Throwback Thursday: Trevone Boykin’s 11 reception day

Trevone Boykin will always be known as one of the best TCU quarterbacks of all time. He leads TCU all-time in passing yards (10,728) and passing touchdowns (86), and holds the single-season records in both of those categories as well.

He orchestrated an 82-point shellacking of Texas Tech. He gave us the #BoykinFlip against Kansas State. He made TCU a legitimate Power 5 presence after two initial years of struggle.

But we’re not here to talk about all of that today. We’re here to talk about Trevone Boykin, wide receiver.

Many of us remember the struggle that was the 2013 season. TCU went 4-8, and not many things went right.

A major storyline heading into the season was the return of Casey Pachall at quarterback. Pachall had been dismissed from the team the previous season after being arrested driving under the influence. But now, after completing a stint in rehab, Casey was back with the squad.

In his absence, redshirt freshman quarterback Trevone Boykin was forced into duty, and he did an admiral job - throwing for over 2,000 yards and 15 touchdowns, while rushing for almost 500 yards and three more TDs.

Now that both were competing for the spot, fans wondered who would take over. Pachall won the job but broke his arm in the second game of the season, pressing Boykin back into duty.

Boykin struggled at the helm in Pachall’s absence, so when Casey returned, he was given the starting gig once again. This moved Boykin to a reserve wide receiver role behind Brandon Carter, Josh Doctson, Ty Slanina and David Porter.

But, for one magical game, Boykin stood above the rest.

On November 2nd the Frogs hosted the West Virginia Mountaineers. WVU came into the game at 3-5, wondering what it would take to become bowl eligible. The Frogs sat an identical 3-5 record, asking a lot of the same questions, and wondering if Casey could bring them back to bowl eligibility.

Brandon Carter was granted a leave of absence from the game to tend to a family matter, leaving the door open for Boykin to see the field.

Pachall completed eight passes to both Doctson and Porter, hitting them both for touchdowns as well. But the guy who led the team in receptions and receiving yards? That would be Trevone Boykin.

Boykin hauled in 11 catches on the day for 100 yards, including five receptions that resulted in first downs. Three of those first down catches extended drives, two of which resulted in touchdowns.

There were no high fives with Dana Holgorsen, no crazy dodges of defenders (in fact, he took a massive hit at one point that drew boos from the home crowd), and the Frogs ultimately lost the game 30-27 in overtime.

Boykin endeared himself to the TCU faithful that day, though, flashing a toughness Frog fans would grow to love over the next few seasons.