No. 20 TCU opens Big 12 era 56-0 over Grambling

FORT WORTH, Texas — TCU got off to a fast start in its first game as a Big 12 Conference member and debut of its $164 million completely redone stadium.

The 20th-ranked Horned Frogs also made Gary Patterson the winningest coach in school history.

Casey Pachall threw three touchdown passes, two to Josh Boyce, after the Frogs had already scored on special teams and defense in a season-opening 56-0 victory over Grambling State on Saturday night.

After being one of only four FBS teams that didn’t play on college football’s opening weekend, TCU had 531 total yards against FCS team Grambling (0-2). That included 276 passing by two quarterbacks who combined to complete all 17 passes attempted — the most in FBS history without an incompletion.

Deante’ Gray, one of 12 true freshmen to play for TCU, returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown only 2 minutes into the game. After fielding the ball, his first touch in college, Gray broke two tackles on the near side of the field, cut toward the middle and sprinted to the end zone.

When the Frogs offense got the ball for the first time, Pachall quickly had completions of 16 and 30 yards before five consecutive running plays, capped by Waymon James’ 1-yard TD. Then Elisha Olabode returned an interception 28 yards to make it 21-0 with 7:54 still left in the first quarter.

Patterson opened his 12th season at TCU with 109 wins and tied with Dutch Meyer, who led the Frogs to their only AP national championship in 1938. Patterson is 110-30 overall with 10 shutout victories.

It was quickly evident that there would be no repeat of Patterson’s first home game as TCU’s coach in 2001, an overtime loss against Northwestern State, another lower-division team from Louisiana. The Frogs have since won 11 consecutive home openers and been to two BCS games, including their 13-0 season two years ago capped by a Rose Bowl victory.

Pachall played only the first half, completing all nine of his passes for 201 yards while the Frogs jumped out to a 42-0 lead.

Redshirt freshman Trevone Boykin took over after halftime, when he ran 34 yards for a score and threw a 7-yard TD to David Bush. Boykin was 8-of-8 passing for 75 yards.

Boyce finished with four catches for 102 yards, and got his first touchdown on a 12-yard catch when he got into the end zone after his shoe came off at the 3-yard line. Later in the second quarter, Boyce took a short pass and turned it into a 66-yard score.

Grey had five punt returns for 160 yards, breaking TCU’s single-season record that had stood since 1947.

TCU, which had a 69-0 win over New Mexico last October, plays its first Big 12 conference game next Saturday at Kansas. The Jayhawks (1-1) lost 25-24 to Rice on Saturday.

The Horned Frogs have the nation’s longest active conference winning streak, 24 in a row in the Mountain West while winning three consecutive titles without losing a league game.

The highlight for defending SWAC champion Grambling was its famous band, which got standing ovations from the crowd of 45,112 fans before, during and after an up-tempo halftime performance.

D.J. Williams, the quarterback and son of Grambling coach Doug Williams, completed only 3 of 9 passes for 14 yards. The Tigers had only 70 total yards on 47 plays.

When TCU took its 24th offensive snap with just more than 3 minutes left in the first half, matching the number of plays by Grambling at that time, the Frogs were already up 42-0 and were up 293 to 31 in total yards.