overcame three turnovers thanks largely to a defense that was able to shut down the Kansas passing game.
Kansas only had six penalties for 50 yards, but they came at especially bad times. When open players are dropping passes and the defense is blowing assignments, too, the mistakes were too much to overcome.
Up next
TCU returns to face Houston on Friday night.
Kansas heads to Arizona State on Saturday.