FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Redshirt freshman Josh Hoover threw for 439 yards and four touchdowns in his first start for TCU while filling in for injured quarterback Chandler Morris as the Horned Frogs won 44-11 over Big 12 newcomer BYU on Saturday.
Millard Bradford, a senior defensive back in his first start this season, had a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown that put the Horned Frogs (4-3, 2-2 Big 12) ahead before Hoover had taken his first snap. Their first offensive drive ended on Hoover's 42-yard TD pass to JP Richardson, who ricocheted off a defender at the 20 and ran into the end zone for a 14-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.
BYU (4-2, 1-2) had a season-low 243 total yards. Kedon Slovis was 15-of-34 passing for 152 yards with that interception and a lost fumble. His 75.8 quarterback rating was a career-low in 44 games that included previous stops at Pittsburgh and Southern Cal.
Hoover finished 37-of-58 passing with two interceptions, one of the picks on a tipped ball in the fourth quarter. He had attempted only 23 passes in his previous five appearances for TCU, going 11 of 19 for 119 yards after Morris sprained the MCL in his left knee in last week's loss at Iowa State.
Morris is expected to miss at least a month after suffering the same injury he did when starting the 2022 season opener. By time he was healthy enough to play again last year, Max Duggan had re-established himself as TCU's starter and went on to become the Heisman Trophy runner-up after an undefeated regular season before the Frogs made it to the national championship game.
TCU led 24-0 on tight end Jared Wiley's 7-yard TD midway through the second quarter, when he caught the pass just short of the goal line, bounced off one defender and then another before plunging into the end zone. That followed an exchange of turnovers, with Eddie Heckard's leaping one-handed interception inside the 10 before BYU gave it back three plays later when Slovis fumbled after getting hit from behind.
THE TAKEAWAY
BYU: The Cougars entered the game last in the 14-team Big 12 Conference with only 319 total yards per game, and couldn't do much in their first trip to Fort Worth since a 31-3 loss in 2010. BYU was down 24-0 with only 47 total yards on 28 plays before Chase Roberts' catch-and-run gain of 39 yards on a fourth-and-5 to set up its only touchdown.
TCU: A much-needed win for coach Sonny Dykes’ squad after back-to-back losses. The Frogs are 5-5 in their last 10 games since their 12-0 regular season last year, when they lost the Big 12 championship game in overtime, and to Georgia in the national title game. ... There were 13 different Frogs who caught passes, and four had TDs. Jaylon Robinson had a game-high seven catches for 68 yards, while Richardson (104 yards) and Savion Williams (77 yards) both had six catches with TDs. Warren Thompson had a 14-yard TD catch on the opening drive of the second half.
UP NEXT
BYU is home next Saturday for only its second game against Texas Tech. The other was in 1940.
TCU plays Saturday at Kansas State in a rematch of last year's Big 12 championship game.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
