BYU football: Turnovers, miscues prove costly in BYU's loss to TCU

ARLINGTON, Texas — This time, it wasn't necessarily TCU's superior speed and talent that doomed BYU.

Instead, it was the Cougars' multitude of mistakes that spelled the difference Friday night at Cowboys Stadium as they fell to the Horned Frogs, 38-28.

BYU wasn't blown out like it was in its three previous meetings with TCU. In fact, it was a winnable game for the Cougars and they can only blame themselves.

"I'm as frustrated as I've ever been in coaching," said coach Bronco Mendenhall.

In the first two quarters, BYU special teams blunders — a botched snap on a punt; a partially blocked punt; and short punt followed by a 19-yard TCU return — contributed to 21 of the Frogs' 28 first-half points, and put the Cougars in a big hole at halftime that ultimately was too much to overcome.

Then, on BYU's first possession of the second half, another botched punt snap set up another TCU touchdown.

"I can't even describe it," Mendenhall said. "It caught me completely by surprise. I didn't think that would happen."

In addition, the Cougars had three turnovers, compared to zero for the Frogs.

"We made too many mistakes to win the game," Mendenhall said, "but I think it was clear to all that it was a very evenly fought game and it could have gone any number of ways."

"It's a difficult loss," said safety Travis Uale. "It's one of the closest games we've played against TCU in four years. It hurts, but the way we played is not shown on the scoreboard."

Mendenhall said he was proud of the way his team battled back. In the third quarter, the Cougars trailed 35-10 and it looked like TCU was going to record another lopsided victory. BYU outscored the Frogs 18-3 in the final quarter-and-a-half.

"I absolutely loved the way our team fought and battled until the very last tick on the clock," he said.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for BYU (6-3) while TCU (6-2) won its third consecutive contest.

"We wanted to just come out of this with a win," said TCU coach Gary Patterson. "We've watched BYU improving ... We're glad we came away with a win and we got ourselves bowl eligible."

The Cougars had more yards of total offense, outgaining the Frogs, 354-283.

Quarterback Riley Nelson completed 15-of-29 passes for 215 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also rushed 23 times for 84 yards.